A logistics company was recently fined £20,000 after a worker was hit by a reversing fork lift truck and suffered serious head injuries.
CCTV footage from the busy yard showed fork lift trucks loading and unloading vans while pedestrians freely walked around the area and in between the trucks.
The HSE prosecuted the company for breaching the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations by failing to segregate vehicles and people in the yard.
The HSE inspector who lead the investigation and prosecution commented that: “Workplace transport incidents are the third highest cause of workplace fatalities, and accidents can be prevented if companies implement simple control measures.
“The need to walk through this area was clearly foreseeable and the risk from vehicle traffic was high. When I saw the CCTV footage, it was clear this was an accident waiting to happen.”
Where there is regular vehicle traffic such as in warehouses, loading bays, yards and logistics centres, pedestrians or vehicles must be able to use a traffic route without causing danger to the health or safety of people working near it.
An effective way to keep vehicles and pedestrians separate is through protective barriers and guardrails. These can provide a safe route within an area where vehicles are working or prevent access to a specific area. Both Kee Klamp® Key Clamps and Kee Lite® fittings and our Kwik Kit ‘Off the Shelf’ Railing Kits are the ideal solution for separating pedestrians and vehicles. The flexibility of Kee Klamp® Key Clamps and Kee Lite® fittings allows the design of a barrier system to accommodate changes in angles as well as different levels. Spring loaded self closing safety gates can provide additional protection with the barrier or guardrail systems as users area made aware that they are leaving a safe area as they pass through the safety gate.
A further benefit of using fittings to construct barriers and guardrails is that, if the system is struck by a vehicle, it can be quickly and easily repaired by replacing the damaged fittings and tube.
All barrier systems are available in High visibility “Safety Yellow” powder coating.
Tue, 10/27/2015 – 14:49
Protective barriers and guardrails constructed from Kee Klamp and Kee Lite fittings are an effective solution to keeping vehicles and pedestrians separate in busy warehouses, loading bays and logistic centres.
Barrier solutions to segregate vehicles and pedestrians
