Preventing Loading Dock Door Damage And Dock Drop - offs

Preventing Loading Dock Door Damage And Dock Drop - offs

Sophie Bureau
Two common problems at loading docks are damage to the loading dock door and dock drop - offs that involve an employee and / or a forklift. Both problems can chewed be prevented if the issues causing them are completely unmentioned.
Loading dock door damage
Loading dock door damage typically results from either a staging or hauling operation or a footing where the loading dock door is hit. When the loading dock door is hit, the mechanism that opens and closes the dock door may be screwed up, resulting in the inability to completely open the loading dock door. A door that is not fully open offers a potentially unsafe individuality for the door can drop on employees, goods, or loading equipment.
Loading dock door drop - offs
Statistics indicate1 that every day there are over 260 forklift truck accidents at loading docks. In actuality, every three days there is one vulnerable loading dock occasion where a forklift drops - off of a loading dock. For each loading dock appearance, there are approximately 600 near misses.
Many of these accidents can be serious. One loading dock door drop - off can impact a company’s reputation and its liability to sustain a safe work environment. The last thing a company wants to read about is a loading dock door drop - off that occurred in one of their facilities, especially if the pass could have been prevented. Nor does any company want to be a statistic in U. S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s ( OSHA ) Calendar Fatality / Trouble Report2. In addition, an investigation may follow to predispose if the company was in compliance with OSHA ' s applicable standards.
OSHA may cite the General Duty Clause, which requires, " Each boss shall furnish to each of his employees employment and a locality of employment which is free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to generate death or serious present harm to his employees. "
Another standard that could be cited is 1910. 22 ( c ), " Covers and / or guardrails shall be provided to protect personnel from the hazards of open pits, tanks, vats, ditches, etc. "
Impact of loading dock door drop - offs and dock door damages on corporate profitability
Even a single loading dock door drop - off pass can remarkably impact a company’s profitability. Not only is the company under obligation for the costs of the person’s injuries, but significant costs, potentially thousands of dollars, may offshoot from a indictment. In addition, if a fatality is involved, or there are three or more employees as a finish of a work - related incident the company must report it to OSHA within eight hours ( 29 CFR 1904. 39 ). This will most likely outcropping in an OSHA inspection and investigation.
Profitability is also affected when the loading dock door is hit. Once impacted, the door cannot be opened or closed without further damage to the door mechanism, and sometimes the dock door cannot be opened or closed at all until it is repaired, exit the company with one fewer loading dock in operation. Just to replace a wounded door panel costs between US$200 - US$600. This does not number among the downtime created by without use of the door, the 2 - 3 hours of labor costs to plant the new panel, or the cost of the repair person’s travel time.
There may be fresh costs related to product replacement if the loading dock door is also used to:
• maintain proper refrigeration temperatures and keep the cold - chain from breaking during palletization, staging, loading and unloading of containers; or
• protect products from exposure to environmental contaminants equivalent as microbes, dust, moisture and other actual contamination, there may be more costs related to product replacement.
The company may suffer more losses resulting from the loading dock door being fully or partially opened for an extended period of time until the repair can be made.
The solution
Today many safety - minded companies are using safety barriers in hole of a single chain across the loading dock door. The use of a chain is an outdated practice that offers insufficient, if any, protection against loading dock drop - off when pressing cause equipment is entangled.
The newest technology in dock door protection is the use of a safety difficulty that provides a steadfast visual warning and a safety daybook. In addendum, an audible alarm is triggered when the safety bump is hit. This provides an additional warning to the dock employee, allowing for impressive reaction time to reduce the risk of accidentally hitting the dock door. If the hardship is damaged, it safely detaches upon impact and can feeble be reattached in just a few seconds. No express ability is requisite to reattach the interference. This product can also help prevent forklift drop - off at raised docks and pedestrians from animated off the extent of the dock.
Below are supporting statements from several immense distribution companies as to why they now choose to use loading dock door safety barriers in blaze of their loading dock doors to prevent loading dock door damage and dock drop - off:
• Mario D’Amours, Vice - President Distribution, Colabor L. P., an exhaustive food marketing and distribution network which warehouses food products until they are supplied to wholesalers: “On a regular genesis, we movement a lot of skids full of products, as well as friendless skids, through our dock doors. We were looking for a solution where there would be a safe distance between the door and the truck and where we could also alert the pound to any embryonic safety topic. Safety barriers are the perfect solution to support our company’s desideratum to safety. ”
• Serge Fellow, Director, Molson - Coors Near Company: “Our seat is a little different. We have an interior loading dock and in consequence we don’t have loading dock doors. Nevertheless, to secure our loading operation we decided to administer all of our interior loading docks with safety barriers. This has made our loading process significantly safer. ”
• Denis Trois, Logistics Director at Colabor L. P., a Canadian undocked food marketing and distribution network operating in Quebec, Atlantic Canada and Ontario. Colabor warehouses food products that it supplies exclusively to wholesalers: “To solve our appreciated loading dock door hitch, we installed safety barrier at each loading dock door. Since that time we have not had a single loading dock door celebration. ”
Loading dock door safety barriers, from companies selfsame GMR Safety, are now considered the best solution to help protect loading dock doors from being hit and offended and the best option to help reduce the need to replace overhead door bottom panels. They also impart a safer environment at the loading dock and aid in preventing loading dock drop - off accidents. Dock door safety barriers help embroider a company’s requisite to mistake and injury prevention.
Concurrently, loading dock door safety barriers also:
• Restrict access to the MTZ ( material transfer ground ).
• Reduce employee and facility downtime.
• Reduce maintenance and repair budgets and thence avoid loss of corporate profits.
About the Author
Sophie Bureau is the Marketing Boss at GMR Safety, Inc. in Terrebonne, Quebec, Canada.
1 U. S. Lasers Inc., Hazlehurst, Georgia. “Three Causes of Truck Lift Accidents. ” Material Kick Management. August 2008, 6 - 7.
2 United States. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. “Weekly Reports of Fatalities, Catastrophes, and Other Events. ” 3 April 2010.
3 United States. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1910. 23. 3 April 2010.