Can Expandable Safety Barriers Lower the Accident Rate?

Any business owner or manager in charge of a warehouse or factory operation will understand, accidents happen. However, managing risk is an essential part of any modern business and reducing accidents should be a top priority. An accident can affect a business in a number of ways, such as morale, compensation, downtime and a loss of productivity. Often, accidents can increase in frequency because of a creeping complacency in regard to best safety practices. In this article, we will take a closer look at how you can use safety barriers to promote safety.

Defining Areas Where Heavy Machinery is Operating

A set of expandable safety barriers can be used to demarcate locations where heavy equipment is located. They can also be used to designate boundaries where moving equipment, such as forklifts and reach lifting gear is working. This will help to clearly designate where pedestrians passing these areas can clearly walk. Paths can be created for employees and visitors where their chances of interacting with unexpected or unfamiliar machinery are significantly reduced.

Keeping People and Moving Equipment Separate

Every warehouse or busy factory floor will have clearly designated lanes for moving machinery and passing pedestrian traffic. At the very basic level, this is a standard health and safety requirement that must be adhered to. However, there are rare cases where these types of moving lanes may be shared. In these areas, it’s vital to use safety barriers to minimise any potential accidents. If it’s at all possible, shared lanes should be avoided, but if it cannot be avoided traffic lighting may be needed. Used in conjunction with barriers, traffic signals could increase safety and keep moving machinery and people apart.

Increasing Safety Awareness

A set of expandable safety barriers will work well as a visual aid to increasing visitor and employee awareness. As any working day progresses, attention levels diminish as fatigue begins to set in. This coupled with heavy or moving machinery is a recipe for a potentially serious accident. Safety barriers are an immediate reminder that a visitor or employee is in an area where potentially dangerous equipment is operating. These visual cues will encourage people to check their surroundings and proceed carefully as they navigate the space. This will help to keep them on a safer path and promote better safety for everyone in the workplace.

Enhancing Equipment Protection

The safety barriers installed in your workplace offer a useful visual cue and a physical deterrent to protect your valuable equipment. Employees are encouraged to stay out of areas where they don’t understand the equipment being used. Operators can have more confidence in using their equipment and focus on important tasks. Moving equipment and vehicles can maneuver in and out of designated areas with a reduced chance of encountering a pedestrian that should not be there.

If you’re in the market for a set of expandable safety barriers, get in touch with Image Bollards. We have a wide selection of barriers available to suit a wide variety of uses, and our team is standing by to offer expert advice.