Netto, one of the UK’s fastest growing supermarkets, has installed Castell’s driveaway safeguard system Salvo at its distribution centres in Pontefract and Daventry, safeguarding a total of 53 loading bays.
“It’s worked very, very well,” explained Mark Glover, warehouse and distribution manager at Pontefract. “Castell’s rep came to show the loading team how the system worked and managed to convince the team of the safety aspects of the solution. It was paramount that the team bought into the concept.”
Management at the 300,000 square foot main facility at Pontefract, which handles 18,000 pallets a week, had been searching for a safety system to reassure warehouse staff. Following a word-of-mouth recommendation, it witnessed Salvo in action at a Christian Salvesen site and decided to favour the interlocking approach over two more expensive options that it had also been considering. The HSE booklet ‘Warehousing and storage: A guide to health and safety’ recommends interlocks as a safe system of work to combat driveaways.
Having reversed their trailer up to the relevant loading bay, drivers collect a Salvo Susie lock from the control box at the side of the bay. As the lock is fitted to the exposed emergency air line coupling – effectively immobilising the trailer – it releases a uniquely-coded key. Drivers insert the key into the control box next to the bay. This changes the traffic lights from green to red and allows the dock leveller to be positioned. The key remains trapped in the control box until the dock leveller is returned to its starting position. The key can then be released, and the Salvo Susie lock removed and returned to the control box.