Thorsten Mauritz, European Marketing Manager at Rite-Hite, considers the principal dangers within a loading bay environment and how they can be resolved.
In an average facility workers can cross the loading bay threshold more than 100,000 times per year leaving them susceptible to risk and injury. So what are the principal dangers involved? And what equipment solutions are available to keep your loading bay safe at all times?
Moving vehicles
Probably the most common danger is vehicle creep where the movement of forklift trucks on and off the trailer slowly pushes the trailer away from the dock. Contributing factors include the weight and speed of the forklift or the load, the slope of the ground, the condition of a trucks suspension, and tyre pressure and whether the trailer is still connected to the tractor.
A close second are accidents caused by trucks leaving the bay too early, potentially with an employee or forklift still in the trailer attached. Traditional wheel chocks are limited in their use and unreliable, especially in poor weather conditions and they are by no means strong enough to prevent a vehicle from pulling away unexpectedly.
This has led to a series of solutions that not only ‘guide’ the vehicle into the bay once it arrives, but also effectively ‘locks’ it there until it is safe to be released, with clear and simple ‘green/red’ lighting system indicates to the driver – and the loading bay workers – that it is safe to continue. Dock levellers can also prevent or close a gap between a docking bay and a trailer by providing a bridge of safe passage for forklifts.
Forklift threats
Forklifts represent one of the most obvious hazards. Open loading bays and forklifts do not go well together: 7% of forklift accidents occur when a lift truck is driven off a loading dock. Using Dock Levellers that are equipped with an integrated, automatic safety barrier can safely stop a forklift from coming to grief. Dock Levelling equipment can be programmed to operate only in a safe sequence. They can be easily integrated with industrial doors, vehicle restraints and safety barriers control systems to optimise their operating sequence.
Safety barriers
When it comes to safety barriers, using tapes or chains as protection for open loading bays and doors is not sufficient. A more rigorous solution is to use barriers made to withstand the impact of a 6-ton forklift truck with 3-tons of load hitting the barrier at a speed of 7 km/h and prevent the forklift falling off the loading bay and causing serious injury. While a physical barrier may not be the most sophisticated tool within a facilities manager’s armoury, it is still a useful last-line of defence when all other means of warning or communications have failed or been ignored.
People and Pedestrians
People represent one of the greatest dangers. Reversing vehicles are particularly hazardous, but cameras and motion detectors can trigger an audible warning that a vehicle is approaching the loading bay, alerting individuals that they need to stand clear. People are also at risk when onboard the trailer itself, and again sensors can be used to warn them and drivers that an accident is imminent. Fail-safes can also be fitted to prevent a vehicle restraint from disengaging while there is somebody still inside the vehicle. People can also slip on wet, windy or even icy ground. Good canopies and interfaces can protect the area from weather and prevent many falls.
Unclear communication
Poor communication can also increase the risk of accidents. The increasingly international nature of business means drivers arriving on site may only have a limited grasp of the local language. Site-specific training or even simple guides in multiple languages with supporting imagery and text that can be quickly understood not only contribute to a safer working environment, but also one that is more operationally efficient – delivering a ‘win win’ for all concerned.
And this is the point: safety and efficiency do not have to be competing factors. They are in fact wholly complementary. Wheel locking systems and vehicle restraints, dock levellers and safety barriers, communications systems and camera/detection technologies all have an important role to play. But a safe and efficient operation is one best-achieved through an integrated holistic approach: ‘solutions’ rather than ‘products’.
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