Warehouse Traffic Management Plan Guide

What Is A Warehouse Traffic Management Plan?

A warehouse traffic management plan is a documented system that controls how vehicles and pedestrians move around your site. It defines where forklifts can travel, where people can walk, where the two are kept apart, and how loading, manoeuvring and reversing are managed safely.

Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, every employer has a legal duty to organise workplaces so that pedestrians and vehicles can circulate safely. The HSE expects this to be risk-assessed, documented and reviewed, a traffic management plan is how you demonstrate compliance.

Why Traffic Management Matters

Workplace transport remains one of the biggest causes of fatal and serious injury in UK warehousing. The HSE consistently reports that being struck by a moving vehicle is among the leading causes of workplace fatalities, with forklift trucks involved in a significant share of those incidents.

Beyond the human cost, a single incident can stop an operation: investigations, restricted access, damaged stock and lost throughput often dwarf the cost of the repair itself.

Common incidents

• Pedestrians struck by forklifts at aisle intersections
• Reversing collisions in loading bays
• Falls from loading docks and trailer edges
• Collisions caused by poor visibility around racking and blind corners

Identifying Warehouse Risks

Effective planning starts with walking your site and mapping where people and vehicles interact. Focus on the points of greatest risk:

• Vehicles: forklift routes, MHE charging areas, yard and roadway movements
• Pedestrians: walking routes, crossing points, doorways and welfare access
• Blind spots: racking ends, corners, mezzanine columns and pillar lines
• Loading bays: reversing zones, dock levellers and trailer loading areas

Designing Safe Routes

The goal of any plan is segregation: keeping people and vehicles physically apart wherever possible, and controlling the points where they must cross.

• Pedestrian walkways: clearly defined, continuous routes that lead people safely from entrances to workstations
• Vehicle routes: wide enough for the largest vehicle, with clear sightlines
• One-way systems: reduce the need for reversing and head-on conflict
• Segregation: barriers and marked walkways to physically separate flows

Signage Requirements

Signage reinforces the rules of your routes and warns of hazards. A layered approach works best:

• Floor markings: walkways, hatched no-go zones, crossing points and direction arrows
• Wall signs: speed limits, pedestrian priority and mandatory PPE
• Projected signage: dynamic, high-visibility warnings at blind corners and crossings

Barrier Protection

Where line marking alone is not enough, physical protection prevents vehicles entering pedestrian space and protects critical assets from impact.

• Impact barriers: flexible polymer systems that absorb forklift impact
• Guard rails: protect racking legs, plant and building structure
• Pedestrian barriers: create safe refuges and protected walking routes

Traffic Management Checklist

How Fastline Supports Traffic Management

Fastline delivers every element of a traffic management plan under one roof, site surveys, durable line marking, projected and fixed signage, and impact protection. We help warehouse operators move from assessment to a fully implemented, compliant scheme with minimal operational downtime.