{"id":644,"date":"2015-08-12T11:25:15","date_gmt":"2015-08-12T11:25:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.workplace-products.co.uk\/blog\/?p=644"},"modified":"2025-12-22T11:59:49","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T11:59:49","slug":"safety-barriers-let-us-guide-you-in-the-right-direction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.workplace-products.co.uk\/blog\/safety-barriers-let-us-guide-you-in-the-right-direction\/","title":{"rendered":"Safety Barriers – Let us guide you in the right direction"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Safety<\/a>Time and again you get asked the same questions over and over again such as: ‘What is the correct safety barrier to separate pedestrians from vehicles’,\u00a0‘how can I buy a safety barrier that does the job but is within my budget?’ and ‘oh my god my fork lift truck driver has just knocked down\u00a0my guest, can you HELP!?!’. If the last one is the case, suggest they call for an ambulance now.<\/p>\n

In this blog I would like to focus on you because you’re the buyer of Safety Barriers. You are the first port of call for Warehouse Owners when it comes to safety products. Why? Because safety is a legally significant matter and they must “sort it out”.<\/p>\n

No doubt\u00a0your day-to-day duties include\u00a0such enthralling jobs as reading the HSE website and checking new government data when it is published.<\/p>\n

While this will never go away why not add a search in to your daily routine for ‘Workplace Products Safety Barriers’? You can use our website along with your preferred (and legal) info providers. The advantage of this is that you can inform your contacts and customers with not only the legal stuff but also earn extra brownie points for showing them competitively priced and fully certified Safety Barriers<\/a> that suit their needs. This will take the sting out of finding appropriate products themselves during the busy work schedules associated\u00a0with Warehousing, Storage Facilities and Retail Sectors.<\/p>\n

When approaching the law side of separating pedestrians and vehicles from each other companies\u00a0need to\u00a0mostly use logic by asking themselves the right questions. The usual way of doing this is by creating a company risk assessment.<\/p>\n

The best resource for help in creating a\u00a0risk assessment can be found on the Government run HSE<\/a> (Health and Safety Executive) website. Please share it with them.<\/p>\n

Ok, thats the introduction out of the way, lets discuss the way forward.<\/p>\n

Purchasing Safety Barriers for a Warehouse<\/h2>\n
\"Impact<\/a>

Impact Protection Barriers keep vehicles and pedestrians apart to avoid accidents. You can also protect machinery, see inset pic above.<\/p><\/div>\n

The best pedestrian safety barriers are bright yellow and modular. That is to say it can be bought in component form so you only buy what you need. If it is modular it is versatile. It can be set\u00a0in different directions easily and without much fuss. The obvious advantage of this system is that if you have a warehouse layout that is not symmetrical (which is often the case) there are components available that continue the walkway barrier seamlessly. We have come across many older layouts that have gaps between singularly set hoops. Not only does this look ugly, when directions need to change there is usually a bigger gap (that looks poorly offset) that may still pose an unsafe scenario down the line. So\u00a0thats our first recommendation: get them to purchase a safe run of walkway barriers that doesn’t leave gaps. You can get safety gates set into the run.<\/p>\n

\"Walkway<\/a>

Walkway Safety Barriers are modular and are available with gate units where required.<\/p><\/div>\n

The other major advantage of a modular system is that if a section does get damaged this may not mean a whole section needs replacing. You may only have to replace one damaged component. So then, this system is sensible and efficient.<\/p>\n

This type of safety barrier<\/a> is also a great solution for protecting expensive machinery as well as people.<\/p>\n

Impact Protection Safety Barriers<\/h2>\n

If you have shelving, racking, walls, columns or loading docks that need protection you have many options. Choosing the right one is imperative to it’s performance for your client or if it is for your own premises.<\/p>\n

\"High<\/a>

High or Low: There are Safety Barriers to suit vehicles with high and low ground clearance.<\/p><\/div>\n

Shelving and Racking Protectors<\/strong> are impact tested so that they can repel forklift truck collisions. If the warehouse doesn’t have these I suggest immediate investment in them. For your reference please see pallet racking protection<\/a>. If a forklift accident does occur, employees could be hurt and a great deal of goods could be destroyed costing large\u00a0amounts of money to replace. The great thing is they are inexpensive and easy to fit. Peace of mind when faced with busy\u00a0work schedules wouldn’t you agree?<\/p>\n

As a side note I published a blog back in May to help Companies when investing in new warehouses. It is intended to ease the pain of planning an efficient warehouse system from the ground up. As you are reading this blog about Safety Barriers you may find it very useful. Please find that blog here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Impact<\/a>

Impact protection ranges from heavy duty industrial models that stop fork lifts dead in their tracks to self adhesive impact strips that protect walls from being scuffed or cracked.<\/p><\/div>\n

Wall and Column Protectors<\/strong> are simple yet effective in minimising damage to structures and vehicles. They can be easily fitted (in some cases just pushed on using a self adhesive method<\/a>). The most basic version is made from foam impact resistant polyurethane. Exact products suitable for each bespoke job should be discussed with us before purchase to ensure you have the right wall or column protector for the job.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A selection of dock bumpers. Choose from polyurethane or industrial rubber to absorb the force generated by accidental knocks and impacts.<\/p><\/div>\n

Dock Impact Protectors<\/strong> or ‘Dock Bumpers’ are high impact rubber shapes that need to be fitted at\u00a0the correct heights for the different types of vans that regularly use the docks. They are designed to keep your maintenance costs down at\u00a0the ‘goods in’ and ‘goods out’ areas of your warehouse or retail docking port. You can get a Flat or ‘D shape’ bumper. It may never happen but for a small outlay now you could save thousands of pounds worth of re-building should an accident occur. For further help on selecting the right dock bumper start a Live Chat on our website today<\/a> to discuss your requirements.<\/p>\n

Retail and Maintenance Safety Barriers<\/h2>\n

Moving away from the warehouse for now and into the public sector with temporary safety barriers that deal with\u00a0spillage (prevent slipping) and maintenance that requires areas to be closed off while work is carried out.<\/p>\n

The ideal safety barrier for retail use needs to be light, versatile, high visibility and foldable because in a stockroom space is important to the stockroom \/ warehouse manager. With all that in mind we believe we have a product that does all of these things.<\/p>\n

\"Expanding<\/a>

Expanding Barriers are versatile. Use indoors or outdoors for a wide variety of applications.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Expanding Barrier<\/strong> has a ‘concertina effect’ that allows easy storage, transport and deployment. They are stand alone barriers that sit firmly due to wide feet. This barrier comes in different high visibility colours to suit the company\u00a0brand more closely (yet still stands out to let approaching people know there is a hazard coming up). One example of this is to use in conjunction with ‘Caution Wet Floor’ signs to help guide elderly people with potentially poor eyesight around spilled milk when food shopping. Another could be to stop people from attempting to walk up an escalator while maintenance is being carried out.<\/p>\n

This Safety Barrier can even be used outdoors and in conjunction with a 2m stacking barrier to create a seamless barrier system that can be made shorter or lengthened by just opening or closing the Expanding Barrier<\/a>. Great for where time is important. It means that constant rebuilding of the barrier system is not required (just repositioned).<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A selection of Spillage and Maintenance Safety Barriers. form left to right: Indoor Portable Barrier, A-Frame floor sign and Handi-Guard (For general maintenance).<\/p><\/div>\n

Spillage and Maintenance Safety Barriers<\/strong> come in all shapes and sizes to suit the job at hand. Some examples are:<\/p>\n