Keep Your Warehouse Workers Safe With Mezzanine Safety Gate, Many warehouses are fitted with mezzanine floors to create extra space and double usable areas. However, if you are concerned with the safety of your workers, you must try to minimize the risks and dangers associated with such mezzanine floors.
What do you mean by mezzanine floors?
It is an intermediate floor or platform that is constructed between two major floors of a building. It can also be built between the floor space and the ceiling space of a building. They cover a large or small area of an industrial unit and are designed to be built over some specific confined spaces. They help save the workspace.
It is a planned floor and positioned to provide a specific storage area. Mezzanine floors offer extra storage space in an industrial plant. Such mezzanine floors can also be utilized for providing extra office space and retail unit expansion. These floor designs are also commonly used for distribution and manufacturing building units. Mezzanine Safety Gate
Height and Other Specifications of a Mezzanine Floor
The minimum height of designing a mezzanine floor from the upper ceiling can be 440 cm. So you can construct a mezzanine floor keeping a gap of 14 to 15 feet between the ceiling space and the ground floor. You have to follow mezzanine floor building regulations to design a proper one. The key components of such a floor include supportive primary beams, purlins fixing points, columns to uphold the mezzanine structure, and a fitted decking board. The mezzanine design also includes handrails for edge protection and staircases to provide easy access to the mezzanine floor.
OSHA Safety Standards
Warehouse owners are recommended to install OSHA or occupational safety and health administration compliant mezzanine safety gates that offer full enclosure of the mezzanine floor. You should abide by the worker safety policies and educate the workers on taking precautionary measures. A mezzanine safety gate can provide maximum safety and also allow for easy lifting of the materials from the ground or lower platform to a raised platform.
Special Features of Industrial Safety Gates
- The safety gate can help in unloading industrial products
- It reduces the risk of accidents by offer adequate protection
- You have freedom of flexibility to use the gate as a horizontal closure or a vertical closure
- You can install the gate according to your mezzanine floor configuration
- There are many safety points included in a single gate that include mid-rails and toe-boards
- You can even set a timer for auto-closing
- You may get a self-closing gate, manual liftgate or an automatic liftgate to be installed
Fire & Hazard Features
There may be several fire and hazard code regulations concerning industrial property spaces. When you are planning a mezzanine floor and gate installation, you need to review the necessary rules and laws to be applied before the mezzanine floor installation. The government officials may ask you to add more sprinklers or other safety equipment to adhere to the state laws.
Stairway Safety
Mezzanine floors can be accessed using the stairwell. And stairwells often add to the risk and danger caused by shaky or improperly held mezzanine constructions. Common stairwell accidents may happen due to poor lighting on the stairs or slippery wet conditions. Even damaged steps or bulky objects kept on the stairs can be accident-prone. To avoid all such hazards, you have to abide by company policy rules to keep the stairwells well-lighted and clutter-free.
You can appoint supervisors and cleaners to check and clean the staircases. Cleaners can put up warning signposts or barriers when they are wiping or mopping the staircases. Accessing the staircases should ideally be allowed if the stairs are safe, dry, and well-lighted.
Load Weight Restrictions
A trained engineer can inspect and confirm the maximum load restrictions that could be allowed on the mezzanine floors. As a business owner, you have to ensure that such prime restrictions are not ignored or violated by the workers. Some mezzanines are used for storage purposes. In such cases, you need to be very sure that you are staying within the weight limits. When the space is utilized by workers or machinery for loading and unloading goods, it should be within the recommended weight limitations.
Safety guidelines for mezzanine gates have to be maintained to create a controlled and safe access area for the industry workers and staff. You can approach fall protection partners to comply with industry safety OSHA standards. You can acquire the best quality safety gear and protective enclosures that include vertical plus horizontal surfaces like staircases, roofs, floors, ramps, ladders, raised walkways, scaffolds, and more.
Get up-to-date safety techniques and tools by installing industrial safety gates for mezzanine floors and elevated walkways. Such platform barriers are the most convenient solutions for keeping workers and employees secure within an industrial zone.