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If you have a factory or warehouse in the UK and you have materials handling equipment (glorified name for a forklift truck), you've likely faced some challenges keeping people apart from your vehicles.
1 in 10 forklift trucks are involved in a workplace incident!
The average claim for a forklift truck incident sits at around £43K
To do nothing about segregating people and forklift trucks could be very costly for your business as well as the reputational damage incurred. If you are looking for a low cost, flexible, impact resistant polymer barrier then the MPM PED 90 might just be what you're looking for. The purpose of this article is to give you an overview of the product without having to try and decipher a Technical datasheet.
Here at Clarity VM, we’ve been supplying pedestrian segregation products for over 10 years. PED 90 is the entry level polymer warehouse barrier from our very popular MPM range of flexible industrial barriers.
If you're worried about us being biased, we also asked our customers for feedback on the product.
By the end of this article, you will know the most important features of MPM PED 90.
What is MPM PED 90?
There are many different types of barriers for warehouses and factories, MPM PED 90 is specifically designed for for segregating people from moving equipment, This polymer barrier is manufactured by MPM in Italy hence the MPM bit of the name, the 'PED' refers to the barrier being a 'Pedestrian' segregation barrier as opposed to a barrier designed to protect assets such as conveyers or infrastructure.
The '90' refers to the size of the largest element in the barrier- the post. This is measured from front to back. At 90mm, this makes this barrier the slimmest profile polymer barrier in the world so if you are looking for a barrier with a very small footprint then this is possibly the best option for you.
MPM PED 90 offers an impact resistance of 6000Kj at a 45 degree impact angle, in line with the PAS 13 code of conduct, It also has other distinctive features which make it unique
MPM PED 90 is a flexible polymer barrier with a slim profile, is manufactured from a PVC blend and is manufactured as standard in a bright yellow Ral 1018 as per OSHA safety standards.
What are the advantages of MPM PED 90?
Now that you have a base understanding of MPM PED 90, its time to look at some of the advantages of choosing this product, You can typically find this out by reading the technical datasheet. However, it isnt always clear which characteristics benefit from a specification sheet.
MPM PED 90 is impact resistant
MPM PED 90 is a polymer barrier which means it has been designed to absorb impacts up to 6000KJ at 45 degree impact angle (See PAS 13 for more information), this is the equivalent to a 3 tonne FLT travelling at just over 7KM/h. Many warehouses throughout the UK have installed steel barriers to segregate people from equipment, Steel barriers are a low cost option but due to steel being rigid, can cause significant damage to the concrete floor, the forklift truck and the barrier itself in the event of an impact.
By choosing a polymer barrier, you are investing in an overall lower cost option as the barrier can take many impacts without need to be replaced, repaired, touched up or have the floor fixed.
MPM PED 90 has been tested and verified by TUV
Not every polymer barrier has been so fully tested or third party tested. Some polymer barriers actually do not even have an impact rating. With MPM PED 90 you can be assured that barrier will perform according to the stated impact ratings.
MPM PED 90 is low cost
One of the many benefits of the MPM PED 90 is that is very good value for money. starting from around £150/Metre - MPM PED 90 is competitive with many steel barrier systems while giving all the benefits of a polymer barrier. Other polymer barrier systems typically start at around £250/Metre, with our average project having 50 metres of barrier on it - this saving of £5000 will free up some of your capex budget to spend on technology such as an interactive crossing.
MPM PED 90 is modular in design
imagine investing in a full barrier to protect your people, then after 6 months, your factory layout changes and you need to modify the barrier layout to adapt to it.. With a traditional barrier system, this could mean completely replacing your barrier. A modular barrier can be shortened, lengthened, and even change direction using corner posts.
A modular barrier system like the MPM PED barrier allows you to adjust a tailor the barrier to your requirements. you can fine tune the rail lengths to fit exactly as per your requirements rather than be limited by the manufacturers standard lengths which are often in 100mm or 250mm increments.
MPM PED 90 is upgradable.
