Client: Stanley Black & Decker
Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Stanley Black & Decker’s Dandenong distribution centre in Victoria operates at a fast pace—moving large volumes of tools, hardware, and industrial products daily.
In such a dynamic environment, safety infrastructure must keep pace with constant traffic, tight turnarounds, and evolving operational demands to ensure the site operates safely and efficiently.
Following a site scope, Vanguard worked closely with Stanley Black & Decker to identify the team’s key safety challenges.
Client Challenges:
- Creating a safe walkway for staff and visitors between offices, the warehouse, and the distribution hub.
- Keeping pedestrians, forklifts, and other material handling equipment (MHE) separate in a busy site where they regularly intersect.
- Keeping staff protected in cross-dock areas where product is dispatched from, day in and day out.
- Existing handrail systems along walkways were not fit for purpose, as they were significantly damaged, unable to handle pedestrian traffic, and not impact-rated for the vehicles on site.
- Unable to entirely shut down operations to carry out the work
Solutions Offered:
With an understanding of the team’s situation and what they were trying to achieve, we recommended both steel and flexible barriers, as well as pedestrian pause gates, to address the above challenges.
Stanley Black & Decker opted for a combination of the two solutions, which were selected for each area based on the level and type of risk associated with it. These included:
Forklift & Pedestrian Separation:
- TB400 Plus Traffic Barrier: Creates a strong, visible boundary between forklift routes and pedestrian walkways. The flexible design absorbs energy and reduces maintenance due to its environment-appropriate impact rating.
Fork Protection:
- PL Kick Fork Tyne Guard: Placed along vulnerable lower height zones, the guard prevents fork penetration into pedestrian and equipment areas and is energy absorbing when hit.
Safe Pedestrian Access:
- PedSafe Swing Gates: Positioned at crossings and key transitions to manage and protect pedestrian movement.
- PedSafe Barrier System: Deployed throughout walkway routes, ensuring continuous, high-visibility separation from vehicle zones.
The Outcome
Stanley Black & Decker’s safety solutions upgrades to their Dandenong facility delivered immediate improvements to site safety, durability, and traffic flow.
By replacing underperforming handrails with high-impact barriers and fork protection, the site is now equipped to protect people and assets and support its fast-paced operations with confidence and compliance.
With clear communication and strategic planning, the solutions were installed on site around the shift system, causing as little disruption to operations as possible.
