Focus on safety

Along the Belgian E313 in Laakdal, Heylen Warehouses leases a new warehouse to Stobart Europe. This brand new distribution center of no less than 45,000 square meters was designed with a focus on efficiency and safety. For the installation of safety solutions for personnel and infrastructure, Stobart Europe called on the expertise of Axelent. Ruben Geenen, Safety Consultant X-Protect at Axelent, explains which solutions were provided to ensure safety.

"The design of the new warehouse was under high time pressure," said Ruben. "From Stobart Europe, we were asked to supply and install various safety solutions, from wall and workplace protection to Pedestrian Barriers and Impact Barriers to protect warehouse workers. From the start, we went for an efficient and professional approach. After all, Axelent is known for this organized and neat approach. A service that Stobart Europe greatly appreciated."

Addressing security risks

In the new distribution center - where forklifts and other transportation equipment are constantly in motion - potential risks to personnel and infrastructure are constantly lurking. Ruben: "Forklift accidents are among the most common incidents in logistics facilities, resulting in serious injuries and damage to infrastructure. Falling goods can block walkways, injure workers and seriously disrupt workflow. And collisions with warehouse racks or walls lead to costly repairs and downtime."

"We often see that unprotected infrastructure and warehouse racking is quickly damaged by repeated collisions. With our Impact Barriers and rack protection, we are helping Stobart Europe address these problems structurally," Ruben points out.

Wide range of safety solutions

Ruben zooms in on the few solutions Axelent provided. "For wall protection, we provided low impact rails around all warehouse walls to minimize damage from forklifts and prevent costly repairs. Around workstations in the warehouse halls, we installed transparent plastic panels 2.50 meters high so that employees can do administrative work without noise pollution. For optimal pedestrian safety, we installed our Pedestrian Barriers. At entrance gates, our High Impact Barriers also provide extra safety: they 'discourage' pedestrians from walking along warehouse paths where there is a lot of forklift traffic. In this way, with Axelent, we are doing our part to reduce workplace accidents and create a pleasant working environment."

Investing in personnel and infrastructure 

Now that the project has been successfully completed, the Axelent team remains in contact with Stobart Europe for possible future expansions or optimizations. "After all, safety is not a one-time investment, but a continuous process of improvement and adaptation to changing logistics needs," says Ruben. "With this collaboration, we are demonstrating how the combination of smart safety solutions and well thought-out warehouse design proves that investing in safety pays off in the long run."

"From Axelent, we continue to think with our customers to offer flexible safety solutions. Most crash protection systems on the market work well as shock absorbers, but are often difficult to assemble. Moreover, they lack real flexibility, are difficult to expand and are often not possible to connect to an existing protection system. In other words, if you have a production hall or warehouse in need of expansion, you often have to tear down your existing systems and start all over again. This is time-consuming and expensive. For Stobart Europe, we proved once again that we are strong in the delivery and installation of customized solutions, and also under high time constraints."