Every season has its safety risks, especially around your warehouse’s loading dock. In the summer, there could be a wide-open dock door for ventilation without proper barriers to stop people from tripping and falling out. In the winter, you and your team face hazards like ice and rain, slick concrete surfaces, busy seasonal rushes, and poor attention due to cold weather as people move in and out of the building. Even the late sunrises and early sunsets make loading docks more hazardous, as low light makes everything more dangerous. Faced with all these winter loading dock safety risks, training can only go so far; your team needs the right equipment and tools to stay safe during winter.
This guide covers some of the most common loading dock hazards your team experiences in winter and what fall protection systems and solutions are the most effective in reducing incidents, keeping your facility OSHA-compliant and/or CCOHS-compliant, and protecting your workers. As you read through this guide, think about which hazards sound familiar to your facility and what gaps in OSHA-compliant equipment you want to prioritize.
#1 > The Main Loading Dock Safety Hazard: During the Rush, the Door Stays Open
Winter starts in a rush: holiday orders are coming through the dock doors as fast as truckers can get there, and everything needs to get where it’s going by the promised delivery date. Even as December winds down, you might receive an unorganized array of returns and exchanges. As workers struggle to keep up with increasingly tight deadlines and the pressure to get things done, there will be safety shortcuts. One of the most dangerous is that the loading dock door will stay open as everyone rushes around.
Even if your business doesn’t get hit by holiday rushes, winter weather can cause the same loading dock safety problem throughout the rest of the season. Snowstorms and traffic congestion will cause unscheduled delays, and work will suddenly arrive hours later (often simultaneously with other deliveries).
THE SOLUTION
Install dock gates so your team is never standing next to an opening with a four- to six-foot drop without adequate protection. OSHA requires all open-sided docks with at least a four-foot drop to have a qualifying safety gate. Well-built dock gates should have the following features:
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- Easy-open components so a single worker can easily raise and lower the gate
- Dual opening design for doors with a low overhead clearance
- Two horizontal bars at approximately chest/weight height and thigh height to help catch workers if they trip
- Stainless steel construction that meets OSHA standards
#2 > Snow and Sleet Make the Ground Slippery
Slick water will find its way inside, and water and concrete are a dangerous mix. The area around your facility’s loading docks and exterior doors will accumulate water all season long, either from rain and snow angling in or from workers’ shoes as they move in and out. This water will track through your facility around the docks, staircases, and any other high-traffic areas. There are a couple of ways to mitigate the problem—such as requiring or even providing anti-slip shoes with good grip and placing high-absorption mats around the doors—but they can’t completely eliminate the increased risk of trips and slides.
THE SOLUTION
Install swinging safety gates with a swing-closed mechanism. Self-closing gates default to a closed position—workers can easily push the gate open when they’re bringing a load in from the truck, and they can pull it open when they intend to walk through. But if they accidentally trip inside the warehouse and catch themselves against the gate, it becomes a sturdy barrier that stops them from falling past it.
These gates work best around staircases, hatches, and other openings to lower ground. Your team won’t be able to mop up water fast enough, and you can’t cover the entire floor with non-slip mats. These gates provide more—and constant—protection against slips and falls where it matters most.
#3 > It’s Dark Outside, and the Interior Lights Aren’t Enough
Winter is hazardous across all major industries that have outside work because we get less sunlight. The mornings and late afternoons get dark fast but work still needs to get done. This is dangerous on warehouse grounds because there’s a continuous flow of traffic outside. But it’s also dangerous inside because overhead lighting is often insufficient and creates harsh shadows. When you have lights suspended from the ceiling, tall shelves, staircases, and machinery all block the light before it reaches the bottom of the warehouse. As a result, workers will have less visibility. They might need to maneuver around each other quickly, they may not see slick pools of water and ice, and they may not see steps or sudden elevation changes.
THE SOLUTION
Good winter dock safety starts with a thorough audit of your facility during bad lighting conditions so you can evaluate what equipment you need outside of the brightest hours of the day. Based on your assessment, you might find opportunities to improve safety through:
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- Replacing old railings and swinging safety gates with higher-visibility options that have a bright yellow powder coat
- Installing barriers such as self-closing gates around stairs or dock gates in front of every loading dock door
- Painting or installing high-visibility strips on the floor to denote safe pathways, machinery areas, and proper clearance around the loading dock door
#4 > It’s Too Cold to Get a Good Grip
Cold weather is distracting and hard to deal with, even when workers have the appropriate winter gear. Bulky gloves can make it hard to hold until a stair rail or machinery controls. However, not having gloves can be even worse, as it makes handrails too cold to comfortably touch handrails or hold onto hand trucks, packages, or equipment as people go in and out. This will increase your team’s risk of slips, trips, and falls due to either distraction or discomfort.
THE SOLUTION
OSHA-compliant barriers are built to maximize safety. OSHA standards specifically identify the height of the horizontal bars. For example, the top rails of guardrail systems should be between 39 and 45 inches high, and handrails should be 30-38 inches higher than the stair tread next to it. Balusters should be 19 inches apart at most. All of these measurements ensure the railings are at easy grab height in the event of a sudden slip. Robust guardrail systems also have mid-rails between the top rail and the floor so workers can’t easily fall through the barrier.
Audit each of your guardrail systems to ensure they meet these safety standards and replace the ones that don’t. Having trustworthy railings means workers can catch their weight and minimize their risk of a fall in the cold.
2025 Initiatives Are Kicking into Gear—Find OSHA-Compliant Loading Dock Safety Solutions with Fabenco
Adequate training and personal gear like gloves and shoes play a key role in safety, but they aren’t enough. Support your company’s 2025 OSHA initiatives and winter dock safety programs with OSHA-compliant installations and swinging safety gates from Fabenco. We help companies get fall protection systems that comply with OSHA, CCOHS, and localized regulations to keep loading docks and warehouses safer all year round. Contact us today to learn more about our fall protection systems and find the right equipment for your warehouse and loading dock safety needs.
