A Buyer’s Guide for Impact Barriers

Impact Barrier for Electrical Panels

Impact barriers are a crucial engineering control when working with forklifts inside your facility or warehouse. Impact barriers are physical barriers that are intended to keep building components, storage racking, objects, equipment, materials, and people protected from the dangers of forklifts or other vehicles that may be used. Impact barriers can include specifically constructed guardrails, posts, and bollards that can stop the force and minimize the damage that a forklift can produce. Impact barriers are the preferred protection because they are tangible and designed for impact.

Painted lines or marked tape on the floor are not effective in preventing collisions because they cannot stop a vehicle from impact. Painted lines or marked tape are a useful visual administrative control to prevent hazards because they are warning signs. However, they are insufficient to keep workers, objects, or materials safe because they only show the travel paths. They won't stop a forklift from hitting workers in the walking lane, nor will they stop a worker from walking into designated forklift zones. Another benefit of using physical impact barriers is that workers feel safer walking around forklift areas.

A physical impact barrier is highly recommended to shield workers and materials from potential collision hazards from forklift use.

What Should You Look for in an Impact Barrier?

Impact barriers should be able to adequately protect equipment racking, people, building components, objects, or other materials from a forklift collision. They should be designed and constructed with solid materials that will absorb the impact of a forklift, not break or cave in. OSHA states that yellow should be the primary color for designating “caution” and marking workplace physical hazards. Yellow impact barriers are bright and highly visible to workers and forklift operators and, therefore, are the preferred color.

Bollards

Impact Barrier Bollards

Impact barriers like bollards should be mounted and positioned accurately in front of the material you intend to protect. The bollards should be able to adequately surround the material you want to safeguard to ensure that a forklift cannot hit it. There are multiple strengths, heights, and widths of bollards, so the bollard that best surrounds the material should be purchased. A best practice for adequate protection is keeping at least 12 inches of clearance between the object to be protected and the bollard. Before mounting and anchoring bollards, the installation instructions should be utilized.

Guardrails and Posts

Impact Barrier Guardrail

Impact barriers like guardrails and posts should cover the area around the material, object, or walking lanes you want to protect. Multiple types of railing configurations can be purchased, such as corners or straight. If you intend to shield the intersection of two walls, the corner of a machine, or the corner where a worker would turn in the walkway, then a corner configuration would be best for your application. The straight design would be best if you must protect the front of an electrical panel, the side of a storage rack, or a straight walkway for a worker walking lane. The posts that hold the guardrails in place should be strong, durable, and flexible to absorb impact from forklift collisions and to secure the guardrail systems in a potential forklift incident.

What are the Impact Barrier Features You Should Look For?

Impact Barrier Removable

Easy to Customize

When working with impact barrier guards, you want to work with a company that can customize its product to your particular needs. The impact barrier guards should have the capability to be tailored to the object, material, or walkways that you want to protect. This could include a straight, corner, or angled guardrail or a guardrail of different lengths.

Easy and Quick to Replace

If a forklift hits an impact barrier guardrail, does the entire railing need to be replaced? Specific guardrail systems allow for a single part, about a few feet, of the railing to be removed so it can quickly be replaced. In the event of a forklift collision into a guardrail system, you can change one small section of the guardrail instead of the entire railing. Replacing a small portion is more cost-effective and won't break the budget. When replacing the guardrail, you also want it to be as easy as possible. Some guardrail systems can be removed by lifting the guardrail out of its placement slot for a minimal and effortless replacement. Since the mounting posts keep the barriers secure to their foundation, the railings can be easily removed if they need to be swapped.

Easy to Expand or Relocate

You want to work with a company with impact barrier options for expansion or relocation. There are options available where if you need additional guardrail length for more protection, you can quickly expand it. The guardrails can also be moved if equipment, objects, or materials are moved. They can be reconfigured or transferred to a new location.

What are Some Popular Manufacturers of Impact Barriers?

Impact Barrier Walkway

Many manufacturers can provide impact barriers for your workplace.

Omega Industrial

Omega Industrial is Simplified Safety's preferred provider for impact barriers that are easy to install, replace, expand, and relocate. They are a leading supplier of customizable physical safety products built from durable materials for exceptional strength and reliability.

Heartland Steel Products

Heartland Steel Products is another great manufacturer with dependable impact barrier products. You can choose guardrails with specific lengths from three to ten inches or request a particular size. They have single, double, or triple rail applications as well.

Using impact barrier guards in your facility or warehouse is a recommended safety best practice to protect people, objects, materials, equipment, and building components from potential forklift damage. Impact barrier guards are essential for a safe work environment that will minimize injuries and property damage. Check out our preferred brand OMEGA as they will provide customizations for your impact barrier needs.

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