Machine Guards
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A machine guard rail protects a line rather than a point. Two bolt-down posts carry one or two horizontal rails along the aisle side of a machine, a…
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Dock Equipment · Bollards
Steel Safety Bollards For Dock Doors and Rack Ends
A steel safety bollard is a length of heavy wall pipe on a bolt-down base plate, set where a fork truck would otherwise reach something expensive. S&L supplies them in three heights and two tube diameters, finished in safety yellow with black chevron bands so they read as a barrier from across the building.
Product Overview
What This Product Is and Where It Fits
The bollard range starts at 24 inches, which is tall enough to stop a pallet truck and low enough to stay out of a door swing, and runs to 42 inches for positions where a counterbalance truck mast could otherwise pass over the top of the guard.
Tube diameter is the part buyers most often get wrong. A 4.5 inch tube suits door jambs, aisle corners and equipment islands. The 5.5 inch tube is specified where a loaded truck at full travel speed is a realistic event rather than a theoretical one, typically at the bottom of a ramp or where an aisle meets a cross aisle.
All sizes use the same bolt-down base plate arrangement, so a site can standardise on one anchor pattern and still mix heights around the building.
Key Benefits
Three Reasons Buyers Specify This Line
Stops damage at the point of impact
A bollard set 300 mm in front of a door jamb takes the hit instead of the frame, and a bent bollard is a bolt-out replacement rather than a door rebuild.
Reads as a barrier before anyone reaches it
Safety yellow with black chevron bands is the convention North American drivers already respond to, so the guard works at distance and under poor dock lighting.
Bolt-down rather than cast in
Base plate fixing means a bollard can be relocated when the racking layout changes, which is the normal life of a distribution building.
Application Scenarios
- Dock door jambs and overhead door tracks
- Rack end frames at aisle entries
- Electrical panels, isolators and compressor sets
- Gas meters, sprinkler risers and pipe stacks
- Battery charging bays and equipment islands
Who It Is For
- Distribution centre facilities teams standardising guard sizes across a site
- Contractors fitting out a new build dock before handover
- Industrial distributors carrying a guard rail and bollard programme
- Plant engineers protecting services that sit in a traffic aisle
Problems It Solves
- Door frames and tracks struck by fork truck masts and forks
- Rack legs deformed where pallets are entered at an angle
- Services and panels installed in an aisle with nothing in front of them
- Damage repeated at the same spot because the guard was never replaced after the first hit
Technical Features
What Is Actually Published For This Line
Three heights, two tube diameters
24, 36 and 42 inch heights; 4.5 inch tube across the range and 5.5 inch tube in the 36 and 42 inch heights.
Bolt-down base plate
Flanged base drilled for anchor bolts, so the bollard is fitted and replaced without breaking the slab.
Safety yellow finish with chevron bands
Painted yellow with black diagonal bands at the head, matching the guard rails in the same range.
Capped head
Closed top keeps water and debris out of the tube.
Specifications
Steel Safety Bollards Specification Table
Every figure below is transcribed from the specification sheets S&L published for this line. Where a figure is not published, it is marked rather than estimated.
| Description | Height in | Tube Diameter in |
|---|---|---|
| Steel Bollard | 24 | 4.5 |
| Steel Bollard | 36 | 4.5 |
| Steel Bollard | 42 | 4.5 |
| Steel Bollard | 36 | 5.5 |
| Steel Bollard | 42 | 5.5 |
Source: S&L bollard and guard size sheet published by S&L Dock Equipment.
Product Photography
Steel Safety Bollards As Supplied
Every photograph below is from the S&L product records for this line. Nothing is a stock image or a rendering.
Materials
Materials and Finish
Steel pipe and steel base plate, painted safety yellow. Wall thickness and steel grade are not published on the original size sheet and are confirmed at quotation.
ManufacturingHow It Is Made
Pipe is cut to height, the base plate is welded on, the head is capped, and the assembly is cleaned and painted before the chevron bands are applied.
Quality Control
What Is Checked Before Packing
Height, tube diameter and base plate hole pattern are checked against the size sheet before packing. Weld and paint condition are inspected on the same pass.
CertificationsCertification Status
No third-party certification is published for Steel Safety Bollards in S&L's own documentation, so this page marks it TBC at quotation rather than implying one. Buyers working to a facility impact-protection specification usually ask about tube wall thickness and anchor pull-out values rather than a product certificate. Tell S&L which of those your specification calls for and it will confirm what can be evidenced.
Customisation
Options Within The Published Range
- Height and tube diameter from the published size list
- Plain safety yellow without chevron bands
- Base plate hole pattern to match an existing anchor set
- Cast-iron street furniture bollards and tree protection guards, which S&L also produces
Comparison
How It Compares With The Alternatives
| Option | When To Choose It |
|---|---|
| Steel safety bollard | Point protection: a door jamb, a panel, a corner. Takes a direct hit and is replaced on its own. |
| Machine guard rail | Line protection: a run of machine, panel or aisle edge. Spreads the load along a rail between two posts. |
| Rack guard | Low-level protection at 9 inch height, sized to a rack bay and kept below pallet overhang. |
Use Guide
Getting It Right On Site
- Mark the position so the bollard stands clear of any door swing or pallet overhang
- Drill the slab to the base plate pattern and fix with anchors rated for the slab thickness
- Check the bollard stands plumb before final torque
- Inspect after any recorded impact and replace rather than straighten a bent tube
Questions
Steel Safety Bollards Questions
What heights and tube sizes can I order?
24, 36 and 42 inch heights. The 4.5 inch tube is available in all three heights and the 5.5 inch tube in the 36 and 42 inch heights.
Are the bollards filled with concrete?
The original size sheet does not specify a concrete fill. Confirm fill and wall thickness with S&L at quotation if your specification calls for it.
Do they arrive with anchor bolts?
Anchor selection depends on your slab, so fixings are quoted separately rather than assumed.
Can you supply cast iron street furniture bollards as well?
Yes. Cast-iron bollards and tree protection guards are part of the S&L street furniture range, though they are quoted to drawing rather than from a standard size list.
What colour are they supplied in?
Safety yellow with black chevron bands as standard. Plain yellow is available on request.
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Further Reading
Quote Steel Safety Bollards By Model Code
State the height, tube diameter and quantity per position and the quotation covers the whole run of the building rather than one door.