Tips To Keep Your Loading Bay Safe And Operational 

Loading bays are often some of the busiest and sometimes most chaotic places within an industrial warehouse. The place that allows the movement of goods in and out of the premises, the loading bay is an important area and needs to be kept safe. To ensure the swift movement of goods safely, the loading bay must be well maintained and controlled to avoid hazards and risks while keeping this area operational.

Below, leading loading bay solutions provider, Transdek, has offered their top tips for keeping your loading bay safe, secure, and operational. 

Keep Your Loading Bay Clear of Hazards

A large percentage of warehouse accidents and injuries occur at the loading bay. In fact, recent statistics from the US show this accounts for up 25% of reported injuries. Being aware of the dangers located at a loading dock is essential in ensuring you can minimise the risk of injury, accident, and damage to both your staff and the goods they are transporting. 

Common accidents that most often occur can be categorised by incidents related to Forklift Accidents, a lack of attention, trailer creep, slips, trips, and falls. By carrying out an assessment of your loading bay, you should be able to identify areas where there is a risk of these incidents occurring. From this, you should review the control measures you can put in place to reduce the risks and clear hazards from your loading bay. 

Invest in Modern Loading Bay Equipment

One of the most useful ways you can improve the safety of your loading bay and increase the efficiency of your loading bay operations is to invest in the right equipment. This often means putting a budget aside to modernise your loading bay, allowing you to reap a number of benefits. 

Some of the most popular types of loading bay solutions include:

• Yard lifts 
• Double deck lifts 
• Scissor lifts 
• Dock lifts 
• Warehouse extensions 
• Dock levellers 

All of these play a role in automating the processes carried out during the loading and unloading process. For example, a double deck lift will work to integrate fixed double deck trailers into your distribution network. Making this one of the most reliable and fastest ways to load double deck trailers. 

Keep Loading Bay Areas Clean And In a Good Condition

Another way to guarantee the safe operation of your loading bay is to keep this clean and in a good condition. Every day, that your loading bay is in use, members of your team should be checking that floors and surfaces of lifts and levelers are kept clear, driving areas are not misused and are cleared of blockages or packaging, spills are cleaned up immediately and areas are kept dry to avoid trips and falls. 

Any signs of damage or wear and tear must be reported to a site manager for this to be reviewed and restored as quickly as possible. Keeping a record of all the on-site loading bay solutions and their condition is important for keeping them maintained and of a high standard. These loading bay solutions must also be serviced and maintained by a qualified engineer regularly.