Case Study | Warehouse Safety is No Accident

Confectionery manufacturer is not taking any risks with its workers lives

Recognised as one of Australia’s best and safest places to work, a major confectionery manufacturer is vigilant about keeping its employees and visitors safe from workplace hazards.

Increasing throughput from the factory, an expanding workforce and a growing fleet of forklifts travelling through the factory and the warehouse has meant maintaining its excellent record is a constant challenge.

An indispensable piece of equipment for industrial facilities such as warehouses, manufacturing and logistics, forklifts are frequently linked with workplace injuries in these sectors.

Typical activities such as reversing, manoeuvring, turning blind corners and negotiating bottlenecks mean forklifts present the greatest danger of serious injury to workers.

PEOPLE VS FORKLIFTS – ADDRESSING THE ISSUE

The most effective method of reducing accidents in factory and warehouse situations is to keep vehicles and people separate with clearly defined routes for each.

WorkSafe Australia’s Workplace Traffic Management Guide offers a range of measures for managing identified risks. These include delineating areas using floor markings, traffic directions, signed walkways and guide rails which provide visual cues and warnings for workers.

However, it is not possible to eliminate interactions between pedestrians and vehicles altogether. While signage and barriers are effective at keeping workers and forklifts within their designated traffic zones, intersections and crossings pose a high risk of a collision or accident.

Using automated gate configurations to manage access in shared forklift/pedestrian zones provides an additional layer of protection. To cross a shared intersection a worker must activate a switch to close the boom gates and open the pedestrian swing gates before they can proceed across the walkway. After crossing safely, the worker activates another switch which automatically closes the swing gates and raises the boom poles to allow the forklifts access.

Warehouse Safety Gates in Action

• Pedestrian swing gates normally remain closed and the boom gates open, allowing forklift traffic to move freely around the warehouse
• ​To cross pedestrians wave their hand across a touchless activation switch.
• The boom gates close preventing access by any vehicular traffic and the swing gates open to allow the pedestrians to proceed through the shared zone.
• Once the pedestrian has crossed they swipe the button on the other side. 
• The swing gates close behind the pedestrian and the boom gates are automatically raised allowing access for the vehicular traffic again.

WORKPLACE TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT – MAKING IT WORK

After purchasing automatic pedestrian swing gates from us previously, factory management was confident Rotech’s products would more than meet their requirements.

Impressed with the performance of our Bulwark HB Automatic Swing Gates in the past, these were the logical choice to manage pedestrian access to shared zones in the factory and warehouse thoroughfares.

Frequency of use, advanced safety features and tough construction made our industrial Bionik AG boom gates ideally suited for managing forklift access through these areas.

Using SafePass S-Wave touchless activation switches to operate the gates offered the best solution.  Small enough to be mounted on the barrier rails, they feature low interference infrared technology that provides contactless activation, in keeping with the factory’s hygiene policies.

MORE ABOUT ROTECH PRODUCTS USED FOR THIS SAFETY SOLUTION

BIONIK AG 3-8 METRE AUTOMATIC BOOM GATE

Warning lights on the top of the boom gate cabinet and the boom pole activate to warn any incoming forklift operator to be cautious and aware the gate is moving.

Suited to industrial applications, the Bionik AG operates reliably for up to 5,000 operations per day. Its 3mm thick reinforced cabinet, heavy-duty springs and a boom pole with internal braces makes it tough and durable. Advanced features provide smooth operation, tough 100% duty cycle and low power consumption.

Digital thinking technology: The AG’s unique design offers precise speed control, easily programmed multi-function digital controller and ultra-responsive performance.

Superior safety sensing:  The motor design allows instant reversing of the boom pole if any safety devices are activated, or the pole is obstructed.

BULWARK HB AUTOMATIC SWING GATES

A fast opening swing gate the Bulwark allows pedestrians to pass through quickly while a number of in-built safety mechanisms ensure the highest levels of safety.

Tough: The extremely strong 6 mm steel housing ensures protection against abuse and damage from knocks.

Versatile: The gate can be operated using touchless sensors, push buttons, remote control, PE beam or roof-mounted radar.

Safe: The Bulwark HB’s electronic safety sensing is very effective when an obstruction is sensed the gate stops.   In the event of an emergency, the gate arm can be manually pushed open and an alarm will sound.

SAFEPASS S-WAVE INFRARED MINI ACTIVATION SWITCH

The SafePass S-Wave is a compact mini design, waterproof, low voltage touchless activation switch featuring adjustable range and sensitivity.

Widely used in commercial, industrial and public areas the S-wave can be mounted just about anywhere making it suitable for most access control situations.

The S-Wave offers 100,000 hours of no interference performance, an in-built microcontroller with a power-on self-testing function.

Whether it is a food manufacturing facility or a hospital – Rotech has been at the forefront of innovating new ways to create efficient access control solutions for virtually any situation. For more information about our products Alan us (07) 3205 1123 or email us