How to Design Better Warehouse Fencing
There are many reasons why you might want to install warehouse fencing. Maybe you want to prevent unauthorized access to certain areas, or maybe you’re required to have some of your equipment or work areas fenced off.
Warehouse fencing can be installed for health and safety, to prevent shrinkage and theft, and for many other reasons. However, not all warehouse fences are created equal! Here are a few ways you can design a better warehouse fence.
Make It More Visible
Most warehouses are busy places, with people, equipment and vehicles moving around the space all the time. That means that there’s always a risk of your fence being damaged by a forklift or backed into by a vehicle.
The solution is to ensure that your warehouse fencing is as visible as possible.
Ask your fence company to paint or powder coat your fence in a bright, high visibility color like yellow or orange. You can do just the posts and structure, or, if you’re getting a welded panel fence or something similar, you can ask the fence company to color all the components.
Using stick on reflective tape is another great way to ensure that your warehouse fencing is as visible as possible to anyone moving around in the space.
Choose Smaller Mesh Apertures
Very often, when we order something like warehouse fencing, we choose the most commonly used and readily available materials. If you choose chain link fence or even rolled welded mesh fences, that usually means 50 x 50mm or 2 x 2 inch mesh apertures.
The problem is that a larger mesh aperture is not the most secure option for warehouse fencing. If you want to create a fence that will offer a little more protection, choose a smaller mesh aperture or chain link “mini mesh.”
Opt for Secure Latches
If your warehouse requires gates that lock and close securely – or that stay closed at all times – you probably need to upgrade the latches you choose for your warehouse fencing.
Ordinary sliding bolt or hinged latch systems with padlocks require manual operation, which means if someone forgets to close or lock the gate, it will stay open.
Automatic gate closers can help to ensure that your gates stay closed and latched at all times, and options like mag locks and mechanical keypads limit access to authorized people only.
If you need gates that can be used freely for egress but still have latches for entry, add panic gate hardware to the inside of the area.
Electronic Upgrades
Most warehouse spaces have high ceilings, which makes it prohibitively expensive to fence them all the way to the rafters. However, that makes it easier to climb your fence, which lowers it’s security potential.
Adding an electronic monitoring system like an FDS or fence detection system that is linked to your alarm system will alert you if anyone tries to climb or cut through your fence, without having to built an extremely high fence.
Get a Site Visit
If you need to install security and safety fencing in a warehouse, and you’re not sure what the best options are, contact local fence companies and ask them to visit your site. This will allow them to take accurate measurements, and also to see the space first hand.
They can ask questions, take pictures and find out more about how you use the space – and when they will be able to do the install.
It’s always best to ask an expert if you’re not completely sure what you need. The last thing you want to do is install the wrong kind of fence, and then have to do expensive and time consuming upgrades!
