Virtually all safety and loss prevention managers appreciate the inherent dangers of the loading dock, especially since it’s usually a very busy place with forklifts, semi-trailers and pedestrians. That’s why forward-thinking companies install state-of-the-art equipment at the dock, ranging from vehicle restraints to communications technology and more. Yet the potential for loading dock fires is something that escapes far too many decision-makers. And one dock fire is too many by any measure.

Here’s why and what managers need to do to keep them from happening at their facility.
 

According to our estimates, more than 200,000 U.S. dock positions are at risk due to the type of dock enclosures used at their facilities. Our company has identified hundreds of burned dock seal incidents at a wide array of industrial and commercial facilities across North America.

The problem has to do with the interaction between traditional dock seals and the marker lights of semitrailers parked at the dock. Potential for a fire occurs when energized semi-trailer marker lights are compressed against any make or model of compressionstyle foam dock seal.

In addition to the safety threat that a fire presents, the costs associated with damage caused by a dock seal fire are often far-reaching. The estimated value of a trailer loaded with computer chips, for example, is as high as $6 million. That figure doesn’t account for the costs of building repairs and lost building contents. Other monetary losses include: