Supporting drivers and pedestrians to exist harmoniously in a dynamic environment
With Australia’s growing population, it’s natural to see the rise of cars and congestion on the roads. To improve accessibility, we’ve also seen a significant increase in both the size and number of car parking areas surrounding office buildings, shopping centres, stadiums, and other public facilities.
While car parks are low-speed environments, they often cater to multiple directions of pedestrian and vehicle travel. Pedestrians are weaving their way to and from their cars while drivers are focused on finding a spot or getting out of the car park, requiring all users to be extra vigilant of their surroundings. To ensure everyone’s safety, the design of car parks and shared spaces requires impeccable attention to detail. Complementing thoughtful design processes, installing high-quality car park safety products can enhance pedestrian access, minimise vehicular damage and lower the risk of accidents. Stringent maintenance protocols are also necessary to eliminate any risk factors, such as poor lighting or spills, that may lead to pedestrians injuring themselves.
We’ve outlined some of the most important car park safety considerations below. To discuss your project’s specific requirements, please get in touch with our friendly team for a detailed consultation.
What are the car park safety regulations?
When designing and building an off-street car park, there are multiple guidelines and regulations to adhere to including AS 2890, AS 1158 and other relevant Australian Standards. You can learn more about them here. Aside from functional and safety requirements, you’ll want to have a clear understanding of any OHS obligations that may be relevant to the operation or access of a workplace car park.
As a general overview, here are some design guidelines to ensure the safety of your car park:
- Provide clear and safe pedestrian paths between car parking areas and onsite facilities
- Minimise potential visual obstructions in parking areas for both vehicles and pedestrians
- Maximise passive surveillance of parking areas
- Ensure optimal lighting throughout the car parking and pedestrian areas for day and night safety
You will also need to ensure that the car park is fully accessible for people with special needs or disabilities, in compliance with the Disability Discriminations Act (DDA).
Common hazards in a car park
With pedestrians and vehicles constantly entering, moving around and exiting the car park, common safety hazards should be identified and controlled to minimise accidents and collisions.
Common safety hazards can include:
- Multiple directions of travel
- Narrow spaces
- Tight turns
- Steep or twisting ramps
- Obstructed vision
- Large pylons
- Potholes
- Poor signage
- Low-lighting conditions
- Traffic congestion
- Runaway trolleys
- Poor maintenance such as oil leaks, pooled water, rubbish, and debris that is unattended to
- Environmental risks such as weather conditions
If a user injures themselves in the car park due to a preventable hazard, both the owner and designer can be held responsible, with compensation payments ranging between $400,000 to over $1 million depending on the nature of the injury, according to ACO. Car park designers are obliged to ensure that all hazards are considered while owners must ensure the areas are well-maintained.
How can you enhance the safety of the car park in the workplace?
Improving driver awareness while keeping pedestrians safe, investing in car park safety solutions can help to enhance your pedestrian safety, streamline traffic flow, and reduce the incidence of accidents occurring.
There are multiple ways to control risks in workplace car parks including
- Ensuring pathways, entries and exits are slip-resistant under wet and dry conditions
- Upholding a diligent maintenance schedule to ensure the removal of all hazards
- Installing CCTV to monitor activities in and around the car park
- Ensuring all areas of the car park and pedestrian paths have adequate lighting throughout the day and across seasons
- Clearly marking walkways and installing physical barriers such as safety bollards to separate pedestrians from vehicles
- Installing speed humps to prevent excessive speed and enhance traffic flow
- Installing wheel stops to alert drivers that they’ve reached the end of their space
- Corner guards help identify columns or obstructions in low light areas
- Safety mirrors are essential for providing adequate visibility of oncoming traffic and potential hazards
- Installing height clearance bars to prevent oversized vehicles from entering areas of restricted height
- Car park signage is critical for safety. These can be custom made to suit any requirement including speed limits, disabled parking, stop signs, traffic rules, pedestrian crossings, exits, no parking zones, etc.
Ensuring the protection of your car parking space and its users, Classic offers a wide range of high-quality car park safety solutions. Working closely with you to bring your vision to life, our products include but are not limited to car park bollards, wheel stops, speed humps, corner/cable guards, car park signage, convex mirrors and bicycle storage.
You can view our car park safety range here.
Classic is your go-to for complete car park safety solutions, from design to installation
With over 41 years of experience, we keep pace with modern building design and techniques to develop architecturally designed public access and safety solutions. Supporting you from consultation and design right through to supply and installation, you can trust our team to get you a step ahead.
To level up your next project, please give us a call on 1300 244 377 to speak with our team of experts for helpful advice.
