Even Safety Gates Use Accessories

Who doesn’t like accessories? While they often help to dress up people and products, they also provide function.

Safety systems are no exception when it comes to the market for accessories. Gates come in all shapes, sizes and even colors; different models are right for specific applications in material handling, distribution and manufacturing. While standard safety gates provide fall protection by meeting OSHA standards without impeding on production, accessories for safety gates can add additional protection and efficiency.

The following are available accessories to dress up your safety gate models while making production and operations more efficient:

Netting and Metal Mesh:
Protective safety netting and wire mesh panels for the sides or the unit or gates can be provided. The netting and mesh provide additional guarding in the pallet drop area, preventing product from falling from elevated platforms. These accessories also provide an extra layer of protection for people from getting too close to pallet drop zone during loading and off-loading of material.

Power Operation:

Power operation can be added to any of our safety gate models, which can save time in operations in which lift trucks are depositing material to upper levels. Push button controls allow for employees on lower and upper levels to open and close the safety gates to load and unload material.

All of the power-operated systems we offer include built-in safety features like photo eyes that detect the presence of a person or object and prevent the gates from closing, along with a adjustable clutch that will engage if the gate were to make contact with an object.The commercial motors have built-in safety features and numerous controls that can be used, like radio frequency remotes on the lift truck, and flashing lights and caution alarms.

Wireless Controls and Sensors:

Controls or sensors added to safety gates can speed operations, especially in those that incorporate AGVs. Safety gates equipped with sensors allow the AGV to determine if the ledge gate of the safety gate is open or closed.

Controls can also be integrated with the safety gate power operation so that when the ledge gate is up, sensors send information to an AGV, telling it that material can be loaded into the pallet drop area. Once the pallets are loaded into the work area, the sensors send a signal to close the ledge-side of the safety gate and the workers can then work with the material that was loaded into the area.

Photo eyes posted on the gate can also work with sensors to ensure the ledge-side gate is in place when it detects workers on the platform, providing safety for the workers on the upper levels.


Software Integration:

Software integrated with safety gates can help track product and processes in a facility’s operations. For example, by wiring a safety gate power station to the facility system, operation of the safety gate can be integrated with processing computers so the system could track materials going to each pallet drop area. The integration can track the cycles of the safety gate to determine what had been delivered, what had been processed and which area needed to be replenished. It can also track the time it takes to do each task.

Safety devices can get dressed up to make your facility more efficient while meeting safety regulations. Contact us if you’d like to learn more about how accessories can help you truly integrate safety into your facility’s operations and processes.