Increasing visibility and site safety in your facility

Increase pedestrian safety at your factory, warehouse or site

Warehouses, industrial businesses and commercial complexes often feature shared areas where both vehicles and pedestrians need access.

Even with plenty of space to move, accidents can still happen any time people and vehicles have the potential to meet. Injuries caused by forklifts, reversing vehicles and other moving machinery can range from minor to fatal.

Therefore, it’s critical that businesses provide safe passage for workers on foot, visitors and other pedestrians.

Ensuring people can move around your site, factory or warehouse safely should be an important part of your workplace health and safety plan. Your safety representative can advise on the best options that are specific to your business, however, here are some general suggestions and tips to ensure you create a safe working environment for all.

3 ways to increase safety for both staff and visitors:

Be seen with site safety mirrors

Plenty of workplace accidents occur every year, all around the country, when people are struck by vehicles causing serious harm. However, simple additions such as convex safety mirrors provide a safe way to look around corners without having to put yourself in harm’s way.

Using a safety mirror to check for vehicles around corners and in difficult positions enables both pedestrians and workers to stay safe, as well as ensuring drivers can see other oncoming vehicles.

Safety mirrors are made from tough polycarbonate and their convex shape makes their field of vision extra wide. You can buy a range of different safety mirrors in different sizes, which correspond with how far away hazards are or how far you need to see. Bigger mirrors help you to see hazards that are further away.

Take a look at the different mirrors in our online store.

Use floor tape to mark walkways in your warehouse

Creating designated pedestrian zones with simple, easy to follow floor markings will help to keep workers and visitors in the safe zone and ensure people to not stray out into the main floor areas.

One way to create designed pedestrian walkways is to use a heavy duty floor tape. Floor hazard tape is a bright black and yellow coloured adhesive tape which is applied to floors to mark out walkways and paths. There are different types available including non-slip textured and reflective tape varieties, however the black and yellow chevron design is a good choice for most industries. Using this tape on smooth surfaces such as concrete warehouse floors acts as a strong visual reminder to follow the designated walking areas around site. It helps to discourage people from taking shortcuts and putting themselves in harm’s way.

PVC floor tape can also be used to mark out areas around machinery so that pedestrians don’t get too close whilst machines are operating. It can also be used to create a visual cue that you are entering a different area and perhaps need additional PPE or need to be particularly vigilant of machines or equipment.

Use simple barriers to cordon off risky areas

Installing permanent steel barriers around the factory floor is a good choice for main walkways and paths that are unlikely to be changed. However, it can be good to have more temporary options available to cordon off hazards as well. This is where portable barriers can come in useful.

Portable steel barriers are also known as crowd control barriers, and they can be easily set up and moved as needed. Likewise, expanding steel barriers use a concertina motion to expand up to 2.5 metres wide.

Expanding barriers are great for roping off temporary hazards, closing off access to parts of your warehouse or factory, and using across roller doors when you need to limit access. Expanding steel barriers are powder coated in red and white making them easy to see even in dim areas of your factory. These heavy duty barriers are designed for both indoor and outdoor use so they can also be used in areas such as carparks, around outdoor equipment, and for managing the flow of delivery vehicles.

When it comes to creating a safe environment for your team, there is a wealth of products available to help you make it happen. From simple cheap fixes to more complex engineered solutions, getting safety right on site is easy with Jaybro!

Give our team a call for advice and assistance, or browse our online store for a whole range of site safety products such as bollards, safety signs, ladders and safety steps, and storage cabinets for flammable liquids and dangerous goods.

As always, it’s important to check with your workplace health and safety representative and consult the standard and regulations for your industry for more specific advice for your business.

This information is provided as an introductory guide only and does not constitute professional advice. Ensure you make your own independent enquiries at your workplace before deciding if a particular product is right for you. Consult the regulations and standards applicable to your area and check with your workplace health and safety representative for further information. Jaybro does not warrant the accuracy, content, completeness or suitability of the information on this site (or any site owned by the Jaybro Group) for your individual purposes. Any price or saving claim is correct at the time of publishing, and subject to change without notice.