Forklift and pedestrian segregation planning
The most serious warehouse incidents happen where forklifts and people share the same space. Workplace transport is consistently among the most common causes of workplace deaths and serious injuries in Ireland, and the single most effective control is simple to state and harder to do well: keep vehicles and pedestrians apart. This is how to plan that segregation, and where line marking fits in.
Segregation means designing your warehouse so forklifts and pedestrians do not share the same space. Under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007, employers must organise traffic routes so pedestrians and vehicles can move safely, based on a risk assessment. The practical toolkit is: separate routes wherever possible, physical barriers where the risk is high, clearly marked walkways and crossing points, one-way systems, good visibility, and signage. Line marking is the layer that makes the plan visible on the floor every day.
What the law expects
The General Application Regulations 2007 require that workplace traffic routes are located and organised so that pedestrians and vehicles can use them safely, and that routes are kept clear and marked where necessary. Underpinning that, the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 requires a risk assessment of the hazards, including workplace transport. The HSA's workplace transport guidance sets out how to meet these duties in practice.
In short: assess the risk, design routes to separate people and vehicles, and make the arrangement clear and enforceable on the ground.
The hierarchy: separate, then protect, then warn
- 1 Separate: the best control is to remove the shared space entirely: dedicated pedestrian doors, routes and mezzanine access that never cross live aisles.
- 2 Protect: where routes must run alongside traffic, use physical barriers or a raised/kerbed walkway, not just paint.
- 3 Warn and guide: where people and vehicles must cross, provide marked, signed crossing points with good sight lines, mirrors at blind corners and, where needed, priority rules.
Marking supports every level of this hierarchy, but on its own it is a warning control: for high-risk interfaces, back it with barriers.
Designing the routes
- 1Map the real desk-to-door and goods-in-to-racking movements before drawing routes.
- 2Give pedestrians a continuous marked walkway that does not force detours (people cut corners that are impractical).
- 3Use one-way systems to cut head-on and reversing conflicts.
- 4Mark crossing points where lines must meet, with clear give-way priority.
- 5Keep loading, charging and pallet-drop zones out of walking routes.
- 6Review the layout whenever racking, doors or process flow change.
Where line marking fits
Clear, durable floor marking is what turns a traffic-management plan into daily behaviour: a defined walkway, a hatched crossing, a one-way arrow and a keep-clear zone all instruct without anyone having to read a policy. The marking only works if it stays legible, so it needs to withstand forklift traffic and cleaning.
UV Line Marking applies RapidShield in any colour, with 5-year vehicle and 10-year footfall durability, cured in about 30 seconds so aisles reopen the same visit, and it can be laid in cold stores down to minus 26 degrees Celsius. See our pedestrian walkway marking and warehouse line marking services.
Frequently asked questions
Employers must organise traffic routes so pedestrians and vehicles can move safely, under the General Application Regulations 2007, based on a risk assessment required by the 2005 Act. Segregation is the recognised way to meet that duty; the law sets the outcome rather than prescribing one method.
For lower-risk routes, clear marking can be the main control. Where forklifts and people are close or sight lines are poor, marking should be backed by physical barriers, protected walkways and controlled crossing points: marking warns, barriers protect.
It has to survive constant forklift traffic to stay useful. RapidShield UV-cured marking is rated for 5-year vehicle and 10-year footfall durability and reopens in about 30 seconds, so walkways can be marked or refreshed without a long shutdown.
Mark it once, with UV Line Marking
UV Line Marking is the only UV line marking specialist in Ireland, a division of Arkomax. Our RapidShield UV-cured coating cures in about 30 seconds, so your floor is back in service the same visit, with 5-year vehicle and 10-year footfall durability in any colour.
We mark warehouses, car parks, EV charging bays and pedestrian walkways nationwide, with minimal disruption and no solvents, odour or VOCs.