In industrial settings, safety gates and guardrails go hand in hand. Both protect people from dangerous areas in the workplace. The difference is, of course, that if workers occasionally need access to a danger zone, only the gate will do the trick.
But what kind of gate would work best for your situation? Where do you get industrial safety gates and guardrails to save your workers from themselves, save your expensive equipment from human error, and save you from lawsuits?
Here’s a look at what to look for if you need to raise the safety level at your business.
What do safety gates provide?
You can find safety gates in warehouses, construction zones, factories and other industrial settings that have ladderways, elevated platforms, floor openings and stairways.
In short, they offer safe access to areas surrounded by safety guardrails or railings. They provide protection from falls, dangerous machinery and other hazards.
The need for fall protection around floor openings and the tops of ladders and stairways is obvious.
Regarding the dangerous equipment and other hazards, safety gates and rails act as a barrier to keep people from walking into fast-moving machinery, for example, or entering areas with high heat or a risk of electrocution, or bumping into merchandise.
When access to such areas is required, it’s not advisable to simply have a gap in the guardrail to let workers through. And you wouldn’t want a worker climbing over a guardrail or safety railing in a risky area, possibly while carrying a heavy piece of equipment.
A safety gate grants access in a way that minimizes the danger.
What should I look for in safety gates and guardrails?
Here are some of the factors to consider in deciding what type of system will meet your security needs.
The environment
Industrial steel is great for indoor use, because it is heavy-duty and durable. However, since humidity and rain cause steel to rust, outdoor equipment should be made of aluminum, galvanized steel or stainless steel. The same goes for equipment used indoors in areas with high humidity or where corrosive materials are used.
How wide should the gate be?
An industrial safety gate might need to allow only one person at a time through or it might need to accommodate a forklift or some other vehicle. Adjustable-width gates are common, but you should know how far they can go.
Are there industry standards to meet?
Some work areas might require materials that do not conduct electricity or have high-visibility warning signs.
Other factors
Which way do I need it to swing? Does the system offer easy installation? What are the maintenance requirements?
What safety gates and guardrails do Tri-Arc offer?
Pittsburgh-based Tri-Arc, founded in 1947, has been manufacturing high-quality mobile ladders, work platforms and similar equipment for decades.
Tri-Arc’s U-Gate meets the industry standards for self-closing safety gates.
No latch or similar mechanism is needed to open the gate, either. A worker carrying something or walking near a drop-off does not need to be distracted by a latch when opening or closing a gate.
The design matches or exceeds industry standards for use in industrial, commercial, construction, warehouse and other settings:
- The self-closing safety gate’s width can be adjusted from 16 inches to 40 inches.
- It can mount to square or round tubing, so it’s adaptable to different kinds of safety railings.
- The gate can be installed to open inward or outward and the hinges can be mounted on the left-hand or right-hand side. (Safety gates are required to swing or slides away from an opening.)
- The aluminum gates are powder coat yellow, to enhance visibility.
What are industrial guardrails and safety railings?
This is an easy question, because guardrails and safety railings are basically the same thing.
They are heavy-duty structures of rails and posts placed by stairwells, ladders, raised platforms and other areas for the protection of workers, equipment and merchandise. Like a fence, they allow for visibility, but these are stronger than fences.
They also can be used as security barriers for crowd control by leading people through high-traffic zones in an orderly fashion and for keeping people out of restricted areas.
These rail systems come in many shapes and sizes. They also are sold for permanent and temporary installation.
If your workplace has safety rails, you almost certainly need safety gates as part of a system to control access to those areas.
What safety regulations affect gates and guardrails?
OSHA says that every platform more than four feet off the ground has to be enclosed by a guardrail. They should be 42 inches higher than the floor, although 44 inches is acceptable in certain situations.
OSHA and ANSI include rules on the size of the rails and posts and the material they are made of, as well as the spaces between the vertical and horizontal posts.
While common sense says rails should be highly visible, they are not required to be the standard safety yellow. However, they do have to be tagged to highlight hazardous areas.
The gates have a number of requirements as well. For instance, only self-closing gates are allowed, and they must swing or slide away from the opening. Regulations cover the heights of the top rails and the loads the top and mid-rails must be able to support.
For safety’s sake
Tri-Arc has experts who will make sure you receive OSHA-compliant and ANSI-compliant equipment. Let them use their experience to help you assess your needs for rails and gates. Additionally, Tri Arc makes its products to order, so it can custom design a system to meet your needs.