The safety of any factory or warehouse is not a one and done scenario. With new regulations coming out all the time as safety standards and expectations increase, it’s important for business owners and safety managers to work in an effort to continually improve workplace standards for employee health and safety. While there might be pressure to save time and/or money, employers can rest assured that keeping up with safety always pays off. Not only are you guaranteeing the life and health of your employees, but you will no doubt save thousands of dollars in unnecessarily spent workers compensation, lost productivity and avoidable regulatory scrutiny.
One of the most common scenarios that can result in injuries or fatalities is factory and warehouse employees falling from elevated work areas and mezzanines. Because mezzanines are often not thought of as primary spaces and are often added later to increase the capacity of a workspace the safety of these areas is often overlooked. Installing the appropriate mezzanine gates should be a number one priority and will help your company start, and maintain, a sterling safety record.
Your best bet for a safe work environment is a multi-point approach. While mezzanine gates protect employees from falls, which OSHA pinpoints as the most common risk on worksites, there are several additional layers of safety that you can incorporate without breaking the bank.
Keeping Your Workplace Safe
Even if you are up to snuff with regulatory standards, it’s also crucial to ensure that your employees—including brand new hires to senior managers—are up to date with your safety guidelines. Here are some great things to consider as you roll out a continually evolving safety program.
1. Communication. Communication is one of the single most important factors when it comes to safety in the workplace. Give your employees access to internal or externally provided training programs. It’s important for new employees to be properly onboard with your safety regulations, but don’t drop the ball with your senior employees either. Safety courses will benefit everyone and may help nip bad habits in the bud. Safety courses distributed company-wide will allow everyone to be caught up with your latest safety regulations. Also, remember the importance of visual aids. Too often, mistakes that could have been easily avoided happen because there were no appropriate visual aids to help people understand the proper use or protocol around a certain area, tool or procedure. Visual aids along with appropriate training will create good work-place habits that will help employees not only avoid potentially dangerous situations but create an environment of camaraderie as co-workers look out for each other’s safety.
2. Provide a safe and clean environment for everyone. Studies show that environment can have a MAJOR impact on employee health and well-being. Keeping your work areas clean and free of clutter will eliminate unnecessary accidents. Tidiness and organization is also a benefit to productivity and will no doubt help workers feel more comfortable and in control of their days. Comfort should also be on the top of the list in an effort to help employees remain productive throughout their day. Providing anti-fatigue mats where people are standing for long periods of time and ensuring that the work areas are appropriately heated and cooled will ensure that employees don’t have to struggle to get through their shift.
3. Provide the proper equipment. Nothing is worse than trying to do a job without the right tools. If you are trying to drive in a framing nail with a jewelers hammer, you are going to be frustrated and tire quickly. Providing the proper equipment makes the best sense for productivity and safety. Newer machines often have additional safety features that allow for ease of use, maintenance and cleaning with a much lower risk of injury. New mezzanine gates for mezzanines and elevated areas provide an important layer of safety for employees and should always be installed in potentially hazardous, high areas.
4. Provide the best environmental safety possible. OSHA puts falls as the number one job safety hazard, with 38.8% of workplace fatalities being categorized as such. This tragic loss of life is also a highly unnecessary one. With the proper safety equipment and good training, falls are highly preventable. Mezzanine gates for any elevated platform or unprotected edge help reduce falls. The recent innovations in their design mean that many safety gates are now equipped with a counterbalanced or pivot dual gate system, ensuring the edge of the work platform is never exposed. Mezzanine safety gates should be easy to install and adjust, be OSHA compliant and fit to any handrail type.
Fabenco has been producing the highest quality safety gates for the past four decades. Known for their innovation and made in America quality, Fabenco is recognized as the ‘one stop shop’ for safety gates. Fabenco’s unique mezzanine safety gates are OSHA compliant and guarantee the highest level of safety for your applications. Our specialized mezzanine safety gates have several layers of protection built in. Always made from high quality, powder-coated steel, our mezzanine safety gates are guaranteed easy to install with common tools. All of our gates are OSHA compliant and fit all handrail types.
Our Gates
Every mezzanine area is slightly different to accommodate the specific needs of the work being done. Often, our customers find that they need a mezzanine safety gate system that can handle extra tall loads. Our MZ-Clear Height Safety Gates protect employees in elevated mezzanine loading areas with no height restrictions meaning they can accommodate the highest loads. The MZ-Clear Height Safety Gate is counterbalanced, ensuring that there is always a protective gate between your employees and the leading edge. This mezzanine safety gate allows workers to easily load and unload materials while keeping everyone as safe as possible. We have worked diligently to ensure that their productivity and efficiency is never sacrificed in the name of safety.
For extra wide loads, our MZ-Pivoting Mezzanine Gates will protect your employees in elevated mezzanine loading areas who are dealing with single and double pallet width loads. It too has a counterbalanced gate to ensure there is always a minimum of one layer of protection between your employees and the edge of the platform.
All of our gates break down for shipping efficiency and assembles easily with basic tools that you likely have on hand.
If you want to improve the safety in your environment, there are many ways to accomplish that goal. Ultimately, a deployment of several different strategies will certainly benefit your company and save you time and money in the long run. Fabenco mezzanine gates have been helping workers stay safe on elevated platforms for decades. With the highest commitment to precision and quality, our made in America safety gates ensure a sterling level of protection for your workplace and employees and are an essential addition to any safe working environment.
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