Why Your Warehouse Needs Line Marking and How to Get It Right?

Walk into any manufacturing facility, processing plant or a stock room – there’s one thing common in all. You will notice they all have line markings for better navigation, safety and accessibility.

So, how does line marking help in a warehouse environment? Why is it highly recommended?

Line marking offers great opportunities to improve visual communications. They indicate safe walkways and pathways for staff to move around as well as drive industrial vehicles through areas where equipment is stored.

So, if you are a warehouse owner or manager and want to make your warehouse safer - it is advisable to mark the floors appropriately.

Warehouse Line Marking - How is it Beneficial?

As warehouses often experience high-traffic, it is common to observe people rushing past one another to get from point A to point B while completing various tasks.

So, taking precautionary measures is always better. With OH&S line marking, a warehouse can be benefitted in a number of ways:

• It helps to define safe walkways for employees
• It creates separate pathways to transport and operate heavy machinery
• It indicates appropriate storage areas for hazardous waste, machinery and other equipment
• It contributes to the smooth operation of your fast-paced business
• It helps to improve the traffic flow within your facility
• It promotes safety and boosts cost-efficiency for your business

When done properly, these line markings can be used for people at every level in the business. Though, it is significant to really think through how they should be used in a facility. If you just use them without any strategic planning, they can actually contribute to the problems rather than fixing them.

Thus, the facility managers must ensure they have the correct line marking designs and determine what can work best for their needs.

To make things simpler for you, here is a brief guide on how you can plan for the correct line markings in your warehouse.

Tips on Line Marking Your Warehouse Perfectly

1.Develop a Workable Solution and Plan Ahead

It isn’t a good idea to randomly start marking lines in your warehouse. Though most workplace safety standards are the same, every warehouse has a different layout. In fact, depending on the nature of the business, the operational requirements are also different. So, when it comes to line marking, it is recommended to come up with a workable plan. As a warehouse or facility manager, draw a blueprint of what you predict could be the best way to increase productivity, boost efficiency and improve the overall operation of your warehouse.

2.Test the Feasibility of Your Plan

Before line markings are painted on the floor, it is recommended to conduct a few efficiency and productivity tests. This will also give you an insight into what works and what doesn't. Get feedback from your employees; as they are the ones who will be using the warehouse and will be able to give you constructive information on what will work and what won’t.

3.Decide Whether You Need Temporary or Permanent Line Marking

Depending on what your need is; decide on whether you want a temporary or a permanent line marking solution. You can use tape in case of a temporary one. It's cheaper, easier to install and can be removed when needed. If your warehouse is evolving regularly or it demands that you move things around from one place to another often, using temporary line markings is probably a good choice.

On the other hand, paint is an optimal choice in case of a permanent solution. Any type of paint can be used - it all depends on the materials you have on hand and what will best suit your business.

You can visit Safety Xpress for warehouse line marking supplies and our partner website Durasafe for warehouse line marking services.

4.Prepare the Space before Executing Your Plan

If your warehouse isn't prepared, there is no point in planning for permanent line marking in the first place. If you want an effective solution, it is important to apply the paint properly. And, this is simply not possible when the warehouse is unorganised. Prior to the line marking application, it is recommended to clean your floors while making sure that there is nothing on it. The Durasafe website outlines how you can properly prepare your surface for our arrival and how you can continue to conduct your business while we paint your warehouse.

If you need a pre-analysis or site-inspection, Durasafe can conduct safety audits at your workplace.

5.Use the Line Marking Solution Optimally

Try to create a line marking plan that includes everything - marking the walkways for your employees, alerting them about the risky areas of tripping or touching toxic material, indicating smoke zones, emergency exit routes and much more. Try to keep the plan as simple and effective as it can be. This will help your employees avoid confusion and chaos.

6.Use Only Quality Supplies and Professional Service

Your warehouse floor is exposed to a lot of traffic. Hence, your line markings are likely to wear off too quickly if you are not using good quality supplies. And, if this happens, you will have to spend money again on new supplies. It might affect your overall business operations due to work in progress.

Thus, it is best to choose only good-quality line marking supplies and line marking professionals to do this job. Our products and services will offer you the quality you need to avail long-lasting solutions.

7.Use Right Colours

Using specific colours for line marking will help your employees to interpret the signs easily. Like for instance:

• In order to mark the paths, work cells and traffic lanes you can use yellow.
• Use red to inform or alert employees about a defect or a danger zone in the warehouse.
• Use black colour for work in progress.
• Blue for raw materials.
• Try using a combination of red and white when you want your employees to note the restricted access for safety reasons.

Line marking plays a significant role in making your warehouse efficient and safe. Considering these tips can make your line markings more productive for the overall operations of your warehouse.

With a solid combination of Durasafe and Safety Xpress, it becomes conveniently possible to get your warehouse line marking done right, in the first time itself.

Safety Xpress has partnered with Durasafe to cater to the safety industry. If you just want the line marking and safety product supplies – Safety Xpress is your answer and if you want professionals who can do the line markings for you – Durasafe is at your service.

So, now you have a one-stop solution for all your safety-related needs.

Our Durasafe team has all the knowledge to visit your site, conduct safety audits and tell you what you need to do to be OH&S compliant with your linemarking and safety products. We can then arrange to complete the work for you.

If you have any questions, feel free to call us on 1300 049 246 and discuss your line marking plans with us.