“We decked over those flow lanes, so they don’t need safety gates there.”
That’s a common comment and misconception in industrial facilities where pallet flow lanes are installed in multi-level pick modules. These pallet flow lanes often are safety hazards; the automatic flow of pallets can injure someone standing in the lane, and can expose the worker to falls from the elevated level.
Inherently, the upper levels of pick module create the potential for fall hazards. The pallet flow lanes are installed over the rack system and were traditionally left unguarded because workers were not supposed to enter the lanes, instead they are instructed to pick from the pallet while standing on the platform. Because this positions the worker directly in front of an opening in the floor (and to prevent small items from falling off of the pallet), the lanes are often decked over. This did solve the issue of the loose items falling off the pallet, but it didn’t secure the employees from the opening in the floor, it simply moved this opening to the beginning of the lane.
Again, the thinking was the employee shouldn’t be entering the lane, but instead be standing behind the pallet on the platform. Reality, however, shows a different scenario; employees enter these lanes to retrieve a dislodged item, square up a pallet or simply because they can. This exposes them to being hit by a new pallet entering the lane, as wells as to falling from the upper level.
Because there is an egress on to the lane and a ledge above ground level, the lane should be guarded. In addition, since a pallet can be pushed into someone standing in the ledge, the guarding should be configured that no one can enter the lane while it is being loaded.
We worked in a facility that had a large, multi-level pick module with a number of bays in which they loaded pallets onto two deep pallet flow lanes in double wide bays. Employees were picking from the pallets on the second and third levels of the module. The end user was concerned for fall protection and the general safety of their employees so they were proactively looking for a guarding solution.
In order to permanently secure the ledge while allowing pallets to be loaded a dual-gate system needed to be installed. For this application, we provided a rack-supported version of our Roly safety gate, which uses dual counterbalanced gates that are interconnected so one gate is closed while the other gate is open. The gates were designed double wide to capture the two lanes in the bay and extra deep to capture the entire flow lane. The gate system used support panels that attached directly to the existing rack uprights to maximize space in the bay and for a rigid connection into the system that didn’t need to be lagged down into the decking.
The dual-gate system assured that the rear/operator side gate at the end of the lane was closed while the ledge-side gate was open, allowing the lift truck operator to load the pallets into the lane while a barrier was in place preventing the operator on the platform from entering the lane while the area was being replenished. The gate system was manually operated so the operator would open the ledge side gate when he/she was ready to pick from the pallet, which closed the ledge-side gate, maintaining a safe environment. The system also could be power operated with push-button stations on the lower level, or radio frequency remotes on the lift truck.
The end users on this particular project had concerns that the dual-gate system would impede the pace of their operation, but after installing and using for six months determined that the pace of productivity was not negatively impacted, in fact, it helped to speed up their process. The gate system became a signal between the operator on the platform and the operator on the lift truck. When the picker was ready for the lane to be replenished, he/she would close the operator gate, which opened the ledge-side gate, showing the lift truck operator that that area was ready to receive more pallets. When they were picking from the pallets, the ledge-side gate would be closed, showing the truck operator that those lanes were full or in the process of being picked.
Some companies will try to secure pallet flow lanes with self-closing swinging gates, however, we do not believe this is the right solution. A single gate system such as a swinging gate does not meet current ANSI standards for securing pallet drop areas on elevated platforms because the gates can be left open at times. This same scenario applies to pallet flow lanes, because when the lane is full, the last-pallet-in will hold the gate open, creating an unsafe, unguarded solution. The lane could be extended so the last pallet will travel far enough for the gate to close, but this will lead to production issues because the lift truck operator may load another pallet into a full lane, causing the last pallet to dangerously hang over the ledge and jam up the system. This will create an extremely unsafe area that will create new hazards.
Also, a swinging gate may secure the ledge (if all goes well and it is engineered to fit the system correctly), but it will not solve the secondary issue of keeping an employee out of the lane while the lane is being loaded. We have heard of incidents with pallet being pushed into the legs of operators who were inside the lanes – and these areas were “guarded” by swing gates. A dual-gate system eliminates all of these concerns.
It’s very rare that a business stays exactly the same, year after year. It’s the nature of life; businesses and processes adapt as time goes on. This is also true for the facilities that house the business processes and applications; they too change with the business.
We have seen facilities evolve for many of our customers. Products change over time, and the applications in which the products adjust accordingly. When applications or processes change within the facility, it’s a good idea to re-evaluate safety practices and equipment.
One of our long time customers has a facility that really illustrates this idea. The food-based company was changing its production processes in a mixing area. In this application, employees work on elevated decks with pallet loads of ingredients, opening the material and dumping it into a hopper. The reason for the change was to increase productivity. When reviewing the layout for the new area the facility manager realized they needed in incorporate proper safety guarding to keep the employees safe while they worked up on this redesigned platform.
Our team reviewed the platform’s design and discussed the specific requirements with the end user. The facility produces food products so the platform as well as the guarding had to be fabricated from stainless steel with special requirements that specified no bolt holes in the tubing, continuous welds, and all open tubing needing to be capped.
Next, we discussed application. Three pallets needed to be loaded side by side as there were three different ingredients being processed. The employees unloaded the bags of ingredients off of the pallet by hand, and dumped them into the hoppers behind the pallet drop area. The challenge was to keep the employees a safe distance from the ledge while allowing the material to be lifted up to the area and processed. The space in the working area was very tight, so any safety solution would need to operate in the confined area.
To assist in increasing productivity at the facility, while keeping employees safe from falling from the deck at the same time, the High Pallet Pivot safety gate was selected for use. This was also an ideal solution because the Pivot Model design is available in all stainless steel construction and could be fabricated in keeping with the end user’s special requirements.
To accommodate the lay out, we installed one double-side unit next to a single-wide unit so materials could be loaded into one of the areas while employees unloaded the pallets from the adjacent area. Now, pallets and material could be loaded and unloaded at the same time, while protecting employees from the ledges of the platform.
The High Pallet Pivot safety gate uses dual, counterbalanced gates interconnected with multiple pivot points to maintain a safe environment at all times. It handles pallet loads of up to 80 inches and takes up a minimum amount of space on the work platform, which was ideal for the tight area.
We looked again at the width of the platform after choosing the safety gate model, and because the gates were going to be installed side by side, we designed the two units to share a center stanchion, which maximized the space on the deck where employees were working.
After installing the two custom designed High Pallet Pivot safety gates, the company was able to increase production while providing fall protection for employees at all times.
Always remember to take a look at your safety needs when applications and processes change in your facility. Even if the space is tight or you have goals to increase productivity, safety is always of the utmost importance, and it doesn’t have to impede on operations or impact productivity.
