Upgrading to the latest loading dock equipment saves lives

New loading dock safety technology, such as Rite-Hite’s Pedestrian-Vu, communicates that there is activity inside of a trailer to pedestrians and material handling equipment operators maneuvering loading dock.

Metalworking facilities can be dangerous places. Even loading docks can carry a great amount of risk. In fact, an estimated 25 per cent of all industrial accidents occur on or around them.

As the pace of activity increases, along with the increased use of potentially distracting mobile devices, so does the potential for disaster. In this environment, a single piece of loading dock equipment cannot ensure safety.

Fortunately, thanks to several recent significant leaps in dock safety technology, these critical work areas don’t have to be as dangerous as they’ve been in the past. The last few years have seen the introduction of new dock safety products that incorporate motion sensors, LED lights, audible/visual alarms, and interlocking controls.

These products allow facilities to implement comprehensive, systemic safety protocols into dock operations. In some cases, this technology also can be added on an à la carte basis, provided facilities install upgradeable equipment as the basis for their dock management system.

Motion Sensor-based Systems

The newest of these products are motion sensor-based systems designed to protect workers both inside and outside the dock. Some of these systems project a blue light onto the leveler whenever activity is detected inside a trailer, alerting nearby workers that a forklift, pallet jack, or pedestrian could be coming out at any moment.

By providing pedestrians with additional warning time, this projection system works as a complement to the blue safety lights on forklifts. It can be added to almost any dock as an aftermarket item, or it can be integrated with advanced control boxes to keep the vehicle restraint locked until activity in the trailer stops, ensuring the truck doesn’t pull away with a forklift operator still inside.

The drive approach outside of the loading dock is equally dangerous, although collisions here typically involve a semi-tractor trailer rather than a forklift. In the U.S., the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is considering a new rule that addresses backing vehicles and equipment, which are common causes of “struck-by” injuries. “Struck-by” and “caught-between” injuries are not only real risks loading dock workers face daily, they’re also two of the four leading causes of workplace fatalities.

Given ambient noise and the distance between a loading dock and the engine of a semi-tractor trailer (which can be 20 metres or more), inattentive dock yard workers may not hear a trailer backing toward them until it is too late.

New safety technology has been developed to address this challenge.

Specifically, high-tech vehicle restraints now incorporate an external motion sensor, which triggers an audible and visual alarm to alert workers outside the dock when a trailer begins backing in. These types of multisensory warnings immediately gain the attention of workers who might be in harm’s way and provide them adequate time to remove themselves from danger. With certain vehicle restraints, this motion-sensor system can be added as an upgrade.

LED Safety Trends

Red/green dock lights, indicating to forklifts that a trailer is locked and safe to enter (or, to the truck driver, unlocked and safe to pull away) have been standard for some time. However, while these lights are generally visible outside, they are not always visible inside, as stacked pallets can obscure a lift driver’s view of them on the control panel.

To solve that issue, the technology was enhanced with highly visible LED lights placed in the upper corners of dock doors. They allow forklift operators to see the red/green signal even if the control box lights aren’t visible. Additionally, red/green lights can be placed on the leveler, letting forklift operators inside the trailer know that it is still safely secured to the loading dock.

The integration of these LED lights into dock control systems (tying their color display to vehicle restraint engagement) set the stage for further technological advances involving the integration of a wider array of equipment.

A Safe Sequence of Operation

Dock controls now can connect the operations of vehicle restraints, dock levelers, overhead doors, safety barriers, and LED signal lights. Significantly, the most sophisticated controls can be programmed to operate only in a safe sequence of operation, with individual elements of the system interlocked.

For instance, some dock control systems can be programmed with a green light interlock, which disables the use of the push button dock leveler or overhead door until the vehicle restraint is safely engaged. They also can be programmed with an overhead door interlock, which requires overhead doors to be opened before leveler operation, or a stored leveler interlock, which ensures that the leveler is stored safely before the restraint can release the trailer.

If a worker presses the control box button for an individual system element in the wrong sequence, it won’t work–ensuring that no safety procedures will be skipped.

While the advent of hydraulic, push-button equipment made life easier (and safer) for dock workers, it didn’t eliminate the possibility of their making mistakes. If a leveler is lowered too early, for example, a backing trailer can damage it. If a restraint is unlocked before the forklift exits and the leveler is stored, a serious risk of injury and product damage is at hand. Eliminating these possibilities is a clear benefit to the facility, its employees, and its customers.

Safety in the Long Term

The loading dock can be a busy place with many distractions. Facility managers should look beyond one piece of equipment to address these challenges. Finding the right system of dock equipment that incorporates motion sensors and LED lights, audible alarms, and a safe sequence of operation minimizes risks in a traditionally dangerous place and puts any company on the path to a safer future.

2017 brought about great technological advancements in loading dock safety. As technology takes new strides every day in 2018, it’s important to consider equipment that isn’t just good for today’s loading dock, but offers upgradeable features to enhance safety in the long term and reduce future costs.