How to Choose Safety Netting for Your Industry
Safety netting is used in a variety of industrial settings, including new construction, warehousing, and the like. It can work as a guardrail for construction projects not yet completed and provide safety around items stacked on high shelves. When choosing safety netting, note a few factors to remember so you ensure you get the right type for your particular use.
Debris netting
Netting might catch personnel but also works to catch falling debris, which is needed for the safety of those on lower floors on a jobsite. Debris netting will have a smaller mesh so as to stop tools, chunks of concrete, broken bricks, and even dust and powder from certain mixes from falling to lower levels. This netting is also good to use for items stacked in a warehouse, as dust can easily fall to lower levels when you access those higher shelves. High-quality debris netting usually will also have several layers so that the mesh can overlap and provide even more protection from items falling, while still maintaining healthy airflow. Look for two or three layers of netting for catching debris.
Pour in place netting
If a construction site has openings in the floor such as for vents or elevator shafts, look for pour in place netting. This netting is meant to be strong enough to stop someone who might accidentally step or fall over this opening, but can then also be cut with a sharp blade. This allows you to easily tie the netting to steel rods, rebar, columns, or anything else surrounding the opening in the floor, but then cut it away when the work is over. This is unlike plastic netting which is often placed around open areas of a construction site, which might be too thick and tough to cut away, and which is meant to be untied when work is done.
For edges
If you need netting for the edge of any worksite, choose a bright orange plastic netting. The orange color will alert workers to the edge of a newly constructed building or walkway in a warehouse, while also keeping them safe. You can use bright orange plastic netting around your warehouse floor, keeping forklift drivers from entering an area that is frequented by pedestrian traffic. As it's not unusual for a forklift driver to get distracted when stacking or unloading shelving, the netting can keep them out of certain areas while the bright orange color can alert them to when they're approaching that area as well.