Modularity is a very valuable feature of MPM PED 90, this helps ensure you have invested in a long term investment, another feature which also adds significant value to the MPM PED 90 offering is the fact that it can be upgraded to MPM PED 90 GL REF. While MPM PED has an impact rating of 6000KJ, MPM PED 90 GL REF has an impact rating of over 15KJ, this is particularly useful if you have change your forklift trucks from 3 tonne trucks all the way up to 7.5 tonne.
MPM PED 90 is V0 fire rated
Before 2017, it was common practise to use flammable materials within a design envelope in construction projects, since the fatal Grenfell tower fire (which claimed the lives of 70 people and injured many more) - people have become much more aware of material selection when choosing products, especially safety-related products for their warehouses. All of the MPM PED range of barriers are V0 fire rated.
A V-0 fire rating is a classification that indicates a material is highly resistant to fire and will quickly extinguish if it does catch fire. Its part of the UL94 flammability rating system, which is used to assess the fire safety of plastic materials.
MPM 90 has a 2 year warranty
As you would expect from any reputable manufacturer, MPM provide a 2 year warranty with their products, you are covered by this warranty even if you decide to install the products yourself or whether you allow us to install the barrier for you.
MPM 90 is has flat faced ribbed rails
One of the critisisms of many of the round section barriers is that a pallet or forks tend to ride over or below, by making the rails flat faced - we can use the rail to catch the pallet or forks to prevent it passing through the barrier like this:
MPM PED 90 can be installed quickly
With the right team of people, MPM PED 90 can be installed very quickly. In a recent project, our installers were able to install 40M of barrier per day - this is 2X faster than other barrier systems. The simple modular design of MPM PED 90 meant that they were able to lay all of the post out in position before drilling and fixing them into position.
MPM PED 90 is compliant with global colour standards
Many companies across Europe use the colour yellow to mark safe walkways and traffic routes, the same yellow is harmonious with the MPM PED barriers as can be seen in the walkway below:
What are the disadvantages of MPM PED 90?
You know nothing is perfect, We truly believe that MPM PED 90 is an awesome product. We wouldnt be selling it otherwise. However, here are some characteristcs you should be aware of regarding the product.
Other MPM barriers have a higher impact rating
While MPM PED 90 has an impact rating of 6000KJ, some of the other pedestrian segregation barriers have a higher impact resistance.
The higher performance MPM barriers can reach over 40KJ impact rating and some of low level protection barrier such as the Rod Floor 120 has an impact rating of over 60KJ.
If you are operating larger forklift trucks than 3 tonne or have higher speeds than 7Km/h, you may need to look at some of the higher impact rating barriers or consider upgrading the MPM PED 90 to MPM PED 90 GL REF. The good news is that the upgrade can be done retrospectively.
The DP 90 lifting gate does not feel very robust
When choosing gates for the MPM PED 90, we dont think the DP 90 lifting gate feels as good as it could be so recommend that customers choose the swing gates instead. This may change in the near future as this is a product being upgraded. If a lifting gate is critical for your operation then we would look at other products.
Limited options for curved walkways
When choosing a barrier which needs to follow a curved route - the MPM PED 90 has a limited range of options for different angles. As standard, 90 degree and a 180 degree are available. There is enough tolerance in the design to adjust the angles by a maximum of a further 15 degrees. If you have a curved walkway outside of this then you may need to consider an increased number of posts to accomodate an tighter radius.
What should you consider when choosing the right barrier for you?
Now that you have a better idea of MPM PED 90, you have read the article and understand what the productis and some pros and cons. Its now time to look at your requirements. Do you have the right pedestrian segregation barrier?
We often get asked this at Clarity, as barrier suppliers and installers, we will give our opinion on which product we think will (and won't) work for you.
When it comes to selecting a suitable pedestrian segregation barrier for you, whether its PED 90 or not - its important to understand your requirements fully before selecting a suitable barrier.
If you want one of our barrier experts to help you with your requirements, you can reach out of click on the banner in the too right of this page.
However, if you want to research yourself, you can click on the button below to take you to the free downloadable pedestrian safety guide.
