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If you’ve ever spent time working in a warehouse, you know that it can be dangerous if the right safety measures aren’t in place. And if you’ve ever driven a forklift, you probably know about the hazards of overhead doors and low clearances around the warehouse.
So what do you do about it? How do you alert forklift operators — some who could even be hearing impaired — before an accident happens?
Learn how our own Teresa O’Donnell, along with Oliver Rice of Ritron and fellow Warner Communications team members Paul Gibson, Rachel Wilfong, and Al Rosenberger, put their heads together and did just that.
Dot Foods is the largest food industry redistributor in North America, and the company has thirteen distribution centers across the country including a 24-hour facility in Mount Sterling, Illinois.
The warehouses at Mount Sterling make use of both stand-up and sit-down style forklifts with varying heights and widths, depending on which work areas and for what functions the machines are being used around the expansive facility.
Although an eight-foot high doorway that leads from a docking area into the frozen foods warehouse is adequate for standard sit-down forklifts, it poses a potential hazard for the taller machines.
Workers operate different machines throughout a typical work shift, and these machines can vary from standard sit-down forklifts to taller "narrow aisle"-type forklifts which can reach up to sixteen feet high. This would at times lead to operators accidentally trying to pass through the lower doorway on tall machines, sometimes causing damage to the protective goal post barrier around the door.
Dot Foods wanted an early-warning system that would instantly alert an operator, both visually and audibly, if they were approaching the doorway on a tall machine—before a potential collision.
"What we were having happen was, operators get on different machines, they forget how tall their machine is, and they would run into the door." ~Eric Felker, Facility Project Manager for Automation at Dot Foods Mount Sterling facility
Teresa O'Donnell, general manager of Warner Communications in Southern Illinois, worked on a solution with Oliver Rice from Ritron that would help eliminate this potential daily hazard.
When considering an early-warning system, the first item to consider was a sensor that would "see" a tall forklift coming and could also withstand the frigid temperatures. After researching possible candidates, the IP65 rated active infrared dual beam Optex SL-TNR sensor checked all the boxes.
When the sensors are activated, a Ritron QuickTalk device instantly and simultaneously starts a Code 3 CM7265 red strobe light and plays a loud "warble" siren tone (click to listen) over a Ritron LoudMouth speaker.
Warner Communications collaborated with Ritron to develop a simple, custom solution using rugged and flexible product offerings from our trusted partners.
"The collaboration with Warner has always been seamless. They're great. They are very well trained. I was there to help Teresa along the way, but all things considered, she really just kind of took it and ran with it." ~Oliver Rice, Account Manager at Ritron, Inc.
Operators of tall forklifts are now alerted well in advance, and as of the date of this writing there have been no more incidents of anyone hitting the goal posts.
"It's helped a lot. We haven't had anybody run into the door, and I think it's made a big difference." ~Mike Hulvey, Supervisor in Frozen at Dot Foods in Mount Sterling
To discuss a custom solution of your own, contact our experts.
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