By Mike Budz
Sales Engineer
Thomas Conveyor & Equipment Co
OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, has been cracking down on warehouse safety in recent years, especially in 2019. We have seen several customers get a mandate from OSHA of “better protect your employees by ‘Date X’ or you will not be able to continue operations”. Besides the loss of operation time, in 2019 OSHA levied a new penalty for willful and repeat violations, at a whopping $132,598.00 per violation!
The question is how can you better protect your employees?
One simple and economical solution is by installing new conveyor guards, perimeter guarding, and machine guarding. Thomas Conveyor & Equipment offers conveyor guards and perimeter guarding to be placed around any machine or area in your warehouse that may be unsafe for an employee to be walking or working around. Nearly all of the perimeter guarding we offer is in stock; it also meets ISO and OSHA safety standards. Our guarding per ISO Guideline 13857 can be installed as close to 8” to the machine/hazard. This will save your facility valued square footage.
Our ability to tightly border your equipment is due to the mesh fencing grid, which is sized at 1-1/4” x 2-1/2”. The industry standard is 2”x2”, which we surpass, allowing you to save an average of 25” of floor space! The mesh fencing is shipped in full length sections and cut to size in the field. This allows for field adjustability and changes, as well as a quicker install since no welding is required.
The entire product is made in the United States of America!!! Our standard, and in stock, posts are 2” x 2” with a 6” base. Post heights can vary with stocked heights of 5’, 6’, 7’, and 8’ tall. The mesh panels are finished in a powder coat black, while the posts are finished in a powder coat yellow. Additional custom colors are available.
Complementing the mesh fencing is a wide variety of swing and slide doors, based on the machine layout. Standard swing door sizes range from a minimum 34” wide up to a double hinge of 94”. Standard slide doors range in size from 34” up to 142” wide.
Initially, a Thomas Conveyor & Equipment Automation Engineer will visit your facility to assess the layout and determine your caging needs. We will procure measurement of the areas needing guarding, interview, and work with your machine operators about access points, and compile our findings in an AutoCAD drawing showing the guarding layout notating access points, all free of charge. We will also provide a detailed quotation based on the assessment, with suggested product, accessories and options.
Once the quote has been signed, Thomas Conveyor will supply factory engineered drawings for your approval. Signed and confirmed orders generally take between 1 to 2 weeks to ship, depending on custom requirements, etc. Installation is quick and efficient; since Thomas Conveyor has dedicated mechanical crews experienced with installation of the guard fencing and can handle projects of any size.
In October 2019 a warehouse company approached Thomas Conveyor & Equipment and stated that OSHA had given them one month to get their facility OSHA compliant with perimeter and machine guarding. Thomas Conveyor Automation Engineers were onsite within one day to survey and provide design consultation and layout. We were able to provide multiple unique and tailored solutions, including custom double swing doors to allow for product chutes, as well as high post extensions, so fork trucks could clear the post headers to drop off and pick up pallets.
We were able to ship over 50 doors/gates, as well as roughly, 1000 feet of fencing with a two week time frame. We then put the crews to work on the install, working for 14 straight days, including Saturday and Sunday, to beat the OSHA inspection timeline. We were able to make the deadline to the customer's great satisfaction and allow them to pass their OSHA inspection with flying colors!
Contact Thomas Conveyor & Equipment at 844-220-0086 today for a free warehouse guarding evaluation and for a custom consultation of a future safety perimeter and machine guarding project!