You only need to take a quick glance at HSE's fatal injuries in Great Britain statistics to see that warehouse accident are the leading cause. Of the 140 accidents that resulted in fatality last year, 111 of them were in a warehouse setting and the majority of these involved vehicles (such as forklift trucks).
This is why warehouse traffic management is key to the success of any warehouse manager. They are the person responsible for ensuring the health and safety of both their employees and any visitors to the warehouse as well. Using transparent PVC strip curtains is one way to do this, as it can help the warehouse manager to manage the physical environment and improve the freight flow.
To help with this, we have pulled together a short checklist which warehouse managers can use to ensure they are efficiently managing warehouse traffic:
Health & Safety
- Inspect warehouse regularly to identify potential health & safety issues
- Make sure any identified issues are fixed
- Communicate with employees about safety issues, and encourage them to report any potential hazards they see
- Make sure all employees are trained correctly
Equipment Safety
- Study the existing load shifting equipment and pedestrian movement to see if you can identify any areas for concern
- Designate 'no go' zones for people and load shifting equipment, and consider changing the equipment or layout to avoid accidents
- Ensure there is always proper supervision to make sure you are immediately aware of any incidents
- Make sure no equipment is ever parked on pedestrian walkways by designating specific areas for parking
- Have a daily check-in place before any equipment is used
Barriers and Bollards
- Make sure your designated load shifting equipment operating areas are clearly defined with the use of physical barriers such as bollards to ensure pedestrians cannot enter
- Use substantial barriers, such as crash doors, to ensure people stop and look before they cross into areas near load shifting equipment
- Have substantial right of way procedures in place which ensures everyone knows who has the right of way
- Have separate access paths for vehicles and pedestrians, by using pedestrian curtains
Line Marking
- Ensure pedestrian walkways, roads and load shifting equipment operating areas are clearly marked
- Minimise the crossflow of traffic as much as possible
External Traffic Management
- Install traffic calming devices to ensure the speed of vehicles is reduced when approaching load shifting or pedestrian areas
- Provide line-markings and barriers for safe pedestrian walkways, appropriate parking landers, and driver safe zones
This is just a small sample of what should be included on a warehouse managers checklist, and you should really get all employees involved to make sure you have everything covered.
Strip Curtains Direct can't just help you with traffic management, we can also help you with your actual warehouse set up now as well.
For more information about our new venture, you can call us on 0333 999 7171 or email us at sales@stripcurtainsdirect.co.uk.
