Picture this: A forklift is delivering a stack of pallets to a loading zone. The truck driver, who is receiving the goods, has got out of his vehicle to stretch his legs.
Within the loading zone, painted lines mark a waiting area, and a fluorescent hazard sign is on display. But he doesn’t notice them; he’s too busy checking his phone.
He makes his way across the warehouse to the main office, head down, completely unaware of his surroundings.
The forklift driver is heading in the same direction and can’t see past the pallets in front of him.
The two are getting closer, but neither one can see the other.
What happens next is devastating and could have been totally preventable.
This scenario, and many similar ones, are all too common on sites where loading zones lack designated waiting areas with physical protection to control pedestrian movement. It’s a sobering reality, but accidents like these can be avoided with the right safety controls in place.
By implementing driver safe zones, you can protect truck drivers during loading and unloading, prevent forklift damage, and ensure that everyone on your site goes home unharmed each day.
In this article, we cover:
- What are driver safe zones used for?
- Why visual guides aren’t enough
- Are there different types of driver safe zones?
- How much do driver safe zones cost?
What Are Driver Safe Zones Used For?
Driver safe zones are designed to create a secure area that protects truck drivers from vehicles, forklifts, and other material handling equipment while their trucks are being loaded and unloaded.
When you’re in charge of the operation of a site, you’re responsible for every single person that comes through that facility—staff, delivery partners, visitors, and everything in between.
Whether you’re running a warehouse, retail outlet, or manufacturing plant, your job is to do everything you possibly can to keep people safe and assets protected. While there are many risks in a workplace, pedestrians crossing into the same area as forklifts, or vice versa, is one of the most common and dangerous.
Truck drivers are responsible for what materials are loaded onto their trucks and how they are loaded. Because of this, they often want to keep an eye on the loading and unloading process to ensure it’s done safely and correctly. To protect them from vehicles and forklifts, they require a designated observation area.
A driver safe zone also provides forklift drivers with the assurance that truck drivers are in a dedicated spot out of their way during loading and unloading. Both drivers are aware of each other, significantly reducing the risk of them crossing paths and causing an accident.
While driver safe zones have traditionally been marked with anything from a green painted box on the ground to a sign reading “Stand Here”, an increasing number of workplaces are instead investing in barriers that provide physical protection to enhance safety and prevent accidents.
Are There Different Types of Driver Safe Zones?
Driver safe zones come in many forms, but they all share one common goal: to create a physical barrier that protects truck drivers from forklifts and other material handling equipment (MHE) during loading and unloading.
Whether you use handrail barriers and gates to create a driver safe zone or a caged driver safe zone to protect against falling goods, safety controls should always match the environment they’re installed in and the level of risk associated with the space.
Factors to consider when choosing a driver safe zone:
- What types of vehicles are travelling through this area?
- How heavy is the traffic flow on a daily basis?
- How much protection does your safe zone need?
- What size does it need to be to house drivers?
- Do the barriers need to be impact-rated?
Let’s explore the different types of driver safe zones and what they achieve.
Standard Duty Driver Safe Zone
A standard duty model is recommended when the driver safe zone is away from truck and forklift movement. The handrail barrier system serves as a clearly demarcated waiting area, physically boxing drivers in, and preventing them from wandering around site.
If they do need to exit the driver safe zone, the gate encourages them to stop, pause, and assess the risk before entering an open site. Because it is positioned away from trucks, forklifts, and other material-handling equipment (MHE), a standard-duty safe zone does not need to be impact-rated in the event of collisions.
Heavy Duty Driver Safe Zone
The heavy-duty model is most suitable for areas where trucks and forklifts are in close proximity to the driver safe zone. Where there is a high chance of a truck or forklift colliding with a waiting driver, heavy-duty barriers provide impact protection and can stop a 7T vehicle at 8.6km/h.
Extra Heavy Duty Driver Safe Zone
The extra heavy-duty model is most suitable for areas where trucks and forklifts are in close proximity to the waiting area. The extra heavy-duty barriers provide the same level of impact protection as the heavy-duty barrier (stops a 7T vehicle at 8.6km/h); however, they feature additional rails to prevent fork tines from coming into contact with drivers when placing product beside the driver safe zone.
Caged Driver Safe Zone
The caged driver safe zone provides an additional level of protection when driver safe zones are in proximity to trucks being loaded and forklifts stacking product nearby. The caged sides and roof offer maximum protection for higher-risk sites where pallets or other materials could fall onto a driver safe zone.
While the barrier rails are rated to stop 7T at 6.3km/h, the mesh roof is rated to withstand a 400kg weight falling from an 800mm height above.
Customisable Systems
No matter which driver safe zone you choose, all the barriers we supply are fully modular, making it easy to customise their layout and size to suit your site safety requirements.
One of the benefits of a modular system is that, in the event of damage to your driver safe zone, rails and posts can be easily replaced.
It’s important to note that if your driver safe zone barriers take a significant hit, it is essential to have them repaired promptly. When the rails or posts are warped, the impact rating is at risk, and you expose your people and assets to harm.
Why Visual Guides Aren’t Enough
Having a green box or a sign indicating where a truck driver should stand simply isn’t enough to prevent an accident between a vehicle or forklift and a truck driver.
Worst of all is the human impact of inadequate driver safe zones.
When they aren’t designed to mitigate the risks in the environment they exist in, both forklift operators and truck drivers have been seriously injured, lost limbs, or lost their lives.
Installing a physical impact-rated barrier is the best way to ensure your people and assets are safe and that you have done everything you can to prevent unwanted outcomes.
Are Driver Safe Zones Impact-rated?
Suppose you’re installing a driver safe zone in an area with forklift and vehicle traffic in close proximity. In that case, you want to know that your barriers will withstand impact if a collision occurs. Not all barriers are created equally, so checking the impact rating and weighing it up against the risks in your area is key.
A driver safe zone barrier’s ability to withstand a hit is based on its tested impact rating.
An impact rating is measured in joules (kinetic energy/kJ) and is calculated based on the vehicle’s mass (in kilograms), speed (in kilometres per hour), and the impact angle (in degrees).
While our standard duty driver safe zone is not impact-rated, due to its distance from forklifts and other vehicles, our heavy duty, extra heavy duty, and caged driver safe zones are built to stop 7t at speeds of 6.3-8.6km/h.
How Much Do Driver Safe Zones Cost?
How much a driver safe zone costs depends on the size and the level of protection you require. As covered above, we offer four types of driver safe zones that differ based on the kinds of risks they address.
At Vanguard, we quote our driver safe zones based on the components required. Our driver safe zone pricing ranges from around $1,370 (standard) to $10,400 (caged).
If you’re looking for a detailed cost breakdown, get in touch with our team. We’ll help guide you in choosing the right driver-safe zone for your site and provide you with a precise quote.
Do You Need Driver Safe Zones Installed on Your Site?
Having appropriate physical safety controls in your driver safe zones should be a non-negotiable. Why? Doing so is the only way to ensure that your truck drivers are adequately protected during loading and unloading.
With an understanding of the importance of adequately designed driver safe zones, how different types address different risk levels, and how much they roughly cost, you can make an informed decision based on your site safety requirements.
If you know you need more than what you currently have in place on site, but are still unsure where to start, let us know—we’re here to help.
