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With the launch of our new web site, we’ve added a blog. Here we’ll keep you updated on the latest news and trends for safety in the material handling industry. That may cover many topics, from the latest forecasts for manufacturing and material handling, updates in regulations and standards from OSHA and ANSI, as well as some of our safety gate installations and custom work.

On the blog you’ll also find updates from some of the organizations we belong to, like MHEDA and MHI, as well as MHI’s ProGMA Committee.

We’re looking forward to sharing our news and views with you, and if there is a topic you would like us to touch on, just let us know.

The Key to OSHA Compliance: ANSI

Safety regulations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) can be difficult to navigate; have you sat down and tried to read through the code that pertains to elevated platforms or pallet drop areas? It can be difficult to determine which of the codes apply to that application.

When trying to determine the best practice for safety in a facility, ensuring compliance with the proper OSHA codes is mandatory. But, even though those codes are confusing, there is an easy way to ensure you will meet the code: consult the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) first.

ANSI, unlike OSHA, is very specific on the environment it addresses. And although the ANSI creates voluntary regulations, these regulations do meet OSHA codes, so if you follow an ANSI standard then you are following the OSHA code, and in compliance.

To illustrate the challenges of navigating the standards, here’s a look at the process to secure a pallet drop area on an elevated work platform or mezzanine:

When it comes to facility safety, many companies start by reviewing OSHA Walking-Working Surface regulations because they are mandatory. To determine how to secure this area you would go to OSHA's Walking-Working Surface Regulations, 1910 Subpart D. This code covers a wide range of fall related hazards and does not specifically address a pallet drop area. It can also create some ambiguity around when the safety gate or guarding can be open, as well as when a kick plate is required.

Companies may also consult ANSI’s MH 28.3-2009 Specification for the Design, Manufacture, and Installation of Industrial Steel Work Platforms. In this standard, section 6.4.3 specifically addresses pallet drop areas and advises that an opening in the guardrail used for loading and unloading material should be designed so there is a barrier in place at all times. This standard details the configuration and strength requirements of the barrier. It also outlines kick plate requirements clearly as well as rejects the use of specific safety devices, including swing and sliding gates.

By reading this ANSI standard, one will quickly learn how to secure the pallet drop area. Where the OSHA code may have created some questions about the specific safety requirements in a pallet drop area, ANSI clearly outlines the best practice for this specific environment. And again, ANSI can not recommend a practice that is in violation of OSHA code so if you follow ANSI standards, then you are meeting the necessary OSHA regulations.

So, what does the standard tell us about best practices for facility safety? ANSI clearly states that single barrier systems such as swing, sliding or lift-out gates used for protection on elevated platforms DO NOT meet the standard. The same goes for removable railings or nettings. While these are easy systems to install, none of these safety barriers provide the level of protection needed when it comes to fall protection for employees.

Only a dual-gate safety system meets ANSI standards; a barrier is in place even during the activity of loading and unloading material. This type of system is key because it’s pretty foolproof: when the rear-side gate is up, employees can access the workstation with a pallet or other materials while the ledge-side gate is down, creating a barrier on the ledge. When the ledge-side gate is up, allowing the workstation to be replenished or material removed, the rear-side gate is down, blocking employee access to the exposed ledge.

Like OSHA, we believe the safety of employees is not a voluntary matter; it’s imperative to ensure that safety systems are in place to prevent falls, as human capital is one business’s most important assets. If you are confused about complying with OSHA regulations, be sure to review the corresponding ANSI standards as they are more specific and easier to understand. After review, if you have questions or need to replace a barrier safety system to meet ANSI standards, please give us a call; we can help ensure you meet the standards and are keeping employees safe.

Hostile Environments: 4 Things to Consider

The environment in your facility is a big factor in operations, from manufacturing to material handling. Did you know that the facility environment is also a factor when it comes to the type of safety system that should be installed to keep your employees safe? Without the proper model and material, your safety system could be compromised or corroded, which may cause the materials or paint to contaminate your product, or for the system to fail as a safety solution.

