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Cold storage continues to be a fast-growing sector in material handling. Demand for space in this sector has outpaced traditional warehousing real estate, and the facilities often include large rack supported pick modules to store goods, primarily food products.

In most cold storage facilities, rack supported pick modules feature pallet drop areas in the upper levels of the system. For increased efficiency and inventory tracking, AS/RS systems often utilize automated vehicles to load and move material to and from the pallet drop area. Employees work around these elevated drop zones, often alongside the automated vehicles, moving products to different areas within the pick modules.

Fall protection for employees working around the pallet drop areas in the pick module is mandated by OSHA’s Walking Working Surfaces regulations and ANSI standards. Pallet drop safety gates that provide a dual-gate system to ensure there is a barrier from the ledge at all times are the ideal solution for these areas.

Any mezzanine safety gate selected for fall protection in cold storage facilities must fit within the environment. From the construction to operation, these safety gates must differ from those used in traditional warehouses and storage systems. There are are four things to remember when you are looking to secure elevated pallet drop areas in cold storage systems.

1. Save Space by Using Rack Uprights
Space is a huge issue in any storage system, and often there is minimal space to move material, let alone operate a safety gate. Because rack supported pick modules are widely used in cold storage systems, safety gate models should utilize existing rack support structures to maximize usable workspace. The ledge-side gate opens and closes flush with rear upright columns and does not extend into the lift-truck aisle, and the rear-side gate opens and closes flush with the rear upright column and does not extend into the picking aisle. These gates can be designed to secure both picking positions or empty pallet/tote return bays.

In extremely busy drop areas, using a Rack Supported Total Control Access (TCA) safety gate ensures that one gate is always closed at all times. Operating in the same fashion as a traditional dual-gate system but not in tandem, the TCA provides for each gate to be fully closed before the other can open.

2. Ensure Proper Construction Material
In most warehouse environments, pallet drop safety gates are constructed from powder-coated steel. However, the hostile environment of a cold storage facility often requires construction from stainless steel, which can handle freezer environments as well as temperature fluctuations or frequent rinsing.

3. Choose Climate-Optimized Power
Increasingly, mezzanine safety gates for pick modules are being equipped with power operation. Motors should be optimized for the climate; in cold or other hostile climates, waterproof, explosion-proof and heated motors should be evaluated.

Power allows for the AGV or fork-lift truck operator to open and close the safety gate when loading or unloading material. This provides for a very ergonomic and sanitary “no touch” fall protection solution for employees working around pallets in the pick module.

4. Add Additional Measures for Automation
Mezzanine safety gates can go beyond providing fall protection for employees in a couple of ways. First, it can provide product containment by adding safety netting or mesh panels to the safety gate system. Safety netting is often applied to the ledge gate for product containment, and can also be applied to the rear gate and sides for a fully contained pallet drop area. Metal mesh panels can be installed on the sides of the gates for product containment. Both options provide fall protection for employees and products, and keep the pallet drop area a hands-free zone while being loaded and unloaded by an automated vehicle.

In addition, the pallet drop gates can be a part of the overall warehouse automation system. Facility managers can add sensors equipped with WMS software to track products as they move through the safety gate in the loading and unloading process. Other technologies such as lighting systems can alert vehicles to full or empty pallet drop areas.

In addition to the four points above, remember that custom mezzanine safety gate designs for unique cold storage environments can be created by our team.

Did you know that OSHA created a National Emphasis Program to prevent falls, which are the leading case of fatalities in the workplace? This program was put into place last year, and will continue to be of focus for the next couple of years. If you haven’t done a facility safety audit recently, it may be time to do so to ensure the facility meets OSHA fall protection regulations.

The goal of the NEP is to “significantly reduce or eliminate unprotected worker exposures to fall-related hazards in all industries that can result in serious injuries and deaths. While much of the inspections will be conducted in the construction industry because that is where the most employee fall fatalities happen, it does not not rule out investigating material handling, warehousing or manufacturing facilities.

How Can You Be Sure Your Facility Complies with OSHA Fall Protection Regulations?

Check all elevated work platforms of four (4) feet or higher. Take a close look at pallet drop areas and production platforms; take note of any that include doors, as that is an often overlooked area.

Fall protection around pallet drop areas and on production platforms can be achieved without impacting production or workflow. Using dual-gate safety systems ensures that the ledge is protected at all times, even during the loading and unloading of pallets or material. When the ledge gate is open, the rear gate is closed, blocking the worker from accessing the ledge. When the ledge gate closes, the employee has access to the material with the barrier at the ledge. Safety gates can also be configured with power operation, in a Total Control Access (TCA) design that ensures one gate is fully closed before the other gate opens.

