A load off your mind
December 1st 2007

An estimated 25% of factory and warehouse accidents occur in the loading bay. High levels of human and mechanical traffic combined with a low appreciation of the risks involved, means that loading bays are potentially very hazardous places in which to work explains Caljan Rite-Hite managing director, Mike Hilton

Loading bays are the areas within a warehouse where ingoing and outgoing goods are loaded and unloaded from a road vehicle. Normally this will mean articulated lorries and trailers that are serviced by forklift trucks. The loading/unloading will take place either from the side of a curtain sided trailer or the back of a solid sided trailer.

Loading bays will typically fall into one of two categories: one with a raised dock area, which a lorry will reverse up to, or one which is flat, and at the same level as the warehouse floor. The hazards that exist are different, dependent upon the type of loading bay and the equipment used.

With a raised loading dock, the road vehicle will reverse up to the dock, and the floor of the trailer will be at the same height. A dock leveller moves up and down to bridge the gap between the two, to enable forklift trucks to make a smooth, safe transition into and out of the trailer. A flat floor loading bay will have forklift trucks lifting the goods from the floor into the trailer.

Safety in the loading bay is not a stationery target, and over the years there have been many major technological advances, making the loading bay a safe and more efficient area in which to operate. Examples include the wide spread replacement of unreliable mechanical dock levellers with electrically controlled hydraulic devices, the interlocking of all the equipment on the loading dock to reduce operator errors, and the introduction of wheel locks to prevent lorry trailers moving away from the loading dock before they should.

Unplanned departures Unplanned trailer departure from the loading dock is one of the most common hazards in the warehouse. This can occur either because the trailer 'creeps' away from the dock as it is being loaded or unloaded, or because the driver drives off, thinking it is okay to do so.

To prevent such occurrences, it is essential that a clear system of communication between lorry drivers and warehouse personnel exists. A traffic light system is an easy solution but it is by no means 'foolproof'. A wheel restraint, which locks the trailer in place, is far more effective and solves the problems of trailer creep and unplanned vehicle departure.

Runaway forklifts Another hazard is forklift trucks running off loading docks, which account for seven percent of the thousands of forklift accidents that occur every year. A safety barrier is a simple to use safety solution. The barrier is manually positioned across loading dock openings and physically stops forklift trucks and pedestrians from falling off the docks.

Caljan Rite-Hite recently supplied four vehicle locking systems and four safety barriers to the Kelloggs manufacturing facility in Wrexham, North Wales. The Global Wheel Lok (GWL) is a trailer restraint for vehicles with rear axles up to 4000mm from the back of the trailer.

These are typically found on continental container vehicles. The Dok Guardian Safety Barrier is a manually positioned barrier that helps prevent forklift trucks and pedestrians from falling off loading docks.

Explaining why Kelloggs decided to put a system in place to secure its trailers and reduce the potential for accidents from unplanned vehicle departure, Roger Sumner, warehouse engineer, said: "A feature that was particularly appealing was the automatic positioning of the lockarm that holds the vehicle in place. The obvious benefit of the product is that the trailer can only leave the loading dock when the team loading the trailer decides, which has helped us maintain a safe environment for our warehouse personnel." The substantial risks of the loading bay continuously need addressing, to reduce the number of loading bay accidents. Dock personnel must be properly trained in the safe use of all loading equipment, and safe working systems must be put in place.

There is now cost-effective technology available to warehouse operators that will reduce the high level of accidents in the loading bay, and the costly repairs and legal problems that can result from these. Combine this with operator training and the loading bay will become a less hazardous place.

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