What are the Loading Dock Pedestrian Danger Areas?
Loading docks and pedestrian safety is on every safety manager’s list. Because mobile equipment in and around the loading docks are constantly in movement, this area of the facility can quickly become a safety hazard if precautions are not made. You can certainly find numerous forklifts, pallet jacks, and manual carts passing through or working in the loading dock itself. However, in order for the equipment to work, you need workers. This is where the risk for accidents to occur goes up.
What are Loading Docks and Pedestrian Safety?
Loading docks and pedestrian safety is a topic most often discussed by safety professionals due to the high risk of worker injuries and equipment and pallet (product) damage. Loading docks is where trucks come to unload and load goods for transport. Due to the high proximity of forklifts and workers, this area is deemed very risky and safety mechanisms need to be in place to ensure a higher level of precaution.
Forklifts Entering and Exiting Trailers
Forklifts need to enter and exit trailers in order to get the pallets or boxes out of the truck. However, due to the closed-in space, forklift drivers cannot ‘see’ if a pedestrian is near the entry or exit point. The forklift driver will have a pallet on the forks either entering or exiting the trailer, blocking visibility upon entering. When exiting, the forklift operator is driving in reverse and can only see most…not all of the area behind. This is where a high amount of forklift accidents occurs.
Solution: A forklift safety system by SIERA.AI can detect if pedestrians are within the area and will warn the driver, allowing the driver to stop or take the necessary precautions.
Visitors and Guests Walking in the Docking Area or Near Trailers
Loading dock and pedestrian safety applies to your visitors and guests as well. They sneak in from all sides. Sometimes from the dock side door, other times from the front door. Either way, these visitors and guests are not trained or knowledgeable about your facility safety procedures or your forklift safety procedures. Many times, visitors just think that they will be fine and go about their walk. This causes the area to be at high risk for forklift operators as when they are busy doing their job of driving on the docks or in and out of the trailers, it is difficult for them to be attentive to their task at hand while watching for visitors and guests.
Solution: Again, a forklift safety system by SIERA.AI uses intelligent proximity detection to identify people or objects that are within the vicinity of the forklift, and provide an audio and visual warning for the forklift operator.
Obstructions and High Level of Noise on the Docks
Loading docks are constantly busy staging orders for shipping, wrapping pallets to ensure safety of goods, moving products and cleaning up debris. When you add this up, it means people…lots of people moving about all the time or during critical busy times. This activity can cause numerous obstructions making it difficult for the forklift operator to ‘see’ around the pallets, or other equipment that may or may not be moving in the next few minutes. In addition, there’s plenty of noise to go around with equipment and people throughout the facility. How can a forklift operator be attentive to all of that…AND perform the job safely? Yes, it poses lots of challenges and risks.
Solution: The pedestrian detection system by SIERA.AI will keep everyone and everything safe with alerts that define if it is a person or object that is within the forklift’s vicinity. This allows the operator to take corrective action to ensure everyone stays safe, and damage to product is low or non-existent.
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