Laurie Washington
Many businesses will have an indoor docking bay for delivery trucks. These areas can make it much easier for the business to receive items and load products into the trucks. Unfortunately, some businesses may underestimate the amount of dock equipment that their building will need.
Hand Trucks
Maximizing the amount of materials that your workers can move at once will help to improve the efficiency of your loading area. Hand trucks can be essential tools for docking areas as these devices can make it much easier for employees to move a large number of heavy boxes or other items. In addition to having the benefit of improving the efficiency of the docking area, this can also reduce the risk of the employees suffering back injuries as a result of having to do a large amount of heavy lifting.
Retractable Ramps
There can be slight height differences between the floor of your docking bay and the trucks that are delivering materials or that your employees are loading. To ensure that your workers are still able to safely and easily entering and exit these trucks, it can be worth investing in retractable ramps. These devices can act as a bridge between the docking area and the truck.
When choosing a ramp for your docking area, it can be worthwhile to consider the weight of the items that will be moved as there will be limits to the amount of weight that these ramps will be able to safely accommodate. Some of these ramp systems can even be built into the floors so that they can automatically be retracted when the employees are no longer needing them.
Back Braces And Gloves
Protecting your employees from injuries can be an important task for business leaders. Docking areas can be some of the higher-risk areas of the business as employees can be a greater risk of suffering both accidental injuries as well as repetitive stress injuries. One way to help reduce this risk is by providing all of your docking bay employees with the appropriate back braces and gloves. These devices can be extremely cost-effective options for reducing the risk of injuries occurring to your workers.
Due to the amount of wear that these pieces of dock equipment will experience, you should make an effort to keep spares available so that your workers can quickly replace any equipment that has become too worn or damaged to be effective. Otherwise, they could be at a much greater risk of injury as a result of using compromised safety equipment.
Take a look around at the industrial equipment in your facility. Hopefully it is all working and in good shape. If you want to keep it that way, you will need to provide it with the proper care. Every machine has somewhat different maintenance requirements, but in most cases, some lubrication and an annual inspection by a qualified repair professional will go a long way. Here's the thing: you can't be in this industry without the right equipment. So rather than spending more on new equipment, it is wise to care for the stuff you've got. Read more on this and related topics right here on this website about industrial equipment.