Whether you realise it or not, floor demarcation is everywhere; the chances are that you come across it on a daily basis. Generally speaking, floor demarcation is essentially coloured flooring with the express purpose of communicating a message, and can take the form of anything from cycle lanes through to zebra crossings. Similarly, in a warehouse, industrial flooring demarcation is just as important for ‘legislating’ traffic, helping to direct and organise everything from machinery to footfall to stock location; its role within a warehouse is essential for the organisation and smooth running of such an environment.
Driving the Traffic
Floor demarcation offers an easy to interpret system in a warehouse, which allows for easy viewing and immediate understanding. Direction of traffic is indicated around the warehouse, much like it is in the ‘outside world’ – through road markings. Yellow lines help to indicate which direction the traffic is to travel, with that particular shade offering an especially easy to see system. Equally, the lines are also used to separate footfall from machinery, helping to prevent workers and forklifts coming in potentially fatal contact with each other.
Stock Organisation
As well as the implication on the organisation of traffic, the floor demarcation is applied in such a way that it helps to organise the stock throughout the warehouse environment. It can be used to provide a clear indication of where to set certain stock as well as making it easier to know where to find certain stock. For example, many warehouses use a system which relates to where to find spare parts, work in progress or completed items, thus meaning that there is no confusion as to what stage a product is in when given to a customer, and allowing the staff to see outright just where the different stock lies.
Health and Safety
Having such an easy to see and interpret system has major implications on health and safety, helping to prevent the occurrence of any accidents. Of course, no workplace is without its risks – particularly in a warehouse – but the application of a floor demarcation system helps to eliminate any uncertainty that staff may have.
The demarcation enables the identification of any potential at-risk areas. These can take many forms; from entrance ways to the aforementioned driving of traffic, it pays to be sure what certain areas within the warehouse are reserved for. This can help prevent everything from staff walking where they shouldn’t to faulty stock being mixed up with working stock, and machinery being left blocking doorways – all potential hazards.
The Further Advantages of Epoxy Coated Flooring
When floors are marked out in such a way as to target the above aspects - assuming that the warehouse manager hasn’t just commissioned someone to paint the floor with Dulux – the floor is likely to be marked out using an epoxy resinous coating. There are numerous advantages to opting for such a flooring system that make floor demarcation a no-brainer for a warehouse manager.
Durability
The epoxy coating offers an extra barrier against the potential impact that can occur from stock, footfall or machinery. It is a highly durable coating which is exceptionally resistant to scratches, scuffing and cracking and can give your flooring system a significantly longer life. As soon as a crack begins to develop in non-epoxy coated flooring, it will begin to grow and spread if not addressed, so the installation of a resinous coating can be important for the extended life of a warehouse floor.
Sanitary
The waterproof wipe-down nature of an epoxy coated floor means that they are particularly easy to clean. Not only that – assuming the flooring within the warehouse is concrete – it prevents concrete dust been thrown around, and because it is highly-resistant to scratching and dinting there are very few places for pesky mould and bacteria to lurk and thrive.
Aesthetics
A clean, scuff free, well organised warehouse is completely the way forward when it comes to wanting to impress visiting clients! Further to this, no one likes a messy workplace. Having a clean work area can not only boost motivation, and thus productivity, but can also boost morale.
Floor demarcation is something which many businesses take for granted, but if they were to revert to a system without such organisational benefits, they would soon realise the importance of opting for a floor demarcation system. From significant boosts to health and safety practices to the basic aesthetics influences, demarcation simply floors other warehouse organisational systems.
PSR Industrial Flooring has over 15 years’ experience as professional industrial contractors, working alongside both small organisations and global brands.
Tel: 01226 382864 Email: info@psrindustrialflooringltd.co.uk