Hostile environments can vary from facility to facility; some feature extreme cold or hot temperatures, while others may utilize frequent washing or rinsing of the area. Often employees are working in these environments to complete manufacturing or material handling tasks, and may work from elevated areas, in which a safety device must protect them from falling while being able to withstand the environment.

We offer many dual-gate safety systems that work in these environments. When looking to secure areas in facilities with hostile environments, it’s important to keep these questions in mind as it will help you select the right safety device for your facility and application.

Is the location of the safety device one that features extreme temperatures?
If your pallet drop area is located in a freezer or refrigerated warehouse, you’ll want a safety device with few moving parts. Our Pivot Model gates operates on steel pins inserted into nylon bushings so they are an ideal solution in this type of area.

Is it frequently rinsed with water or another substance?
When rinsing is involved, it’s key to select a safety gate model that has few moving parts, and uses stainless hardware. All of our standard safety gate models are made with powder-coated mild steel, with options for stainless hardware. We also offer all of our models in all stainless steel construction, with stainless hardware

What are your sanitary requirements?
If the pallet drop area is in a food processing environment, you need to review your own sanitation requirement and to communicate these requirements with the company providing your safety solutions. For our pallet drop gates, electro-polished stainless steel construction is an option. We can also cap all open ends in steel tubing to prevent debris from entering the system. In addition, our safety gates can be designed with no bolt holes in the tubing to further seal the unit.

If power operation is necessary, can the motor handle the environment?
We usually recommend manual operation of our safety gates, but there are instances when power operation is needed. If the safety gate will be located within a hostile environment involving cleaners or chemicals, you may need a sealed motor, or a Class 1, Division 2 “explosion proof” motor if there are ignitable concentrations of flammable gasses.

The key to installing a safety device that will hold up in its environment and function properly when needed is to know your facility environment and your specific sanitation requirements. This information must be given to a qualified manufacturer who specializes in these solutions. Here, at Mezzanine Safeti-Gates, we think we’ve seen it all, and have provided solutions for some very specific environmental requirements, but we welcome new challenges. So please reach out if you have a hostile environment that needs to be secured.

Safety in Pallet Flow Operations

As global competition increases and the consumer mindset of “faster is better” takes over business, companies are under a time pressure to ensure their products are sorted and delivered to their end users.

Many companies have added systems of multi-level pick modules with flow lanes to quickly move palletized products through while they also maximize their available space. These pallet flow lanes are often loaded from one side of the pallet racking and picked from the other side. As each load is removed a pallet load from behind automatically moves into position for picking.

These systems can be very complex, with multiple flow lanes within the rack system. Often employees are working to pick pallets from these systems, which can be located on elevated platforms. When employees work from these elevated levels in picking operations, safety is of utmost importance to keep them from falling off the ledge.

Although by design the picker is positioned a safe distance from the ledge, there is still an egress to the ledge so it must be secured. Often the entire lane is decked over for safety so the picker and palletized items don’t fall between the lanes. However, this creates another safety concern because the employees have access to enter the lanes, often to retrieve a dislodged item, or to square up a pallet, or simply because they can. Because of these concerns, we recommend decking the entire lane to move the ledge out to the end of the module. Then, the ledge should be secured with a gate system that allows pallets to enter the lane but prevents employees from falling.

We recommend two solutions. The first is our Pallet Flow Safety gate, which is a self-closing swing gate designed specially for pallet flow applications. It uses solid panel gates to allow the lift truck to push the gates open with the pallet and creates a smooth transition for the pallet to flow down the lane. Tension-adjustable hinges allow the gates to automatically close, and and heavy-duty welded stops prevent the gates from swinging outward, creating a fall-protection barrier.

