Top Ways To Protect Your Warehouse Against Forklift Damage
I would strongly advise you to do a walk through your warehouse and identify where forklift traffic could pose a risk to the safety of your machinery or employees.
Forklifts are an essential key to a modern warehouse. Be it a simple walkie-stacker or a more complex order picker unit – forklifts are not going away anytime soon. Although the forklift is very important to the warehouse – it’s also the number one hazard. A simple search of “forklift accident” on YouTube and you will see why safety is so important. Various equipment and racks that we assume to be indestructible can crumble into pieces when it comes into contact with a heavy forklift. Fortunately, there are many ways you can prevent and avoid such accidents from ever happening. Here is a list of top ways to protect your warehouse against forklift damage.
Protect Your Warehouse Against Forklift Damage
These tips provide the supportive structure for a preventative maintenance program:
- Post Protectors: Post protectors wrap around your buildings internal support posts. This way, you do not risk a collapsing ceiling if a forklift driver accidentally hits a post.
- Column Guards: If you have forklifts steering around storage racks of any kind, you should definitely use guards on the racks. These “u” shaped protectors can attach to the base of the racks or the floors and will absorb a hit from a forklift before it can damage your racking.
- Wire DeckWire: decks are a great addition to any pallet rack installation. They can protect workers below from falling items as well as providing better floor access to overhead sprinklers. One may not consider them as a forklift safety device, however these can be beneficial to a driver as they provide easier sight lines to the upper levels of the pallet rack.
- Floor Striping: Marking out guides on the floor to separate traffic lanes or safety zones in your warehouse can make indoor traffic run more safely and efficiently.
- Guard Rails & Bollards: Safeguarding various parts of your warehouse is extremely important. Losing expensive machinery or stock can jeopardize your company for days or even weeks. You can use guardrails and bollards to protect machines, offices or any other sensitive areas. These safety guards attach to the floor and provide a first line of defense from forklift accidents.
If you already have all or some of these critical safety measures in your warehouse – congratulations! You are making sure your employees are safe and your business runs efficiently. If you do not, I would strongly advise you to do a walk through your warehouse and identify where forklift traffic could pose a risk to the safety of your machinery or employees.
I’m glad to know that my warehouse follow this recommendation, I not only protect my place of accidents with forklifts, but also improves productivity in my business.
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