5 Ways To Increase Loading Dock Safety

Your workers deserve a safe place to do their jobs, and a loading dock area is a prime space for problems if you’re not careful. Rather than assuming people will work around issues, be proactive and ensure the dock is safe as a default state. That includes keeping everything in good shape and giving workers the equipment and knowledge to avoid accidents and other bad situations.

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Increasing loading dock safety isn’t just about posting signs or giving people some goggles to protect their eyes. It’s a multifaceted issue that needs to be addressed in several ways. Workers need to know what to do, and they have to have the means to avoid or remedy unsafe situations quickly. By increasing loading dock safety, your company can function better, and get a better reputation among potential employees as well.

Train Your Staff/Contractors

Safety rules don’t mean much if people don’t know about them or how to put them into effect. Train each new worker and put longer-term workers through training refresher courses. Make sure people really know how to use all the equipment and what to do in case of emergency. That’s going to stop a lot of injuries right in their tracks.

Provide PPE

Your workers should wear whatever personal protective equipment they think is necessary. This can go beyond what’s actually necessary; for example, someone in a warehouse might need a hard hat, but that person might also elect to wear knee pads, too. Provide the equipment people need and at least some of the equipment people want, even if it isn’t strictly required. If the equipment is there, people will be more likely to use it, enhancing dock safety.

Maintain Equipment

Make sure that the equipment you have is in great shape and is working properly. This is one of the more important things you can do to keep the loading dock area safe because malfunctioning equipment can lead to injuries. Even something as simple as ensuring cracks in the floor concrete get fixed quickly can make everyone safer. Put machinery through routine inspections and maintenance every year and replace equipment that keeps breaking down.

Improve Weather Seals

Adverse weather can be a safety issue for people sheltered inside the loading dock area. Rain can make the ground slick, and heat and cold can lead to physical problems like heat exhaustion and numbness. Adding new weather seals at the door helps create a better barrier between the interior loading dock area and the weather, the seals help provide a better block to any air-conditioned air in the dock escaping in summer, for example. When your workers are more comfortable and not dealing with slippery conditions, they’ll be a lot safer.

Replace Old Loading Dock Bumpers

Truck drivers are skilled at backing trucks up to a loading dock, but accidents can happen. This is why the dock doors have bumpers on them, both to protect the building itself and ensure the workers get a bit of a heads-up if a truck has backed up a bit too far. Older bumpers can become brittle after years of exposure to heat and cold, and previous accidents can weaken them as well. Replacing older bumpers is another way to increase loading dock safety.

If you need new loading dock bumpers in South Jersey or have to find out about concrete loading dock repair in South Jersey, Stokes Equipment has what you need. Keep your workers safe as they load up and unload inventory or other items you have passed through your warehouse.