Don’t forget to look at pallet flow lanes. While employees are not to walk out on the lanes, it happens. Safety gates for flow lanes can be configured in a number of ways; we can help determine the best model for your application.

Check elevated work areas in loading docks. Take a close look at the way employees use the lifts in the dock area, and note if fall protection is needed on lifts or the loading dock itself.

Fall protection on loading dock lifts - especially pit mounted dock lifts and scissor lifts, often require safety gates that automatically close and lock into place as the lift rises, and stay locked until it’s aligned with the dock or on ground level. Loading docks also need to have a fall protection barrier in place to keep employees from the open ledge. Safety gates for loading docks can be configured to automatically close and lock into place as the truck drives away, creating fall protection without relying on employees to remember to move it back into place.

Don’t skip over the unique areas. Look at every elevated work platform to determine how it’s used, and if fall protection devices don’t seem to fit, get a custom engineered solution.

Once you have completed your facility safety audit, we’re here to help you with your pallet drop gate needs. We have safety gate designs for elevated platforms, lifts and loading docks, and our team has created hundreds of custom engineered fall protection solutions.

A nation wide retail chain was looking to make its supported shelving systems safer for employees. Each retail location features a product storage system that includes elevated pallet drop areas in order to fulfill one of its top business goals - to have the product available when customers came to the store in need of the supplies. Thus, the shelving systems are usually packed to ensure customers do not leave empty-handed.

Safety gates and other protective guarding had been considered a space waster. However, corporate management knew that fall protection was important for employees health and well-being, and to ensure compliance with OSHA walking working surfaces regulations. Management set out to find a safety solution that would work in all its stores across the United States.

Each store has its own unique shelving system, but most often employees pick from shelf to shelf. Most stores used sliding or swinging gates that relied on employees to move them in and out of place. But, because the shelves and system were constantly being picked from and replenished the gates were often left open, which was a fall hazard and OSHA violation.

While the stores had some of their own unique requirements, height was limited in the majority of the systems, and room on the sides was scare due to the shelving, so the safety system would need to fit into tight spaces. In addition, the company required any safety gates to close flush with the deck and include 4 inch kick plates.

After researching safety gate options, the retail chain management chose Mezzanine Safeti-Gates to provide safety gate systems for each store.

Mezzanine Safeti-Gates worked closely with corporate management and the individual store managers to ensure the safety gate model would be a seamless fit within each store’s shelving system configuration. Measurements were taken in each store location and specific recommendations were made for each store environment, which included custom engineering to design safety gates to fit within each system.

The Roly® safety gate was the ideal model for most of the store locations. The original dual-gate safety system provides an enclosed workstation for employees picking from pallets. When the ledge gate is up for the pallet area to be replenished, the rear-gate is down, preventing employees from accessing the ledge. When the area is ready to be picked, the ledge gate closes and the rear gate opens, providing access to the material in the pallet drop area. Many of the Roly safety gates that were installed required custom dimensions to fit within the supported shelving system.

Some store locations had shelving configurations that required employees to pick from the sides of the pallet, and in those cases, a Tri-Side safety gate model was installed. When open, the U-shaped rear gate allows for easy access to three sides of the pallet while the ledge side gate is closed, preventing falls.

In stores with very tall loads in their pallet drop area, two different models were offered. First, an Open Top safety gate model offers fall protection at the ledges of pallet drop areas without using overhead mechanics. In other stores, High Pallet Pivot gates were used in stores to accommodate pallet loads up to 80 inches tall within the pivoting safety gate design.

While most safety gates were purchased with manual operation, some stores chose to add power operation to their gates. In addition, some locations opted to include product containment netting on the ledge gate to ensure loose products would not fall from the pallet drop area.

To date, pallet drop safety gates have been installed in over 150 store locations in 20 states including Hawaii and Alaska, and the project is ongoing. Corporate and store managers have been very happy with the pallet drop safety gates, as well as the attention to detail and variety of options that Mezzanine Safeti-Gates provided to ensure fall protection for their employees nationwide.

A nation wide retail chain was looking to make its supported shelving systems safer for employees. Each retail location features a product storage system that includes elevated pallet drop areas in order to fulfill one of its top business goals - to have the product available when customers came to the store in need of the supplies. Thus, the shelving systems are usually packed to ensure customers do not leave empty-handed.

Safety gates and other protective guarding had been considered a space waster. However, corporate management knew that fall protection was important for employees health and well-being, and to ensure compliance with OSHA walking working surfaces regulations. Management set out to find a safety solution that would work in all its stores across the United States.

Each store has its own unique shelving system, but most often employees pick from shelf to shelf. Most stores used sliding or swinging gates that relied on employees to move them in and out of place. But, because the shelves and system were constantly being picked from and replenished the gates were often left open, which was a fall hazard and OSHA violation.