The second solution, created to meet updated ANSI standards, is a gate system for pallet flow lanes that uses dual counterbalanced and interconnected gates to maintain a safe environment for employees at all times. One gate is positioned at the ledge, the second pallet in front of the first-pallet position where the picker is located. When the pallet flow side of the gate opens, the rear gate automatically closes, keeping the pickers away from the ledge and lane while pallets are deposited. To gain access the the lane, the picker raises the rear-side gate, which closes the ledge-side gate. This is the safest method of securing pallet flow lanes.

The system can be made as deep as the lane, and it not only keeps the employees secured from the elevated ledge, but it also prevents the lift truck from loading a pallet while an employee is in the lane, where a pallet could be pushed into his or her leg. The closed ledge-side gate becomes a signal that the lane should not be loaded. The lift truck can only load the lane when the picker closes the gate near them, which opens the ledge side gate – a signal to the driver below that the area is safe and ready to be replenished.

As your facility is updated to speed operations or maximize space, it’s always important to keep safety for your workers at top of mind. We are always working to ensure our safety gates keep up with new material handling technology and systems, and it’s important facility mangers do the same.

Mixing Platforms and Safety

Chemical manufacturing facilities often have space issues when it comes to safety. Many of these plants have large reactors or mixers with hoppers accessed by elevated platforms positioned near the top of the vessels. Typically a lift truck will load pallets of ingredients onto these upper levels for employees to load into these mixers. So while positioned near a ledge, often unguarded, they are asked to remove heavy bags from a pallet, slice them open and pour them into the large mixer.

Space is often limited on these platforms so that the mixer is located near the pallet of ingredients to limit the distance the operator has to travel with a heavy bag. Often the area consists of a series of catwalks and small mezzanines around the mixer and the production machinery. This limited space is often an issue, leaving very little room for employee, product and proper fall protection guarding, which can expose employees to a high risk for incidents like falls.

We worked with a global manufacturer that works with chemicals to secure three areas in its facility. Each area featured a mixer with a set of platforms and catwalks on which employees were handling and creating the product.

The three platforms offered the additional challenge of very tight space constraints. The pallet drop areas were loaded with a lift truck, and safety relied upon a piece of chain to restrain people — not enough to keep employees safe.

This application is fairly common, outside of the manufacturer’s unique space constraints. All pallet drop areas on elevated platforms need to be properly guarded, but areas on production platforms where employees are asked to work around the ledge, often in a hostile environment, need to be taken seriously. This is often tiring, repetitive work in a dusty or wet environment so companies must take safety out of employee’s hands, giving them one less thing to think about during the day.

Due to the complexity of the areas that needed to be secured, custom dual-gate safety solutions were created. The first area had little room to accommodate a safety barrier so the gate had to be worked into the existing framework of the platform. A custom Pivot Gate was created to be affixed to the handrail instead of the walkway floor to provide dual-gate protection while taking up a minimum amount of space.

The second area pallet drop area had special requirements because a 48-inch pallet had to be able to rotate 360 degrees on a pallet turntable within the guarded area. This area offered additional challenges: there was low overhead, it was situated on a traffic aisle so there were very specific ways the lift truck entered the platform, and the equipment and a ramp to the mixer infringed on how the gate could be used. We created a custom version of High Pallet Pivot model, a dual-gate system that included 14 pivot points that extended the depth and width to accommodate the pallet. The system allowed the pallet to rotate on a turntable, ensuring ease of work and safety on the platform.

The third area had even less available depth due to the location of the blending hopper, which was positioned close to the ledge so the employee could simply turn and dump the bag of ingredients from the pallet into the hopper without carrying the bag. The limited available depth didn’t provide adequate room for a more traditional dual-gate system like the Pivot Model. We installed our Tri-Side design, which uses a fixed support frame only 14” deep, and a rear-side gate that raised up and out of the way when the ledge-side gate was closed, allowing access around the pallet. With this system in place, the employee could grab the bags around the pallet and dump them freely into the hopper, all while a barrier was in place at the ledge to prevent a fall.

All of these dual-gate systems we created - as well as hundreds of other solutions we have created - have worked to keep employees safe on the elevated platforms, as well as meet ANSI standards - while keeping operational processes intact.