Safety Knights

Below is a document that may be some help.

Are you needing help from a forklift standpoint (loading trailers)? vehicle/pedestrian safety standpoint (making sure people don't get hit when trucks are backing up to the loading dock)? Confined space standpoint (for the dock leveling pits)?

https://www.ehs.uci.edu/safety/_pdf/loading-dock-safety-reference-guide.pdf

Thank you. A civilian went to pick up a 4 wheeler from a dock and was injured during loading. Vehicle/Pedestrian safety.

If you have PITs (fork lifts) in your warehouse my advice is to consider them big time! I would estimate in my career of 50 years when I had incidents in a warehouse 60-70% involved PITs!

Teach good safety practices in PIT training especially initial training, checklists, secured semi-trailers, safe semi-trailers, and so forth! Teach your operators to physically get off their butts and actually check trailers for safety, light, and being secured to the dock! These things are in question they do not drive on a truck Period! Supervisors MUST be bought in and hold employees feet to the fire! Don't forget the seat belts! There are OSHA CPLs on PITs and chocking tires!

Next worry about pedestrians. Recommend High-Vis Vests and awesome lighting!

Next if someone hits racking with a PIT they MUST inform their supervisor! Racking must be checked for damage by competent person!

Finally Falls! Consider those hazards!

OSHA as a CPL on Warehousing to use as a guide! https://www.osha.gov/enforcement/directives/cpl-03-00-026

Asking a HUGE question, best I can do in a few minutes! Good Luck! !! Fitz

I will not cover the information that is already covered here. The other comment are good. Some areas for consideration are: Early Departure Controls, Racking Safety, Stacking Safety and pedestrians mobile equipment segregation controls.

Early departure:
When a truck leaves with the forklift inside of it. No. Chalks are not sufficient. Dok -Lok or similar device in combination with gladhand locking the air line works best. Also consider key control.

Racking Safety:
Make sure that racks are rated for the loads you are placing on them and are un-damaged. Have a good supplier that will replace damaged sections quickly with little hassle.

Safe Stacking:
Set limits based on the stability and location. Make sure that the stacking limits and locations are known and enforced daily. Watch for blocking key equipment and walking paths.

Segregation:
Look for areas where PIT and pedestrians overlap. Concentrate in those areas first. Use flexible guarding that prevents impacts. Lastly, set isolation distance for interactions. I recommend 10ft. IM me if you would like any other info.

I would agree with Tom! I just was reading something yesterday that mapped out top OSHA violations by region. PIT's were in just about every list.
Here are a couple of links you can check out:
1. https://www.grainger.com/know-how/operations/warehouse/kh-warehouse-safety-checklist
2. https://www.grainger.com/know-how/operations/warehouse/kh-warehouse-safety-questions-answers

At my site we ensure there are always at least two layers of protection when loading a truck. One layer is the truck driver always sits in the building in a sectioned off area. If they're physically in the building we know they aren't in their truck and can't pull away unexpectedly. If they refuse to do this we'll actually hold onto their keys for the same reason.

The other layer of protection is the Dok-Lok. Unfortunately, for various reasons, the Dok-Lok doesn't always work. If that's the case then the driver is asked to chock their wheels. Our guys are responsible for ensuring the wheels are chocked, but ideally the Dok-Lok is functioning properly.