In a warehouse, safety is paramount. But how can you make your warehouse a safer place for everyone? Here we will look at introducing safety barriers and how installing these can keep your warehouse more secure.

Pedestrian Safety Barriers (SEG+)

In a warehouse setting, there is often a combination of foot traffic and forklifts, or other machinery, all working in the same space at once. This is why it is so vital to create a safe space for pedestrian access, as well as a clear route for all important vehicular access – this way, everyone can work safely without concern.

A fantastic way to create this delineation is with Pedestrian Safety Barriers. These barriers are perfect for zoning off separate areas, coming in your choice of black or yellow. If you need to restrict pedestrian access to IT and LV units, available with pedestrian sprung return gates so that equipment can be easily accessed and maintained, as well as demountable shoe plate options.

Each Pedestrian Safety Barrier is created to meet your bespoke needs, including the corner post, end post, mid-post and post centres, with a unit height of 1100mm. Made from high-quality materials, these safety barriers can withstand impact and keep your pedestrian workers safe at all times.

Guardrail Systems (MHE / PIT)

In some warehouse environments, it is essential to have more heavy-duty protection for every member of your workforce. Our guardrail systems are ideal for creating space and clear segregation between forklifts and other equipment from pedestrianised routes within your warehouse.

Available in yellow for clear visibility, these guardrail systems can also be adapted to custom colours in order to suit your warehouse environment. Made from heavy-duty steel, these guardrails are durable and sturdy enough to suit most environments, while still being able to integrate pedestrian gates for improved ease of access.

Concerned about cleanliness in an increasingly safety-conscious world? These systems have foam gaskets under the base rails so that there is less chance of dirt building up or debris collecting. Meanwhile, the closed-cell construction keeps your guardrails free from corrosion even during deep cleans – this means that you will not have to replace your guardrail system as frequently.

Coming with de-stacker extensions, the guardrails can stand at roughly 3000mm, creating a perfect separation from areas with stacked materials or larger pieces of equipment. Available with fittings supplied and all parts included, it is easy to create a safer space within your warehouse.

Pedestrian Handrail Systems (HR50)

Whether inside or outside, your warehouse environment usually requires secure pedestrian walkways. This pedestrian handrail system comes in a choice of yellow or black and is perfect for setting up safe zones within your warehouse setting.

Ideal for factory settings where pedestrian workers need to be separated from conveyor systems, it reduces the likelihood of pedestrian workers straying into areas where they are likely to encounter limb clash or head clash with equipment.

Restricting pedestrian access to safe areas is an essential part of improving worker retention and security – mainly because it results in fewer workplace accidents and injuries.

The pedestrian handrail system has steel boots and you can invest in a low-level barrier rail for added safety. With pedestrian sprung return gates as an option, your equipment will still be easy to access and perform maintenance on, without allowing accidental access.

With all components coming included in your bespoke quote, the system stands at 1100mm, the ideal height for pedestrians and blocking off forklifts and lower height equipment.

Sturdy and long-lasting, you can opt to add demountable shoe plate options for an even higher level of access, while still creating safe and secure walkways for all your workers, whether they are on foot or in a vehicle.

As you can see, installing the correct safety barriers for warehouse environments is a vital step in making certain everyone in your workforce. Whether you are looking for barriers to protect your pedestrian staff and forklift drivers, require a more heavy-duty barrier system for your environment, or need to provide handrails for pedestrians, there are options for your warehouse.

If you are ready to improve the safety in your warehouse, then get in touch with Brandsafe. We can help you to kit out your warehouse, from quote to installation.

Many companies are investing in electric vehicle charging stations at their premises. With commercial units costing well over £1,000, we want to help you avoid EV charging point damage with inexpensive existing products. The deadline for all cars to be electric is approaching fast. So, any venture which operates a fleet or manages logistics is exploring the most cost-effective way to provide EV charging points and the price for installing EV stations can vary enormously.

Then there is the issue of damage to be considered. When electric cars or autonomous vehicles hit a charging point instead of sliding effectively alongside it, the repercussions are considerable. We offer a range of products that will protect these charging points from impact damage; ensuring that your significant investment in this technology is looked after.

How likely is EV charging station damage?

If you don’t protect these new structures, you could face the problem of being unable to charge commercial vehicles that should be out on the road. You also face the need for costly repairs or even a complete replacement. Grants are available for initial installation, but not for when your equipment gets scuffed, clipped or reversed into.

Well-designed EV charging stations are compact and unobtrusive, housing communication and automatic data management systems in their structure, along with either a tethered charging lead or a charging socket. The irony is, the more streamlined your model is, the more likely it is that the complex circuitry and specially designed housing are in peril. Particularly when you initially install the EV points, and driver awareness is low.

Brandsafe provides three standard packages (or a bespoke solution if needed) to shield your EV stations from impact. The one you choose depends on the number of EV points you have, the layout of your site, the volume of likely usage and the size of vehicles operating on the site.

Light Duty Protection

Ideal for private and small public car parks where domestic vehicles are the primary source of traffic, our standard Light Duty Protection package consists of 2 No. ImpactSAFE Protection Posts that are highly visible to pedestrians and drivers. They provide strong and robust impact protection for this type of application.