While the stores had some of their own unique requirements, height was limited in the majority of the systems, and room on the sides was scare due to the shelving, so the safety system would need to fit into tight spaces. In addition, the company required any safety gates to close flush with the deck and include 4 inch kick plates.

After researching safety gate options, the retail chain management chose Mezzanine Safeti-Gates to provide safety gate systems for each store.

Mezzanine Safeti-Gates worked closely with corporate management and the individual store managers to ensure the safety gate model would be a seamless fit within each store’s shelving system configuration. Measurements were taken in each store location and specific recommendations were made for each store environment, which included custom engineering to design safety gates to fit within each system.

The Roly® safety gate was the ideal model for most of the store locations. The original dual-gate safety system provides an enclosed workstation for employees picking from pallets. When the ledge gate is up for the pallet area to be replenished, the rear-gate is down, preventing employees from accessing the ledge. When the area is ready to be picked, the ledge gate closes and the rear gate opens, providing access to the material in the pallet drop area. Many of the Roly safety gates that were installed required custom dimensions to fit within the supported shelving system.

Some store locations had shelving configurations that required employees to pick from the sides of the pallet, and in those cases, a Tri-Side safety gate model was installed. When open, the U-shaped rear gate allows for easy access to three sides of the pallet while the ledge side gate is closed, preventing falls.

In stores with very tall loads in their pallet drop area, two different models were offered. First, an Open Top safety gate model offers fall protection at the ledges of pallet drop areas without using overhead mechanics. In other stores, High Pallet Pivot gates were used in stores to accommodate pallet loads up to 80 inches tall within the pivoting safety gate design.

While most safety gates were purchased with manual operation, some stores chose to add power operation to their gates. In addition, some locations opted to include product containment netting on the ledge gate to ensure loose products would not fall from the pallet drop area.

To date, pallet drop safety gates have been installed in over 150 store locations in 20 states including Hawaii and Alaska, and the project is ongoing. Corporate and store managers have been very happy with the pallet drop safety gates, as well as the attention to detail and variety of options that Mezzanine Safeti-Gates provided to ensure fall protection for their employees nationwide.

Just like snowflakes, material handling facilities are all unique. There is so much change happening in the industry; automation is booming, and new types of equipment are being created to accommodate the increased demand for speed and storage. Given the changes, material handling equipment manufactures need to be flexible and create solutions that will fit into these new systems and applications.

While in most cases standard size protective guarding will work within the changed environments, others require custom engineered solutions. These solutions must be tested to ensure they meet industry standards and comply with OSHA regulations, which may include numerous requirements. Ergonomics is also a factor when creating custom material handling equipment, especially when the equipment is heavy or large in size.

Determining whether a custom designed solution is needed can often be very apparent, especially when dealing with material of great size. However, other times it may look like standard size guarding is a fit, but when the workflow starts going, it becomes clear that a different solution is needed. Below are three signs that you may need a custom-engineered safety solution. Note that the examples will be centered around pallet drop safety gates, but the signals apply to a wide range of protective guarding solutions.

Real Estate Squeeze
Space is a precious commodity in material handling facilities. Depending on the application, there must be enough space for employees, material and equipment. Barriers to keep all three safe and oftentimes away from each other, have to be included within the spaces. When space is compromised or extends beyond a double-wide pallet drop area for instance, custom engineered solutions are often the answer.

For example, we worked with a company to secure pallet drop areas in a new pick module and rack system. The bays were 156 feet wide to accommodate three pallet positions, and space in the bay was tight, so the gates had to take up minimal space while providing fall protection. To accommodate the material in the three pallets positions in the bays, we created a custom designed High Pallet Pivot safety gate which normally can handle pallet loads up to 80 inches tall while using a minimum amount of space on the platform. The gates were constructed wide enough for the pallet positions while maintaining a safe environment for the workers in the bay at all times. Although the safety gates were made 13 feet wide and out of heavy square steel tubing, we ensured ergonomic, effortless operation by including our hydraulic gas assist mechanism.

Robots on the Move
While there are still way more people in the facility, the investment into this technology is great, and companies want to make sure their investment and equipment is protected as well. If robots get damaged, not only is it monetarily expensive, it can shut down the complete system for hours or days, and if they fall from an upper level, employees and machines below are at risk for damage too.

We are seeing more and more facilities using lifts and conveyor systems in their applications, especially with robots moving from the floor level, up into the system. To prevent robots from falling from these empty shafts, we created custom safety gates that automatically open and close with the lift to ensure the robots are contained without relying on an employee to secure the area.

