How to make safer docks: Ensuring that docks are safe is a combination of the right equipment and the know-how to use it to best advantage

摘要

Docks are a busy place, whether they are found in a warehouse or at a manufacturing facility. Inventory, materials handling equipment and people are constantly on the move, which makes it an area where the risk of injury is high. "Anywhere from 10-25% of all industrial accidents occur at or around the loading dock," according to Walt Swietlik, customer relations manager for Rite-Hite (800-285-5956, www.ritehite.com). That is why it is extremely important to have the right equipment and training to ensure dock safety. The first step is to recognize potential trouble spots, and there are several. To begin, many injuries occur from slips and falls around open dock doors. "Anytime you have weather entering the building and water mixing with oil and grease from the equipment, you create a poor traction surface. That is how slips happen," says Wayne Maynard, director of ergonomics and tribology for Liberty Mutual Group. (Tribology is the study of slips and falls.) Liberty Mutual is a major underwriter of workers' compensation insurance.