A New Way of Working in the Industrial Sector

COVID-19 has significantly changed the industrial landscape for the foreseeable future. Online shopping has reached unprecedented levels, putting greater demand on warehousing, logistics and transport hubs. Our supermarkets have been under immense pressure, heightening levels of manufacturing, warehousing and logistics. UK manufacturing is seeing an upturn as many companies re-shore back to their homeland, from the Far East, to become more self-sufficient and not have to rely upon other countries in case of another pandemic or emergency situation. Throw social distancing measures into the mix and suddenly workplaces realise they need to re-think their safety and protection systems and traffic flows in and around the building.

New Ways of Working Can Present New Health, Safety and Production Challenges

Every business has had to implement social distancing measures in order to re-open. For some, these will be quite extensive and, if you’re in the industrial sector, this can seriously impact the output and productivity of your facility. Suddenly, plants and facilities are faced with a balancing act they must get right – protecting the health of the workforce, alongside the safety of the people (as well as the building and everything within it), whilst achieving maximum output.

Review How People and Vehicles Operate in the Facility

It’s time to get everybody around the table – department representatives for Health & Safety, Environment, Quality, Transport, Operations, etc. to review the KPIs, targets and output requirements and identify the main health and safety risks associated with these. Consider how new social distancing measures will impact the outputs and the safety. Whilst it’s utterly important to keep people healthy, their safety must be top priority too. Review floor plans and consider shift patterns and volume of traffic at different times of the day. As your production increases, you need to optimise the workspace so that you can facilitate the maximum amount of people, vehicles and equipment whilst maintaining strict health and safety standards.

Partner with an Industrial Safety Specialist

Specialist companies like Brandsafe will help you to reorganise your safety systems and help you get more from your workspace. It could be as simple as putting an extra ‘break’ in your pedestrian walkways to allow vehicle traffic flow; adding in extra safety barriers; implementing bespoke segregation zones for safe picking and packing; Perspex screen systems (for segregating pick workers to operate in close proximity to co-workers to create the social distance measures associated with the current COVID-19 risks) or redesigning your entire traffic flow system – whatever solution will enable your facility to perform at its best whilst keeping your people healthy and the entire work environment safe. Proactive organisations that review their industrial workspaces will profit from healthier, happier and more productive workforces that can facilitate any increases in volume and demand.

Keep Workforces Happy, Safe and Productive

Keeping staff and operators at work by implementing these new high performance measures that need instating in today’s new workplace, will prove to be hugely profitable - if only to arrest the huge costs that will ensue by workers staying away from work through health issues or the fear of health issues. The businesses that invest and visibly demonstrate the improvements and measures being implemented to create the new health and safety standards of workspace environments where employees do not feel ‘vulnerable’, will ensure your staff and operators come to work - not only because they want to but also because they are safe and healthy to do so. You can clearly then conclude that the businesses who achieve this will not only have a workforce committed, present, safe and healthy, but will also achieve higher performance for the company’s top and bottom line (not to mention your customers who will also gain higher performance from you in terms of delivery and customer service).

Speak to Brandsafe for more information about implementing safety systems in the workplace.

The Importance of High Visibility Safety Fittings

Impact Prevention Should Go Hand-in-Hand with Impact Protection

When you’ve invested – in many cases – millions of pounds into a refurbished building or a purpose-built facility, you will want to protect the property, the assets and of course, the people. This is where colour and high visibility play an important role. When you’re thinking about the safety solutions around the workplace, you should seriously consider making zones that are at risk of impact, extremely visible through colour. It’s really important that the safety barrier does its job, should it be impacted, but preventing the impact in the first place, through high-visibility products, is a very important safety measure, which can often be overlooked. It’s the step before impact and it will ultimately prevent it. It’s important because things can be seen. The use of colour highlights risks and addresses key risk areas.

Quality Is Important

It’s incredible that I see many companies who have spent upwards of £50m on a new facility and they opt for painted bollards that will go rusty. Having made such a significant capital investment, don’t let it down with the finishing touches. Your facility will look tired before its time, plus it’ll cost you more money to have to re-paint on a bi-annual basis. Instead, opt for quality from the start, for example, galvanised steelwork for long-term corrosion protection, with the addition of vibrant colour polymer cover kits, will underscore your investment with the new generation of safety and impact protection solutions.

