One of Australia’s leading supermarket chains had an ongoing problem with damage to fixed assets caused by its large fleet of electric forklifts.
Barrier Security Products, based in Geelong, Victoria, was approached to develop a solution to the problem to enable ongoing repair costs to be reduced and most importantly to improve workplace safety.
Damage was being incurred when moving forklifts in the Victorian Distribution Centre impacted fixed assets or the barriers that were supposed to protect them.
Such impacts always occurred at low speed.
Barrier assessed the problem and decided a new type of shock absorbing bollard in development would be ideal for this situation.
Rick Hall Managing Director and head of Product Engineering at Barrier says the vast majority of damage caused in a warehousing environment is the result of impacts from slow moving vehicles usually below 10kph.
"Ordinary fixed bollards or barriers don’t work in this situation because they are rigidly mounted," Hall explains.
"This means the force of the impact is either transferred to the asset, or the sacrificial barrier protecting the asset, which is often damaged and requires repair along with the warehouse floor.”
Barrier Security Products has developed a Shock Absorbing Bollard (SAB). which uses design and materials that allow the absorption of the energy caused by low speed impacts.
“Unlike a fixed bollard, when a SAB is hit by a forklift for example, it has the ability to do three things."
"Firstly if the impact is low to the ground the SAB can shift sideways by up to 20mm. Secondly if the impact is high on the bollard it can tilt by up to 8 degrees at which point it locks up."
"Alternatively if the impact is of a glancing or deflection nature, it has the ability to rotate through 360 degrees."
"Another benefit of the SAB is its ability to do all these things simultaneously and after impact, simply return to its original state.”
Six weeks after installing a trial of nine Shock Absorbing Bollards damage to assets at the supermarket chain has now been minimised.
An unexpected benefit is that fork lift speed has also decreased in the area where the S.A.Bs have been installed.
This is due to improved hazard identification provided by the SABs and their high visibility.
The supermarket chain has been so impressed with the results and increased safety of its work place, that a further seventy SABs have been ordered.
In addition, the company's design team has been introduced to the benefits of the SAB to enable possible inclusion in the design of new distribution centres around Australia.
For more information on Shock Absorbing Bollards or call 03 5278 8666. Email: john@barsec.com.au