Improving Loading Dock Productivity and Safety

Top Tips for Improving Loading Dock Productivity and Safety

Your loading dock is the life vein of your business. When operating at maximum efficiency, your business can move an incredible volume of products from your warehouse floor onto a delivery truck. Unfortunately, dock safety is often put to the wayside as speed and scale increase. This can create an unsafe working environment for your warehouse dock staff and lead to maintenance issues that can put your business in jeopardy. Read on to  see our top dock safety tips and learn how to increase warehouse loading dock efficiency while keeping dock safety standards high.

How Loading Efficiency and Safety Impacts Your Bottom Line

Cutting corners here and there to increase productivity may seem like a good idea when you have a large shipment or are falling behind on your schedule, but these one-offs can easily end up becoming habits. Soon enough, you have a loading dock facility that is not up to code and is a dangerous working environment for your staff. This means possible injuries to your team and downtimes to repair any issues. Both of these issues can cause missed productivity targets, lawsuits, and losing your best clients.

However, by implementing smart, practical guidelines for your warehouse loading dock staff, you’ll soon discover that you’re still able to meet those tight productivity targets while also having fewer delays and increased worker safety. Below are some tips you can implement to improve loading dock safety and efficiency.

Conduct Training for Staff

Employee training is always worth the time and investment. When everyone is on the same page, you set up your crew for success and create a safer warehouse dock environment for everyone. Training shouldn’t only be reserved for new hires. Even your most experienced employees can use a refresher on how to run a loading dock from time to time correctly.

Additionally, you want to ensure that everyone has the proper certifications. For instance, your forklift drivers should not only get certified with OSHA federal and state training, testing, and evaluation requirements, but re-certify when it expires. You’ll have peace of mind knowing that your forklift operators are in compliance and that they can operate the machinery necessary to keep your business both safe and profitable.

Embrace Loading Dock Safety Technology

Upgrading your warehouse loading dock technology may seem like a high-cost upfront, but it will pay dividends quickly. By leveraging loading dock technology, you’ll be able to run a safer and more efficient facility. Below are some of the loading dock technologies you should look into purchasing or upgrading:

• Tracking sensors: You or your warehouse dock manager can’t see everything at once, and that’s where tracking sensors come in. With the right sensors in place, you can monitor almost every part of your facility. Sensors can help you and your facility team when limited visibility or communication, such as past closed doors, congested loading bays, and unpredictable semi-truck schedules. Plus, tracing sensors can help you identify bottlenecks quickly, which will help you improve your loading dock efficiency.

• Vehicle restraints: They bridge the gap between a truck’s trailer and the loading dock. There are several types of vehicle restraints, such as automatic vehicle restraints, non-impact restraints, etc. You’ll need to determine which type is best for your facility and ensure that it’s installed correctly.

• Dock levelers: These will work in combination with your vehicle restraints and help bridge the difference between the loading dock floor and the trailer. This crucial piece of equipment can help make loading and off-loading a smoother and safer process.

• Bumpers: Just like on your car, a loading dock bumper will help absorb impact from backing trailers and prevent structural damage to your loading dock. You’ll find it much cheaper and easier to replace a bumper than repairing your dock and will help reduce any downtime and safety issues from structural damage.

• Light communication system: With so much noise from warehouse loading dock vehicles, often your vision is your best tool. A light system helps quickly communicate to your drivers and staff when it is safe to proceed or when they need to promptly halt production.

Use Dock Seals and Shelters to Keep Weather Conditions at Bay

You can’t plan on the weather always cooperating with your busy schedule. You’ll need to install dock seals and shelters to help keep environmental conditions outside your loading dock interfering with your production. Dock seals can help take care of several aspects such as:

• Climate control: Even in stable weather places like Southern California, maintaining proper airflow and temperature is essential to keep production running smoothly and keep your staff safe. An effective dock seal helps control temperature and humidity and helps avoid damage to your inventory and handling equipment.

• Reduce excessive moisture: Loading docks can be fast-paced, and traction is of utmost importance. Dock seals can help mitigate moisture during the rainy season and reduce slips, falls, or vehicle skids.

• Maintaining proper ventilation: No matter how sturdy your loading dock doors are, they are still susceptible to gusts and consistent high winds. A properly sealed loading dock door can help minimize the risk of your facility staff losing balance or inventory falling over and becoming damaged.

Have Routine Preventative Measures in Place

It’s better to be proactive about safety than waiting to address it once an incident occurs. If you think there can be a safety issue, there will be sooner than later. A preventative safety plan helps you keep a safe warehouse dock working environment for your staff and helps maintain efficiency by reducing downtime when an accident happens. Some steps you can take are:

• Schedule regular equipment inspections: Every part of your facility should be inspected regularly, from your vehicles to your loading dock structure. National Equipment & Service can help schedule equipment inspections that work with your schedule and help you avoid any costly repairs or potential safety issues.

• Battery maintenance: Taking proper care of vehicle batteries, like the ones on your forklifts, can not only extend their life but also ensure that your batteries don’t give out at the worst possible time, like when you are moving large loads or during the busiest part of your day.

• Installing mirrors: Installing curved mirrors, ceiling mirrors, and corner mirrors are like having eyes in the back of your head. When properly installed, mirrors can help you see around blind spots and be a vital piece of safety equipment, keeping pedestrians and your staff safe from oncoming vehicles.

• General housekeeping: Each shift should end with some general housekeeping ensuring that floors and dock plates are dry and taking care of any spills or debris. This keeps everything running smoothly for the next shift and helps everyone avoid unnecessary accidents.

It’s best to instill preventative safety measures early and often. It shouldn’t be seen as something extra your staff has to do, but part of their everyday job.

Ensure Compliance and Safe Working Practices

Compliance should be part of your staff’s training, but even then, it’s your responsibility to make sure everyone on your team is consistently abiding by OSHA guidelines. These guidelines can change often, so it’s good to revisit them periodically to ensure your staff and facility are meeting these guidelines to ensure everyone’s safety and keep your warehouse dock running as efficiently as possible.

National Service & Equipment can help ensure your facility is up to code during a routine dock safety inspection and advise you on what needs to be done to bring your workplace up to code if anything is out of compliance. Plus, taking these types of preventative measures will provide a safe and efficient loading dock facility and keep you from paying any unnecessary fines from OSHA.

Safety Is Our Business

If you think your loading dock facility could use some help in implementing safe and efficient practices to keep your business running as it should be, then give us a call. We can help you with proactive maintenance, commercial door repairs, dock safety, and just about everything else you need to make sure your business is in compliance and up to code. Get in touch with us today to schedule an appointment.

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