This video illustrates the new AisleAlert intersection warning system, which is ideal for warehouses, manufacturing facilities, and other applications where visibility or heavy cross-traffic volumes may cause deadly collisions between forklifts, pedestrians and other industrial traffic. As traffic approaches the protected intersection, motion sensors detect the converging motion and trigger a bright LED light that flashes down onto the floor below the sensor at the center of the intersection. This positioning is unique–and remarkably visible.  Since the system utilizes reliable motion detection and intelligent controls, it activates only when traffic is detected in at least two directions moving toward the monitored area. Check it out if you are looking for an economical way increase safety in your facility.

Scene: a typical, busy warehouse

A fulfillment center with row upon row of pallet racks. Eight dock doors occupy one wall of the building, some for receiving, some for shipping. Pick workers work in the rack aisles pushing carts and pallet jacks loaded with picked orders. Other pick workers have empty totes on carts for pulling orders. Fork trucks stock pallet rack and pull bulk stock for large orders. Dock doors are left open much of the time, even when there’s no trailer at the dock.

How many potential safety risks can you envision in this scenario? How do you prevent those from happening?

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OSHA requires safety training in manufacturing, warehousing and forklift environments to help prevent accidents and injuries, and you should absolutely train your staff. However, all the training in the world may not prevent the worst types of accidents. People make poor choices from time to time, get distracted and are not aware of conditions in their environment, or are just plain fool-hardy. How to limit such circumstances is probably the next step in your safety program plan. Cisco-Eagle has spent the past few years building up a safety arsenal to aid you in that concern.

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It would be nice if every aisle and intersection, every wall cut-away, every rack corner, were visible. But I’ve been in these places and seen the difficulty storage or manufacturing facilities endure when it comes to the delicate balance between work velocity, employee safety, and productivity. On the floor of a bustling facility, in those areas where lighting isn’t the best, where busy forklift drivers  are sweating to fill orders, you’re going to have odd intersections. No doubt about that. This is one such intersection in a real facility. Our traffic management and safety teams use it as an exercise. You have options to help reduce accidents at this intersection…what would you do?

• Read it here: Options for reducing accidents at a dangerous warehouse intersection

Safety is a major issue in most industrial environments – especially those where industrial traffic like forklifts, AGV’s and other vehicles mingle with workers on foot. There are just too many ways people can get hurt; too many chances for things to suddenly go wrong. That’s why including some automated safety sensor systems in a facility can make a life and death difference on a day-to-day basis.

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According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were nearly 3 million workplace-related injuries and illnesses reported during 2012, resulting in an incidence rate of 3.4 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers. Additional research notes there were 219,630 non-fatal workplace injuries involving falls, slips, or trips and 704 fatal injuries in 2012.

To prevent workers from falling from raised platforms, stairs, and crossovers and to protect drivers from collisions and other safety hazards, Cisco-Eagle’s selection of barriers, rails, fencing & gates can provide industrial strength safety equipment for warehouses, industrial, and other facilities. The following video gallery showcases the benefits of Cisco-Eagle’s safety barriers, including guard railing, partitions, machine guards, bollards, and more:

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The Material Handling Industry of America (MHI) has named Cisco-Eagle’s AisleCop® Automated Forklift Safety System a finalist for the 2014 Innovation Award, Best New Innovation Category. Judging, and the final awards, happens at Modex 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia.

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In recent years, many vendors have created products to help increase pedestrian safety in warehouses, factories, and other areas where forklifts operate. This is no wonder: accidents in this area are far too frequent, and often very devastating or even fatal. Because Cisco-Eagle provides such solutions, we have been asked about the compliance of these products to industry standards, such as the AIAG’s Pedestrian & Vehicle Safety Guidelines. 

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OSHA estimates 85 deaths, 35,000 serious injuries, and another 62,000 non-serious injuries. More than 11% of forklifts are involved in these accidents every year, meaning that the forklift in your warehouse is statistically destined to have an accident before it goes out of service.

The cherry on top of this awful pie? Almost 40% of those accidents, depending on whose numbers you follow, involve a pedestrian. And this doesn’t  take into account the accidents that damage property, but don’t hurt people. Forklift-to-forklift collisions, or forklift colliding with warehouse racks aren’t included in these numbers if people aren’t injured.

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According to OSHA, training is the key to forklift safety, and there is fundamental agreement on that. Training can and does make a serious dent in the high injury rates suffered due to industrial traffic. Training must happen, and it must be repeated. But that begs this question: Why has training failed to move the needle when it comes to serious forklift related injuries? The numbers seem to have stabilized at an average of 100 deaths per year, and have stayed consistently at that level for years.

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