Securing Areas with Limited Depth: A Case Study
We all know that distribution centers, material handling, manufacturing facilities are getting larger - often growing up, adding levels onto the existing facility. Even as facilities grow larger, there are pallet drop areas where space is limited for employees and product. Often these pallet drop areas are integrated with conveyors, walkways, hoppers or other obstructions. The lack of space has seemingly taken away the ability for safety systems to be installed; but safety is a necessity, as even though space is limited, these areas can pose great risk for employees. The areas must be properly guarded, and there are solutions that can be used.
Recently a large flavor and fragrance company reached out to us to help them secure the ledges of their pallet drop areas. There were many issues that needed to be addressed; a big one being a serious fall hazard. Employees were working at levels over ten feet off of the ground in order to accommodate the large hoppers being used in the operations. Employees picked from pallets at the ledge, and then dumped bags of ingredients into hoppers for processing; this operation invited employees towards to the unguarded ledges and lifting heavy bags of ingredients from that location. Not to mention, the area was dusty and hot due to the nature of the business, and the repetitive labor was a recipe for injury.
In addition, the material was comprised of food products, so any guarding solution would have to be manufactured out of stainless steel with specific sanitary requirements.
And, perhaps most challenging, was the limited amount of depth on the platform due to the location of the hoppers, which were designed close to the ledge so the operator didn’t have to move far to load the ingredients. The customer wanted a dual-gate system to keep the area secure, but a traditional solution such as a Roly or Pivot gate would take up too much space on the platform.
The solution we provided was the Tri-Side safety gate, which uses fixed stanchions only 14” deep and a rear-side gate that cantilevers off of the stanchions and raises up and out of the way to provide access to pallets. The rear-side gate is interconnected and counterbalanced with a gate at the ledge so one gate is always in the closed position securing the area.
Upon our suggestion, lift tables were installed at the pallet drop locations to position the pallet at an ergonomic height while the pallet is unloaded by hand. The Tri-Side safety gates were designed to fit around the tables and the pallets, and were manufactured out of electro-polished stainless steel. The gate also included all stainless hardware and capped ends specifically designed to meet the end user’s sanitary requirements.
No matter how difficult you think the area may be, there is likely a solution. Make sure to reach out to a company that specializes in pallet drop guarding solutions so they can work with you to design a dual-gate solution specific for the area that provides protection at all times.