Mitolo Family Farms runs a very busy produce packing facility at Edinburgh in South Australia, surrounded by the potato farms that supply it. Forklift traffic is constant, and all produce is stored in wooden crates stacked up to four high across the site.
Many of these stacks sit near or against pedestrian walkways. Near miss incidents had already occurred where a stack of crates was knocked and fell onto a walkway. With the facility running at close to full capacity, moving the crates to another storage area was not an option.
Mitolo reached out to Verge for a solution that would let them keep storing multi-stacked crates in every area they needed, while keeping their people safe.
Verge recommended Impact Polymer Hy-Wall Barrier, a system designed for the safe compounding of stacked crates, stillages and pallets. Hy-Wall contains falling items if a stack topples, creating a protective wall between storage areas and the people moving around them.
More than 300 lineal metres of free-standing Hy-Wall was installed across the site in 2m, 3m and 4m high configurations to suit the different stack heights in each area. Because it is free-standing, there is no drilling into the slab and the layout can be changed as storage needs change. Verge Eco-Rail and pedestrian gates were added to define walkways and control access points.
Mitolo chose Hy-Wall for its polymer construction. The barrier is impact resistant, so it can take a knock and return to its original form without tearing bolts out of the concrete. That means less damage to the floor, less downtime and a barrier that keeps doing its job after an impact.
Other benefits of the Impact polymer range for a food handling site include:
Mitolo staff can now move freely through designated walkways, knowing they are protected from the risk of crates toppling onto them.
The barrier has already proven itself. The Mitolo team witnessed a full stack of crates being accidentally knocked and toppling against the Hy-Wall Barrier. The barrier held the stack in place, and the team was able to safely retrieve the crates before they fell any further. In this instance, Hy-Wall protected both staff and the building from serious impact.
If stacked product, forklifts and pedestrians share space on your site, Verge can help. Our team will assess your site and recommend the right barrier solution for your layout and traffic.
Book a free site appraisal today. Call 1800 765 539 or contact us online.
*Applies to online orders only. *Cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer **Must purchase within 3 months of receiving the voucher ***Minimum order $1000
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