Two issues should dominate any operator of loading bays – energy conservation and safety. As regards the former, equipment suppliers have risen remarkably well to the challenge and nor have they been slouches in advancing the safety devices attached to doors, vehicle restraints and traffic control procedures and systems. Yet, it is clear that the safety record on loading bay areas is well short of what it should be, which seems to suggest a lack of investment in equipment safety devices or behavioural issues owing to lack of rigorous control procedures, or a combination of both.
The often high level of activity and goods delivery pressures make the loading bay the most dangerous part of warehouses. As a spokesman for Pickering Lifts Loading Systems, remarked: “Loading bays are notoriously busy areas. Everyone is focused on the task in hand and safety can sometimes fall down the list of priorities due to the pressure of loading and unloading.” It is an age-old problem in the materials handling business but a culture, nevertheless, that must be challenged if any meaningful progress on safety is to be achieved.
A good place to start the safety awareness ball rolling is at the design stage, if working from new, or when about to specify new equipment. A rigorous safety assessment must be done and this can be helped by speaking to accredited loading bay specialists, like those belonging to the Association of Loading and Elevating Equipment Manufacturers (ALEM). With early consultation, safety can be designed in from the outset, something architects cannot always be relied on to do or even always get the design right first time to maximise loading bay productivity.
Once the most appropriate loading bay equipment has been installed, operators should remember that is only part of the safety issue. The fact is, equipment maintenance is often neglected until it is too late, when, for example, doors break down, an issue that can have consequences for safety, energy and productivity loss. Planned preventative maintenance is the best protection against this and should only be provided by the OEMs or their accredited maintenance partners unless, of course, the in-house engineers have been trained by competent trainers.
By the nature of their operation, loading bays can be energy guzzlers unless the open doors to allow load handling are well chosen to conserve energy, be it for cool/cold stores or ambient. The need to assess the energy issue is critically important owing to legislation and remorselessly rising energy costs.The Energy Act, 2011, for example which comes into force in 2018 will mean that if warehouses have an energy rating of F or G they may not be allowed to continue without remedial action. But legislation apart, minds should also be concentrated on the inevitable rise in energy bills. An effective weapon here against energy loss is the fast-acting PVC roller doors, a principle that more recently has been extended to slatted insulation doors which can double as an outer security door. These doors can also be an effective barrier against pest ingress and fitted with safety devices like lasers which warn forklift drivers that they are approaching the wrong-sized doors.
To help loading bay operators get to grips with energy issues, all the leading loading bay equipment suppliers offer a free energy audit and there may also be help on hand from the Carbon Trust.
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