Underscoring Your Multi-Million Pound Investment

Don’t go for a mixture of products, of varying qualities, across multiple suppliers. Go for something that underscores your multi-million pound investment. You need a total solution that is sympathetic to your new investment and to your brand culture. You need to be thinking high-performing impact protection that looks as good as it performs. Some companies buy some products from a main contractor and then some from somewhere else. This lets the facility down at the last hurdle. To ensure the safety and the quality continuity throughout the site, engage with a specialist supplier in safety and impact protection.

Influencing Employee Behaviour

The influence that colour can have goes beyond immediate impact prevention. High quality safety investments will influence the safer behaviour that your new facility needs. It sets a standard and encourages a code of conduct and safety practice amongst the operations and production staff at a busy site. Being proud of the facility you work within will ensure you take more care – don’t underestimate that power.

Corporate Culture and Branding Benefits

Not only do coloured safety solutions provide functional benefits but the aesthetics can impact on culture, wellbeing and of course, impressions. Co-ordinating your safety fixtures and fittings with your corporate brand really can enhance as well as ensure longevity of the look and feel of your property.

The Importance of Working with an Industrial Safety Specialist

When it comes to the safety solution for your impact protection, you should consider a specialist partner who can consult and guide you through the process. High quality, high visibility fittings will bring you a long-lasting solution that withstands the test of time and impact. Your investment of the new facility is significant; make sure you underscore it with high-performing, highly durable, high-visibility safety fittings. Work with a partner who provides you the total solution and one that will match the colours to your needs – whether that’s a colour-coded system or for branding or aesthetic purposes – a good provider can assist you with bespoke colour solutions.

Contact Brandsafe to discuss how we can help you with your project.

Tips for Implementing Impact Safety in the Workplace

People Safety, Building Safety and Workplace Productivity

When it comes to safety-proofing the building there are a three main objectives that must be, not only achieved, but harmonised. These are the safety of people; the safety of the property (including internal fixtures and fittings) and the operational efficiency of the site. When you’ve invested millions of pounds into a new or renovated property, you need to protect the investment. If this is a productive workspace then you have the added complexity of making sure it’s operationally efficient and safe.

Select a Credible Partner

Do your homework and making sure you appoint a reputable partner / supplier, when it comes to impact safety in the workplace. It’s a very specialist area and, by selecting the right partner, you will surely save yourself time and money and you will achieve the right results for your site. Look at their website, read any case studies and speak to the organisation, to get a feel for their approach and expertise. Also think about how unique your solution needs to be. Some suppliers will answer the brief by curating a group of products together; the best suppliers will tailor-fit a solution – even adapt products – to deliver what the site really needs.

Provide a Solid Brief

A good partner will take the time to understand the site-specific needs, but it is always helpful if the customer is prepared with a brief. The supplier needs to understand the full purpose of the site or facility. For example, will it be automated, manual pick, high-bay racking. They need to know the purpose of the facility and how it will operate, so they can identify any risks and opportunities.

Get Your Specialist Partner Involved Early In the Process

As soon as your project is live, then involve your specialist impact protection partner. Essentially you’re getting a free-of-charge consultancy – they will make a valuable contribution to how the site functions and operates both safely and effectively.

Devise a Safety of People Plan

Working with your supplier, devise a Safety of People plan. If you have a lot of machinery and vehicles operating on site, then the safety of the operators – and all the people – is paramount. By doing this exercise, you naturally start to form a Protection of Property and Equipment Plan, which is the next logical step.

Devise a Protection of Property and Equipment Plan

As mentioned before, this goes hand-in-hand with the protection of your people, but allows you to explore and assess further risks to the property and equipment. From here you’ll identify areas and assets that require additional safeguarding.

Risk Assess Your Total Safety and Protection Requirements

This is the point where you get all the key stakeholders around the table to review the safety and protection requirements. This usually involves the architect, the developer / contractor, the proprietor and the specialist impact protection partner. There will always be site-specifics and different customer needs and risks, and this process will ensure you’ve covered everything – from safety of people and property, through to productivity and even the aesthetics, which really do matter too.

Refer Back to Your Plan Throughout

When it comes to the installation phase, make sure you keep referring back. Review your plans and review the marked-up drawings. Sometimes you will need to make changes. A good partner will be proactive and adopt a flexible approach to your potential change of needs or requirements.

Speak to Brandsafe about your site-specific safety requirements.