Graham & Brown, the UK’s leading wallpaper manufacturer, is protecting warehouse staff at its Padiham distribution centre, near Blackburn, with Castell’s driveaway safeguard system Salvo. The 136,000 square foot site dispatches an average of 45,000 cartons, or 500,000 rolls of wallpaper, a week.
Following a driveaway incident from which a loader escaped without serious injury, the company realised that it needed to install a more advanced safety system than the verbal method on which it had been relying. John King, operations manager, and Joe Wright, health and safety manager, visited a near-by frozen food supplier to witness Salvo in operation.
“It only took us half an hour to be convinced that it was exactly what we were looking for,” said Joe. “We’re now considering installing Salvo at our distribution centres in France, the Netherlands and the US.”
Having reversed their trailer up to the relevant loading bay, drivers collect a Salvo Susie lock from the warehouse operative. As the lock is fitted to the exposed emergency air line coupling – effectively immobilising the trailer – it releases a uniquely-coded key. Drivers hand the key to the loader, who inserts it into the control box next to the bay. This causes an amber beacon to flash 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. When loading / unloading has finished, the dock leveller is returned, the key released and the Salvo Susie lock removed.
The HSE booklet ‘Warehousing and storage: A guide to health and safety’ recommends interlocks as a safe system of work to combat driveaways.
