Top 9 Reasons Your Facility Needs Safety Gates

Safety hazards are present at virtually every level and every corner of an industrial facility. From fall risks to exposure to dangerous equipment, employees and visitors are subject to a variety of workplace hazards on a daily basis. Fortunately, safety gates play a key role in preventing workplace injuries within industrial settings. Below are the top nine reasons your facility needs safety gates.

Top 9 Reasons Your Facility Needs Safety Gates

1) Your loading dock has been the site of too many “close calls”

“Loading docks can be dangerous. About 25 percent of all reported warehouse injuries occur on loading docks, and for each incident hundreds of near misses occur. Causes of dock injury include truck separation from the dock and falls from the dock – particularly when a forklift backs off the platform and falls on the operator. Because these incidents may result in serious injuries, effective safety measures around loading docks are critical.”

– Maree Mulvoy, Safety and Health Magazine

Loading dock injuries often occur because many facilities leave their loading dock doors open to promote ventilation and to enable employees to see trucks arriving. With roughly one in four warehouse injuries occurring on loading docks, you cannot afford to skimp on safety measures.

The addition of a loading dock safety gate is an effective means of protecting employees from injury. In addition to helping to prevent employees from falling from the loading dock, a brightly colored safety gate serves as a prominent visual barrier that truck drivers can easily see as they approach your warehouse. Facilities with loading docks that are larger than average should consider adding extra wide safety gates to their facilities.

2) Construction or renovations are underway at your facility

Safety gates are an essential means of protecting employees from harm during construction projects or renovations. In addition to helping to prevent access to sections of your building that are under construction, safety gates can be positioned around danger zones such as skylights, platform holes, and areas with elevation differences.

3) You failed your last OSHA inspection

Every year, manufacturers and other industrial companies will fail to pass an OSHA inspection. In many cases, these inspections are conducted without notice, highlighting the need to be prepared with the proper safety precautions in place at all times. If you failed to comply with OSHA safety standards, safety gates can help you in your quest to address violations cited by inspectors.

4) Your facility has one or more mezzanines

“Fall-related accidents also are an ever-present danger in elevated work areas such as mezzanines. Additionally, an increasing number of plants and warehouses have pit areas that workers can fall into if they are not guarded properly.”

– Andy Olson, EHS Today 

Installing a mezzanine safety gate is one of the best ways to protect employees from sustaining a fall onto a lower facility level. Additionally, a mezzanine gate will help prevent unauthorized access by personnel or visitors. By preventing unauthorized employees to access these areas, a mezzanine safety gate will help prevent injury caused by dropping a component over the edge of the mezzanine onto an employee positioned below.

5) You operate dangerous equipment

Failure to protect employees who work with dangerous industrial equipment can lead to serious injury. Safety gates can help prevent these injuries by limiting access to facility locations with dangerous equipment. In particular, OSHA highlights the importance of protecting employees from power transmission equipment or devices that feature “flywheels, pulleys, belts, connecting rods, couplings, cams, spindles, chains, cranks, and gears.” You may wish to consider extra wide safety gates if your equipment operation areas are sizable.

6) Ladders and platform holes are scattered throughout your facility

“OSHA believes that double chains do not fully protect workers from falls at hole entrances, and therefore, is adopting the existing and proposed requirements that entrances to ladderway floor and platform holes have a self-closing gate or be offset to prevent workers from falling.”

– OSHA

Using a chain to try to protect employees from falls around ladderway floors and platform holes may lead to OSHA violations. OSHA views chains and double chains as insufficient protection around ladder holes. Instead, OSHA requires companies to use self-closing gates to protect workers from falls around ladderway floor and platform holes.

7) Your facility has one or more stairways

Accidents and injuries are common on stairways in busy multi-level industrial facilities. Safety gates help prevent employees from falling down flights of steps while also helping to direct attention to a change in elevation. Safety gates are particularly effective when used in conjunction with handrails and safety signage.

8) Floor holes are present throughout your facility

“When guardrails are used around holes that are points of access (such as ladderways), they shall be provided with a gate or be so offset that a person cannot walk directly into a hole  [29 CFR 1926.502 (b)(13)].”

– National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

When used in conjunction with guardrails, safety gates are an effective means of protecting employees from falling through floor holes. As a safety manager or business owner, it is important to remember that skylights are treated as floor holes, as are holes that are points of access for employees. Extra wide safety gates are recommended for large floor holes and to prevent unauthorized access to areas under construction.

9) You are serious about attracting safety-conscious employees

Safety-minded employees are valuable assets to any employer. The best way to attract these top-notch job candidates is to invest in high-quality protective equipment. Installing durable, highly visible safety gates is a great way to showcase your commitment to safety and protecting the lives of your employees.

The Bottom Line

Industrial facilities can be dangerous places for employees to work. Fortunately, safety managers can greatly reduce these risks by taking the proper safety measures. By installing safety gates and guardrails, employers can minimize OSHA violations, minimize employee injury, and attract top-caliber employees who are committed to following safety protocol.