Coca-Cola refreshing approach to safety

08 October 2010

When Coca-Cola embarked on building a new flagship bottling and distribution plant in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, its development was to be state-of-the-art including the safety systems that it installed.

The new plant would converge two sites into one under the Coca-Cola Hellenic brand, and be one of the largest production, bottling and distribution sites in the world. It would also set the standard for the Coca-Cola’s worldwide operation and therefore it needed the best across all areas of its operation.

Plastic-barrier specialists, A-Safe were called into advise on the safety features of the proposed 45-acre plant whilst it was still a greenfield project in development two years ago.

Neil Clifford, Sales Manager at A-Safe explained: "It is incredibly exciting to work on a project from the ground-up. We have been closely involved with Coca-Cola from the drawings stage and therefore been able to advise from an early stage what requirements they will need from their safety barrier systems.

"The contract was gained through tender process, where we were able to convince the Health & Safety Executives involved in the new build of the strengths and benefits of installing our systems ahead of traditional steel ones. Our reputation in the food industry and the obvious benefits of plastic over steel ensured we were the best-placed to help them on this ambitious project. Despite the entire build coming in over-budget, one area the company refused to cut costs on was the safety barriers."

A-Safe has now installed a variety of systems within the site, including designing bespoke column protectors specifically for this site. It has also installed pedestrian and vehicle segregation barriers, pedestrian walkways, machinery and equipment protection, height restrictors across doorways and door frames and bollards.

The project was split into several areas including supplying barrier systems to protect plant equipment and machinery, warehousing, external protection and the safety requirements in the production area and rest of site.

Now that the site is up and running, A-Safe continue to be involved to resolve ongoing safety problems.