Lighting the way safely

Loading docks can be very hazardous places.  Working backstage at load-in or strike can be dangerous for a variety of reasons, and the risk shouldn't be ignored.  Loading areas are categorized as 'Material Handling Areas" and operations should be conducted in the context of a warehousing or factory environment.  OSHA has a large portion of their web site devoted to materials handling environments and it's worth a look.

Check out: http://www.osha.gov/dcsp/products/etools/pit/index.html

Hazards include:

• Crushing (load shifts and fall on or against workers, being caught between moving vehicles and stationary objects, forklift tip-overs, dropped items [time for steel toed shoes!])
• Falling (walking or driving off of an unguarded loading dock, falling from storage racks)
• Poor visibility (trucks are full of equipment and you can't see other workers)
• Heat exhaustion (or just plain being worn-out after a 20 hour day...)
• Poor illumination (dock areas and trailer interiors not properly lit)

The folks at Rite-Hite (http://www.righthite.com/) have solutions for many of these issues.  Need a dock light and can't get funding?  Play the GREEN cards (not the imigrant worker card, the other GREEN ones - Energy Savings and Safety.

If you need more ammunition, go to OSHA 1926.56.  Also, take a look at Rite-Hite's LED flexible-arm Dock Light for loading areas:

More info at:  http://www.dockresource.com/ark/rhweb/rhprod.nsf/be3416037643a09485256a2500511f6a/dbb29d6835402baa862575d9004b1b37!OpenDocument