Material Mishaps
How is the material packaged when it’s placed in the pallet drop area? Is it all wrapped and contained, or is it smaller boxes and loose material? Material in pallet drop areas can face many hazards while it’s waiting to be picked and moved. Fork lift trucks and pallet jacks can jostle pallets or pierce packaging around the material, leaving it exposed on the ledge. Material can fall from the drop zones, crashing to the lower level; the material, as well as employees and machinery below are left exposed to damage from the falls.

We’ve recently helped customers secure the ledge-side of a Pivot safety gate with metal mesh guarding to keep material contained in the pallet drop area within a pick module. Another customer wanted to ensure its material, which was of smaller nature, did not leave the busy pallet drop area while it was being moved. For this instance we created a custom Total Control Access (TCA) safety gate that included full netting on all four sides of the safety gate, creating a fully enclosed, power-operated safety gate cage.

While the above scenarios are common signs that you need custom-engineered solutions, there are many additional unique situations in which they may be necessary. If you have doubts about a standard size working, reach out to your provider to discuss any concerns about the application. They can provide valuable guidance and the right solution for your facility.

This article first appeared in the December 2023 issue of Workplace Material Handling Solutions

Just like snowflakes, material handling facilities are all unique. There is so much change happening in the industry; automation is booming, and new types of equipment are being created to accommodate the increased demand for speed and storage. Given the changes, material handling equipment manufactures need to be flexible and create solutions that will fit into these new systems and applications.

While in most cases standard size protective guarding will work within the changed environments, others require custom engineered solutions. These solutions must be tested to ensure they meet industry standards and comply with OSHA regulations, which may include numerous requirements. Ergonomics is also a factor when creating custom material handling equipment, especially when the equipment is heavy or large in size.

Determining whether a custom designed solution is needed can often be very apparent, especially when dealing with material of great size. However, other times it may look like standard size guarding is a fit, but when the workflow starts going, it becomes clear that a different solution is needed. Below are three signs that you may need a custom-engineered safety solution. Note that the examples will be centered around pallet drop safety gates, but the signals apply to a wide range of protective guarding solutions.

Real Estate Squeeze
Space is a precious commodity in material handling facilities. Depending on the application, there must be enough space for employees, material and equipment. Barriers to keep all three safe and oftentimes away from each other, have to be included within the spaces. When space is compromised or extends beyond a double-wide pallet drop area for instance, custom engineered solutions are often the answer.

For example, we worked with a company to secure pallet drop areas in a new pick module and rack system. The bays were 156 feet wide to accommodate three pallet positions, and space in the bay was tight, so the gates had to take up minimal space while providing fall protection. To accommodate the material in the three pallets positions in the bays, we created a custom designed High Pallet Pivot safety gate which normally can handle pallet loads up to 80 inches tall while using a minimum amount of space on the platform. The gates were constructed wide enough for the pallet positions while maintaining a safe environment for the workers in the bay at all times. Although the safety gates were made 13 feet wide and out of heavy square steel tubing, we ensured ergonomic, effortless operation by including our hydraulic gas assist mechanism.

Robots on the Move
While there are still way more people in the facility, the investment into this technology is great, and companies want to make sure their investment and equipment is protected as well. If robots get damaged, not only is it monetarily expensive, it can shut down the complete system for hours or days, and if they fall from an upper level, employees and machines below are at risk for damage too.

We are seeing more and more facilities using lifts and conveyor systems in their applications, especially with robots moving from the floor level, up into the system. To prevent robots from falling from these empty shafts, we created custom safety gates that automatically open and close with the lift to ensure the robots are contained without relying on an employee to secure the area.

Material Mishaps
How is the material packaged when it’s placed in the pallet drop area? Is it all wrapped and contained, or is it smaller boxes and loose material? Material in pallet drop areas can face many hazards while it’s waiting to be picked and moved. Fork lift trucks and pallet jacks can jostle pallets or pierce packaging around the material, leaving it exposed on the ledge. Material can fall from the drop zones, crashing to the lower level; the material, as well as employees and machinery below are left exposed to damage from the falls.

We’ve recently helped customers secure the ledge-side of a Pivot safety gate with metal mesh guarding to keep material contained in the pallet drop area within a pick module. Another customer wanted to ensure its material, which was of smaller nature, did not leave the busy pallet drop area while it was being moved. For this instance we created a custom Total Control Access (TCA) safety gate that included full netting on all four sides of the safety gate, creating a fully enclosed, power-operated safety gate cage.

While the above scenarios are common signs that you need custom-engineered solutions, there are many additional unique situations in which they may be necessary. If you have doubts about a standard size working, reach out to your provider to discuss any concerns about the application. They can provide valuable guidance and the right solution for your facility.

This article first appeared in the December 2023 issue of Workplace Material Handling Solutions