We have all sat down in the yearly safety briefings to go over and refresh ourselves on the safe and correct way to go about our jobs on a daily basis. And companies are always looking for ways to help improve the overall safety of their premises for all their employees. If you work within a warehouse/factory that uses any type of machinery like forklifts whether they are electric or engine powered, then your workplace more than likely will have had some kind of safety barrier installation done.
While it is the intention for every workplace to have the people who work there to be able to leave in the same manner they arrived in, this becomes a lot harder to manage when machinery is involved, however that is why nearly all businesses have safety barriers installed where needed. But is it worth it? Of course it is! There are some very good reasons for why this is the case.
Throughout a working day your staff will more than likely start to get fatigued, which in turn then lowers their situational awareness. At this point if they are walking from one area of the warehouse to another they might not be able to hear the reversing signal given off by a forklift, or may walk into the driving area of the warehouse. With the implementation of safety barriers this risk is reduced dramatically as the staff member will be walking in an approved zone away from any reversing forklift, van or trucks that may enter the work site. They will also not be walking in an area where they shouldn’t. This can also eliminate the risk for a driver to become startled and potentially vere off their course to avoid a person (when coming into blind spots, be it around corners or coming in or out of aisles).
One of the major reasons why workplaces should have safety barriers installed is to be able to reduce the potential to have any damages towards the vehicular fleet. As any damage done to your van, trucks or forklift will more than likely result in some costly repairs. Not to mention repairing whatever they may have collided with. If you or one of your workers finds themselves in the unfortunate situation of a collision, the installation of the safety barrier will be able to have a dramatic effect in being able to lower the outcome of any serious damages both to the machine, but also any physical injuries that may befoul the operator.
Another reason to use safety barriers is not just for the protection of your staff or fleet, but also just as important for your stock and storage equipment, whether that would be the racking, containers, barrels or more. As if there is an incident at work, there will be a high chance that some part of the storage system will have been damaged too. And if this can be avoided with the implementation of specific safety barriers like WPS Racking Leg Protectors or WPS Racking Protector Kits which will reduce the damage being done to the base of the racking supports. Offering a safeguard so the structural integrity isn’t compromised for the entire rack system, reducing the potential for damage stock.
While safety barriers are not the only thing you need to implement and educate your staff with, they do go a long way to assisting your workplace in being as safe as it can possibly be. If you do have any other questions that you are unsure about our friendly and professional team at WPS will be happy to assist you in any way we can.
