Prime Range Meats is a small processor in Invercargill that punches above its weight, supplying meat and smallgoods to a significant customer base around the country, mostly by door-to-door delivery of online orders. The Health and Safety issue they were facing at their processing plant, as with many food production plants, is the volume of traffic working alongside office staff and other pedestrian traffic. Inwards and outwards goods are a significant part of the operation and forklifts are kept busy at all times. On top of this, the main loading bay is accessible from a space near their on-site shop, which means technically a member of the public could inadvertently wander into their designated heavy traffic area, despite a deteriorating painted warning indicating the ‘shared zone’. While the probably of that scenario is reasonably low, all hazards were assessed and the highest risk is actually a collision between their own staff and forklifts. To avoid disaster we stepped in to help create safety zones with 910-2 certified barrier in the most hazardous spots, with the addition of personnel gates to ensure safe crossing of the ‘shared zone’. Having addressed those high risk areas, we also helped them avoid damage to the plant in areas that were notorious for forklift nicks and knocks, by installing bollards at key corners and doorways.
Tru-Gard™ at Meat & Smallgoods Distribution Plant