Medium Duty Protection

For industrial and larger public car parks, we provide 2 No. ImpactSAFE Protection Posts and a Wheel Stop for added coverage. We recommend this package as a solution when there is a medium-to-high risk of impact damage and where light industrial vehicles (such as electric vans) are going to be using these charging points.

Heavy Duty Protection

When there are larger industrial vehicles (such as HLGVs and HGVs), we utilise 2 No. ImpactSAFE Bollards and a Wheel Stop. Brandsafe can also offer Armco Safety Barriers as an additional part of this package, the ideal layout of which we can advise on due to our extensive experience with designing and installing these systems.

Bespoke Solutions

We have the capability and flexibility to create custom solutions to suit the exact requirements of your projects. This can range from non-standard colours to suit clients’ branding, to additional signage and protection for surrounding sign / lamp posts, etc. Brandsafe’s team of Product Specialists are on-hand to advise you.

Site surveys for EV charging points

In commercial settings – such as industrial parks, HGV service yards and fulfilment and logistics bases – protecting your EV charging stations requires more detailed planning. When evaluating where to put EV charging stations – or operating existing ones – don’t forget to consider the repercussions for pedestrians, as well as the level of traffic movement involved.

For example, if your EV point is a section of your car park that’s been used as a short cut by staff, you need to erect warning tapes, impact protection posts and other safety measures. Consider whether wraps for existing lamp or sign posts and rail ends are needed to reduce the risks created as vehicles approach and leave your new EV charging points. This could also be a great time to review your speed bumps and other traffic calming measures.

Speak with our team to discuss your requirements in more detail.

Column wraps, skirts or guards can be sourced cheaply, installed quickly and serve a vital role in warehouse H&S. The potential for column protectors to save you time and money is outlined here.

A momentary distraction or misjudgement in your warehouse could end up costing you dearly. Especially if it results in staff injuries or structural damage that makes your building unsafe. Not to mention lost productivity and repair bills.

One of the most common incidents in warehouse operations is a forklift truck, pallet jack or other machinery and vehicles hitting support columns or racking. In many businesses, it’s often the same edge or corner that gets repeatedly scuffed or reversed in to.

This is a daily risk, no matter how well trained your team are, and no matter how logically you have laid out your warehouse.

Clearly, it represents a serious problem for the driver or operator, or anyone standing nearby if it brings a structure down. Even the slightest knock or graze on an unwieldy surface can dent your high-value equipment. It also has the potential to lead to a visit from a structural engineer to assess potential hidden damage to concrete supports.

Downtime and lost productivity can be an inevitable and unfortunate result.

Many of these issues become far less of a concern by simply fitting low-cost column protection products. Especially ones that are heavy duty and made of the right impact-resistant polymer materials.

The engineering principles of column protection

PolyWRAP Column Protectors are incredibly lightweight and easy to slot into place and secure to any protruding structures. Yet their efficiency in absorbing impact is unparalleled.

Buying these vital warehouse safety produces from Brandsafe also means you benefit from a recyclable polyethene protection system.

We sell a range of standard sizes, which can create a heavy-duty guard on columns from 152mm x 152mm up to 914mm x 305mm in size. However, we can also provide custom-fit column protectors for the ultimate structural shield.

This range is stackable, and due to its clamshell design and ratchet straps, it can be fitted and secured in minutes.

The recessed feature covers the base plate and studs up to 500mm x 500mm, avoiding trip hazards in warehouses too.

It will start having a positive effect from minute one. The bright colours act as alert to the presence of supports in the path of moving machinery. However, the true test comes when the first impact occurs. The quality polyethene material absorbs the kinetic energy, minimising the damage to both the machine and column.

Don’t forget PolyWRAP Column Protectors are ideal for outdoor use too, to keep the approach to your warehouse safer and less prone to damage.

Additional forklift impact protection

In areas where forklift activity is particularly high, we recommend considering the addition of PolyWRAP Forklift Impact Skirting may be useful. It creates a barrier 140mm high at the base of the column protector and can safely absorb the low-level impacts from forklift truck forks and pallets.

It shares many of the advantages of PolyWRAP Column Protectors, as it needs no mechanical placement or fixing, and can be slotted securely around vulnerable structures swiftly and inexpensively.

Impact protection in modern day warehouses is not a static issue

Once you have installed safety products at loading bay doors, around racking and to protect major columns, there could still be more risks to shield against. Mapping out your warehouse to replace or add extra barriers, guides and column protectors should be a continuous process.

You could well find that your operations shift and change over time, so your building’s vulnerabilities alter too. Or, new staff or visiting drivers ‘hit’ on places you have inadvertently left exposed.

Buying quality column protectors and other easy to fit safety products means you can replace and relocate them with minimum fuss. Though buying the right column protectors ensures you won’t need to buy new ones too often!

Modern warehouse safety product manufacturers have got creative and used their design and engineering knowledge to create a superb range of inexpensive aids for H&S compliance in warehouses. To chat through the solutions to your needs, and benefit from our safety advice and product recommendations, give us a call.