Docks are a valuable and important aspect of the industry; there is a consistent loading, unloading, building, and repairing of ships, with many seeing hundreds of arrivals and departures every day. For this reason it can become very easy for the surface to wear down and for any markings to lose visibility. There is a consistent flow of HGVs, Workmen, Cranes, and Loading Vehicles throughout the dock, all eventually doing damage to the surface. When this happens, not only do you decrease efficiency, but you are creating a negative impact on your dock’s safety.
The Line Markings laid on your dock are vital to maintaining a safe, effective, and lean workforce. This is for multiple reasons:
1. They clearly demarcate different zones for pedestrians, vehicles, and loads.
This contributes greatly to improving dock safety, as it dramatically reduces the risk of an accident caused by a pedestrian crossing paths with a vehicle on site. It also helps to prevent any imports from getting damaged, as they have a clearly marked out storage zone, which eliminates confusion.
As well as improving health and safety, clear demarcations can dramatically improve efficiency within the dock, and contribute towards creating a lean working environment. This is due to the fact that you will be minimising downtime caused by confusion and unsureness of where to go and where to put things. People will be able to get themselves or a product from A to B via the quickest and safest route, as it will be marked out.
2. They provide high visibility, reducing the risk of accidents or downtime caused by confusion.
If the right line marking material is chosen, you should, as a result, have bright and visible lines. This is extremely important, as it allows everyone to see the clear demarcations noted above that are so vital in maintaining an efficient working environment and improving your dock’s safety. Many types of vehicles are found regularly on docks, including cranes. When working from such a high distance, the operator of the crane must be able to clearly see and understand the line markings on the floor, to ensure that everything is safely moved and no accidents occur. This can be achieved through laying a high-solids paint, or installing glass beads when laying down the line markings. Both increase high visibility, overall creating a safer environment.
There are many requirements when lining a dock, as there are specific issues that need to be avoided that you wouldn’t get in most other projects. For example, the chances of the line markings coming into contact with salt water on a daily basis is highly likely, so you must ensure the line markings are highly durable and have anti-slip properties. The salt water will eventually wear down even the toughest of markings, but you want to ensure that they last for as long as possible. As well as this, a potential safety hazard could become apparent due to the water getting onto the surface, and possibly creating a slippery environment, especially if the temperatures are cold. to avoid either of these happening, ensure you attain a durable and slip-resistant paint.
Meon provides the solutions to all the points mentioned above, see below for more information on our following products:
