Equipment Safety Sensors
If they’re dedicated to employee safety, material handling teams can implement additional safety measures beyond what’s legally required. When forklift-related accidents can cause significant damage and loss, it’s necessary to invest in solutions that reduce the chances of collisions from occurring. But what cost-effective and easily implemented options are available?
Beyond signage, PPE, and designated MHE routes, there are solutions for active collision prevention that won’t cut into your bottom line while also notably increasing warehouse safety. These solutions include equipment safety sensors, which we’ll explore in this article.
At ELOKON, we develop leading safety tech to better ensure the safety of material handling teams around the world. Our automated safety solutions and driver assistance systems include forklift warning systems, forklift pedestrian safety systems, and proximity detection systems—each designed to protect your workforce while simultaneously improving productivity.
Forklift Warning Systems
Forklift warning systems are vital for ensuring fleets can be safely operated without posing a risk to drivers and pedestrian employees. ELOKON’s ELOfleet is a smart solution for streamlining fleet management so your team can be sure its MHE is ready to be operated. Let’s take a look at how ELOfleet transforms fleet operations, keeping warehouses safe.
ELOfleet
ELOfleet is the world’s first cloud-based fleet management solution. Not only does ELOfleet facilitate maintenance schedules of fixed fleets and sites, but it also offers fleet KPIs such as collision alerts, operating hours, and driver sign-ons, serving as a forklift warning system. This solution increases fleet status visibility across sites and teams, optimizing communication for fleet readiness.
In addition to ELOfleet, we have other equipment safety sensors that serve as proximity detectors, stopping accidents before they happen. Among these are ELOKON forklift pedestrian safety systems, which are powerful solutions for sensing nearby collision hazards. We’ll take a look at them next.
Forklift Pedestrian Safety Systems
Forklift pedestrian safety systems are important tools in any warehouse—pedestrian employees are the most vulnerable to injuries and deaths. But with ELOshieldGO and ELOspeed, your material handling team can be confident in your employees’ safety, even when warehouse hazards are so prevalent.
ELOshieldGO
ELOshieldGO is our forklift pedestrian safety system that prevents pedestrian-to-vehicle collisions. It features a configurable warning and protection zone around the equipped pedestrian and vehicle. These zones allow material handling teams to choose the type of alarm upon detecting a possible collision risk, as well as if the vehicle slows down or stops. Teams can also specify the range and shape of the zones to better fit the needs of their warehouse.
ELOspeed
ELOspeed is one of our other forklift pedestrian safety systems that automatically reduces forklift speed once it returns inside from an outdoor workspace. While forklifts can operate at top speeds outside, drivers need to slow down once they reenter the warehouse. However, this doesn’t always happen. ELOspeed uses radar technology to detect overhead superstructures like warehouse roofs to slow down the equipped vehicle. Whereas the difference in brightness causes lowered visibility in indoor/outdoor transition areas, ELOspeed mitigates this hazard.
These forklift pedestrian safety systems are powerful solutions to protect employees walking around the warehouse. In addition to ELOshielGO and ELOspeed, our solutions also extend to proximity detection systems. Let’s explore them next.
Proximity Detection Systems
Proximity detection systems are critical tools to detect possible collision risks and prevent forklift-related accidents before they happen. Technology like UWB and lasers are easily implemented and prevent accidents without requiring driver action. At ELOKON, our proximity detection systems include ELOshieldDRIVE, ELOshieldZONE, ELOshieldSPEED, ELOprotect, and ELOprotect ACS.
ELOshieldDRIVE
As part of the ELOshield equipment safety sensor line, ELOshieldDRIVE offers vehicle-to-vehicle proximity detection to prevent forklift-related collisions. ELOshieldDRIVE uses UWB to detect vehicles that also have the module equipped. Like ELOshieldGO, ELOshieldDRIVE has configurable warning and protection zones to ensure employees’ safety.
ELOshieldZONE
Another proximity detection system in the ELOshield line is ELOshieldZONE, designed for fixed-positioning proximity detection. Warehouse areas like entranceways, gates, and aisle entrances pose a collision hazard. They can be blind spots for drivers and pedestrians, increasing the risk of an accident. When ELOshieldZONE is installed over these areas in the warehouse, the module slows down forklifts upon detecting equipped pedestrians and vehicles passing through the same area. When no other employee is in range, a driver can proceed normally, increasing safety and efficiency.
ELOshieldSPEED
ELOshieldSPEED is our last equipment safety sensor in the ELOshield line and is similar to ELOshieldZONE. ELOshieldSPEED offers similar zoning safety, but we’ve designed this iteration to automatically reduce vehicle speed when a forklift enters a particular area. ELOshieldSPEED increases safety in areas that experience higher employee traffic and other collision hazards. ELOshieldSPEED is ideal for keeping forklifts at a reduced speed in certain warehouse areas to better ensure employee safety.
ELOprotect and ELOprotect ACS
Our other proximity detection systems include ELOprotect and ELOprotect ACS, both of which were designed specifically for VNA areas in a warehouse. While optimized for storage and organization, VNAs pose many safety risks to material handling teams. VNAs have lowered visibility, and forklift drivers often have trouble identifying pedestrian employees, other vehicles, and objects within the same aisle. Using smart laser technology, ELOprotect and ELOprotect ACS can detect people, vehicles, and objects in VNAs and stop the equipped vehicle to prevent a collision. The vehicle can proceed once the driver acknowledges the warning on the system.
Both ELOprotect and ELOprotect ACS improve the safety of VNAs, but ELOprotect ACS is designed to cover a larger VNA area.
When implemented together, ELOKON’s equipment safety sensors and solutions form an ecosystem of safety, securing virtually all aspects of a modern warehouse. And when your employees are safe, they can focus on the task at hand, providing a boost in productivity. A safe warehouse is an efficient one, and we design our ELOKON solutions to mitigate the hazards of the warehouse, helping our clients power the world.