Employee Safety in Pallet Flow Lanes
Does your facility feature systems of multi-level pick modules with flow lanes to quickly move palletized products? Pallet flow lanes are often loaded from one side of the pallet racking or elevated mezzanine and picked from the other side. As each load is removed, a pallet load from behind automatically moves into position for picking.
These systems can be very complex, with multiple elevated flow lanes within the rack system. When employees work on elevated levels in picking operations and have access to the ledges, fall protection is of utmost importance and guarding is needed.
Two different pallet flow safety gates can provide fall protection and employee safety.
Self-Closing Swing Gates
Our self-closing swing gate design for pallet flow lanes features springless hinges that allow the safety gates to automatically open when the pallet is pushed into position on the pallet flow rails. The gates then close automatically when the pallet flows into the picking position of the system. The design prevents the gate from swinging outward, creating a fall protection barrier. This pallet flow safety gate design works best in multi-level pick modules in which multiple deep pallets are pushed into flow systems.
Rack Supported Multiple Pallet Deep Roly Safety Gates
A Rack Supported Roly pallet drop safety gate that is multiple pallets deep works extremely well for pallet flow fall protection, especially within cluster picking applications in busy distribution centers or material handling facilities because of the limited space within the rack system. In cluster picking operations, there are typically one or two flow lanes in a bay with an aisle between the lanes. Employees on the platform enter the lanes to pick from various pallets on either side of the aisle, putting items on a takeaway conveyor to be packaged and shipped.
The dual-gate systems attach directly to the rack uprights in rack systems or pick modules, which maximizes space in the area and creates a secure connection without having to anchor the gate into the decking. The safety gate can be designed to match the depth of the pallet flow lane to capture multiple pallets.
The extra deep dual-gate system prevents pallets holding the gates open when the lane is full and creates a completely enclosed workstation while providing fall protection for the workers in picking positions and around the empty pallet or tote return bays. When the ledge gate is open the system also prevents the pallets from being pushed into the legs of the operator on the platform because they are restricted from the bay access while the areas are being loaded.
The Roly pallet flow safety gate design can also be power operated and include product containment netting.
