Warehouse Floor Marking Tapes for Safety

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Improving warehouse safety is something that requires quite a bit of planning and effort. There is no one thing that you can do to get the results you need fast. Instead, you should look at a variety of different options and implement the ones that will give you the biggest improvements. Of course, even smaller improvements to warehouse safety can be very important.

One thing that you can do to make improvements in this area is to use floor marking tape. This type of tape is a form of visual communication that is able to let people in the facility know where they should be, what precautions they should take, and much more. Every warehouse will need to come up with their own unique strategy for using floor marking tape to improve safety. This page, however, will offer a number of different concepts that can be considered and used effectively.

Floor Marking tape is a Common Safety Tool

When most people think of safety tools things like hard hats, steel toed boots, fall suppression systems, and other similar things come to mind. The reality is, however, that things like floor marking tape are also extremely common safety improvement tools.

In fact, floor marking tape is used in many environments that other safety items are not needed. They still provide the improvements to the overall safety of the facility, as well as other advantages. If your facility is not already using floor marking tape, it should definitely be something on your list to look into to help benefit your facility.

Floor Marking Tape vs Paint

Floor marking tape can be used in just about any environment. Some facilities, however, prefer to use floor marking paint. Floor marking paint is used for the same basic things that tape is, but has some different properties. This makes it a good option in certain circumstances, and not a great option in others.

Both floor marking tape and paint are relatively easy to install. In addition, they are both very durable and long lasting as long as they are properly cared for. You can also get both tape and paint installed at a very reasonable price, which makes it an affordable way to improve your facilities safety.

There are quite a few different types of floor marking tape, which makes it a more flexible option. For example, you can get tape that is designed with multiple colors to convey specific information. Putting down paint in multiple colors is possible, but more challenging. Tape can also come with reflectors built in for improved visibility.

When deciding what to use for your floor marking strategy, there is no one right or wrong answer. Looking at each individual area of your facility and deciding how to best make the markings you need will help to ensure you get the safety and visibility you need.

Floor Marking Tape for Traffic Guidance

One of the most dangerous things in most warehouses is going to be forklifts and other indoor vehicles. While essential for the operation of the facility, forklifts are responsible for a large percentage of the most serious accidents and injuries. In fact, they are involved with about 1 out of ever 6 workplace deaths and thousands of serious injuries.

There are many reasons why forklifts and other vehicles are so dangerous. One of the biggest is that visibility can be easily obstructed by the driver. This puts everyone around them at elevated risk. Using floor marking tape to provide clear instructions on how and where these machines should be operated will be very helpful.

While it may sound simple, a good floor marking tape strategy can dramatically help prevent forklift accidents. The following are just some of the many ways that this type of tape can help:

  • Guide the Driver – When a forklift driver is operating their vehicle it can be hard to see. Having the floor marking tape in place will help them to be able to remain in the designated areas set aside for these vehicles.
  • Operation Instructions – You can use different colors or patterns on the floor marking tape to provide forklift operators with instructions. For example, in areas with yellow floor markings, they may know that they need to drive slowly since there are pedestrians in the area.
  • Alert for Blind Corners – Using floor markings to make operators aware of blind corners or other hazards will remind them to slow down and proceed with caution in these dangerous areas.
  • Keep Pedestrians Aware – It is not only the responsibility of the forklift operator to drive safely. Pedestrians in the area need to take precautions as well. Floor tape can instruct pedestrians to stay out of areas where forklifts are operating.
  • Safety Reminder Signs – In addition to just normal floor marking tape, you can have custom floor marking signs applied using the same type of adhesive. These signs can tell operators to stop, slowdown, or stay out of areas.

While forklifts get most of the attention when it comes to safety improvement for vehicles, other machines can benefit from floor marking tape as well.

Improving Organization to Boost Safety

In addition to directly benefitting the safety of your facility, floor marking tape can also be used to make improvements to the way things are organized. Of course, a well-organized facility is also going to be a safer facility.

For example, if you use floor marking tape to identify where specific equipment should be stored when not in use, it will be out of the way so it is not an obstacle to other machines or people. You can also use floor marking tape to identify where specific safety items like fire extinguishers, personal protection equipment, and other items are kept. By reserving certain areas for these types of items, you can ensure everyone is able to respond to an emergency as quickly as possible.

While using tape to reserve specific areas for specific items makes sense, you can also use the tape to make sure people don’t put anything in places that could cause a safety hazard. For example, using floor marking tape to remind people not to put anything in the area directly in front of an electrical panel will help to avoid electrical issues.

Use Floor Markings with Other Improvement Strategies

Floor markings can be an important part of any process improvement strategy. If your facility uses lean, 5S, Six Sigma, or any of the other common systems, floor markings should be a key component of your planning. The more you are able to improve other areas of your facility, the safer everyone will be.

For example, if you are incorporating lean concepts into your warehouse to improve efficiency, part of that will be focusing on safety. If you use 5S or 6S methodologies in your warehouse, safety is definitely going to be something that you need to look into. This should mean using floor marking tape in a variety of ways.

Keeping Floor Markings Clean

Floor marking tape is very durable, and you can get it in colors that are easy to see. The fact is, however, that warehouses can be very dirty places. If you do not properly clean the tape, it will become difficult to see, rendering it mostly useless. Fortunately, floor marking tapes are made using strong materials that can stand up to just about any type of cleaning products.

Since most companies already have a process in place for cleaning and washing their floors, all you have to do is make sure your maintenance team goes over the tape while cleaning the rest of the area. You do not need to worry about damaging the tape, even if you use large machines to wash the floors. This is just one more advantage of using this type of floor marking. Cleaning is fast and easy.

Training is Always Essential

One last point to make about using these markings in a warehouse setting is that you need to ensure you provide everyone with good training about the floor marking tape. If you are using different colors to convey different meanings in your facility, you need to make sure that everyone knows what those colors mean. This type of training should not take very long, but it will help you to get the best results possible.

It is often best to provide all employees with a good base level of training on the meanings of various types of floor markings. From there, you may want to provide additional training to people who frequently work in high-traffic areas, forklift drivers, and others who may benefit from it. You can even put up posters or other signs throughout the facility to remind people of how to take advantage of floor tape to stay safe.

In the end, any safety strategy is only going to be as effective as those who are following it. Investing in the right floor marking tape followed by good training will help you to get the biggest return for your warehouse.

 

 

Additional Resources

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