How to adapt your workplace safety to meet new demands

The current COVID-19 situation continues to have far-reaching implications for every industry. While some companies have reduced or temporarily halted their operations, others have seen their workloads increasing. A range of sectors, including manufacturing, food and drink and hygiene are finding that society’s needs during this time have created unprecedented levels of demand.

While this demand is good for business, it also brings with it an increased risk of workplace accidents and injuries. More people sharing space with materials handling equipment –together with the pressure of running at or close to capacity – mean a greater chance of impacts and collisions. The human, business and legal consequences of such incidents can be severe. This is especially true for vehicle impacts involving people, infrastructure and essential machinery.

Many facilities will lack the time or human resources to introduce new safety measures, while social distancing guidelines make it difficult to bring contractors on site to perform repairs and installations. Nevertheless, it is essential to ensure a safe working environment for your colleagues, as well safeguard your operations by protecting vital assets, inventory and infrastructure.

We’ve pulled together some top suggestions for adapting your site safety to changing circumstances quickly and effectively.

While it is always best to properly survey your facility to identify areas of vulnerability, it can be difficult to do a full site audit and installation when you’re working to full capacity. We provide a variety of off-site support, including remote site surveys, video conference appointments and telephone support through the A-SAFE helpline; however, there are also ‘quick wins’ you can implement yourself to reduce accident risk. 

Column protectors

Support columns are integral to the fabric of your facility, so it is important to protect them from potential vehicle impacts, especially when a site is experiencing increased activity. Column protectors can be installed quickly and easily and are available in a range of modular and guardrail designs that can be adapted to suit most column configurations. Look for column protectors that completely enclose and protect column base fixings for additional safety. If your site is short on space, make sure you choose column protectors that don’t impinge on vehicle routes. Wherever space is not an issue, guardrail configurations offer greater protection for structural pillars.   

Learn more about our column protectors.  

Bollards 

Safety bollards can be a perfect solution when you need some additional site protection fast. Not only do they defend vital machinery and pedestrians from impacts, but they can also help guide workplace vehicles around your facility and keep them away from vulnerable areas. Polymer bollards are quick and easy to install with a flexible design that reforms after impact. This saves you valuable time and money in repairs and maintenance. While concrete and steel bollards are available, it’s important to assess your needs, the impact points and the frequency of accidents.

Some bollards need concreting in place for a proper installation, which takes time that could slow down production. Furthermore, after impact, it is likely that concrete and steel bollards will need replacing or at least repainting. They may even cause damage to floor surfaces during an impact, meaning the cost of upkeep would grow over time. If you need to keep replacing safety bollards, it could be costly as well as have a negative impact on site efficiency. For these reasons, polymer bollards are a sound investment because they can be installed quickly with little need for continuous maintenance. 

Learn more about our industrial polymer bollards. 

Wall and corner guards

In a busy work environment – especially one that relies heavily on forklift trucks and other site vehicles – damage to buildings and structures can be a common occurrence. With wall and corner guards, you can reinforce these highly problematic areas to ensure they are better protected against repeated impacts. With less need for conservation and building repairs, you can redeploy your maintenance teams to more business-critical duties.  

Learn more about our wall and corner protectors. 

Racking protectors

With many warehousing, logistics and distribution companies experiencing high levels of demand thanks to an upturn in online ordering, they are responding to this need by growing their operations. This increase in activity elevates the risk of impact damage to essential warehouse structures . Racking protectors are a good way to protect rack legs from vehicle impact damage. Such impacts can weaken the racking structure, which could in turn lead to quarantined racks or, in extreme cases, a potentially lethal racking collapse. While you can invest in additional guardrails or even technology that tracks and monitors damage to warehouse racking, such solutions are not right for every scenario and can take time to implement. Conversely, rack leg protectors are quick and easy to install and provide an effective solution to the problem of rack damage-related incidents.

Learn more about our racking protection range.

Kerb Guardrails

Forklift trucks are often the cause of many workplace accidents and incidents. While guardrail systems are the most effective way to segregate pedestrians from busy traffic routes, kerb guardrails offer a quick way of protecting important machinery, buildings and goods from floor-level vehicle fork impacts. Quick to install and easy to maintain, they can help provide an additional level of protection that could make all the difference. 

Learn more about our kerb guardrails. 

Safety is a greater challenge when your site is operating to capacity, however, with these simple and easy-to-implement suggestions, you can greatly reduce the risk of accidents.

Of course, it’s important to keep your safety systems under constant review to ensure that they remain as effective and suitable as possible – and we can help with this. A-SAFE is doing all it can to assist businesses in need of quick advice and effective safety solutions during the current situation. Naturally, we have taken every possible step to conform with current social distancing measures. This includes offering remote site surveys and virtual surveys, as well as detailed guidance and instructions around proper self-installation methods for our products. Please remember that we remain fully operational and are working in accordance with all government guidance to provide effective site safety whenever you need it.

To speak to one of our team about your site safety needs, contact us now.