- Location
- Hayes, Greater London
- Main postcode districts
- UB3 and UB4
- Nearby (straight line)
- Southall (2 miles), South Ruislip (3 miles) and Greenford (3 miles)
- Survey and quote
- Free, with a fixed written quote
Dock traffic lights are red and green signals mounted outside and inside a loading bay to tell the driver and dock staff when it is safe to move or load. Interlocks are control links that stop equipment operating out of sequence, for example preventing the door opening until the trailer is restrained, or the leveller operating until the door is fully open.
Why do sites in Hayes choose this?
Whether your unit in Hayes has one dock or twenty, the survey looks at each bay's existing controls before we quote a fixed price in writing. Loading docks in Hayes where drivers wait in their cabs for a hand signal can replace guesswork with a clear red and green light at every bay.
Older docks in Hayes with separate door and leveller controls can be brought into a proper sequence by adding interlocks that stop equipment working out of order.
How does an installation in Hayes work? First, a free, no-obligation survey to measure up and understand the operation. Next, a fixed written quote. Then a programme agreed with you, so the work fits around deliveries, with out-of-hours slots if needed. The installation itself is carried out by specialist engineers who answer to us, and it finishes with testing, a walk-through for your staff and a handover pack.
Operators sending trailers to and from Hayes may already know this: Heathrow's logistics and air-cargo cluster is close by. Regardless of traffic volume, a dock must seal, level and hold vehicles safely.
What does HSE guidance say about stopping drivers leaving too early?
HSE guidance (followed by HSENI in Northern Ireland) says there should be safeguards against drivers driving away from a loading bay too early, and it names traffic lights as one of the measures. Vehicle or trailer restraints, and the person in charge keeping keys or paperwork until it is safe, are the others listed in HSE's guide to workplace transport safety (HSG136) and its loading factsheet.
Traffic lights are a signal, not a physical barrier, so they work best as part of a clear procedure or alongside a restraint. Your risk assessment should decide the combination. In Northern Ireland the regulator is HSENI.
Interlocks also touch on door safety law. Under regulation 18 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, or the Northern Ireland 1993 equivalent, powered doors need suitable and effective features to prevent them trapping anyone. Interlocks must never bypass those features, and door control work should respect BS EN 12453, the standard for safety in use of power-operated doors.
Read more in our guide to preventing drive-away and trailer creep.
Can traffic lights and interlocks be added to older loading bays?
Yes, traffic lights and interlocks can be added to most older loading bays, although some need new control panels before the interlocks can work.
- Manual doors: a door position switch can confirm the door is fully open or closed, which lets lights and leveller interlocks work even without a motor.
- Older powered doors and levellers: basic control boxes may not have connections for interlocks, so a combined bay panel can replace separate controls.
- Mixed equipment: doors and levellers from different suppliers can usually be brought under one interlock panel, so every bay works the same way.
Interlocks cannot make faulty equipment safe. If a door or leveller has a defect, it should be repaired before interlocks are added, and the survey will flag anything we find. Upgrading lights and interlocks at the same time as replacing a door or leveller is often the most economical moment to do it.
The same published guide range applies across England; access, out-of-hours working and site conditions are confirmed at the free survey.
Survey checklist for your dock
- Age and condition of the equipment already in place
- Escape routes and pedestrian doors close to the bay
- Lighting inside trailers and at the dock face
- Wheel guide positions and yard markings for reversing vehicles
- Dock height and the mix of trailers you load
- Gaps around trailers where heated or chilled air escapes
Options to discuss
Trailer presence sensors
Sensors that detect a trailer on the bay, used to switch lights, enable the door or trigger an inflatable shelter where no restraint is fitted.
Restraint interlock package
Door, lights and vehicle restraint tied together so the door only opens once the trailer is held and the restraint only releases when loading is finished.
Planning, building control and safety law in England
Workplace safety in England is regulated by HSE. For a loading bay in Hayes, that means doors meeting regulation 18 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, equipment maintained under PUWER and suitable safeguards against vehicles driving away too early. We check what applies at survey and design the bay accordingly.
Questions about dock traffic lights and interlocks in Hayes
Is VAT included in your guide prices for dock traffic lights and interlocks?
No. Our customers are businesses, so guide prices exclude VAT, which is added at the standard rate. The same guide range applies in Greater London as everywhere else: for dock traffic lights and interlocks, it is £650 to £3,400 per bay, excluding VAT. It covers supply and fit for a typical installation. Your fixed written quote after the free survey shows the net price, the VAT and exactly what is included.
Do you cover Hayes for dock traffic lights and interlocks?
Yes. We take on dock traffic lights and interlocks for businesses in Hayes and across Greater London. We survey the site, provide a fixed written quote and manage the installation, with specialist installation engineers working under our management. Visits are arranged in advance at a time that suits your operation, and the same single contact stays with the job through to handover.
How long does installation take at a site in Hayes?
It depends on the equipment, the number of bays, the condition of the dock and whether any building or electrical work is needed. We agree a programme with you after the survey, setting out which bays are out of use and when. Larger jobs are usually phased so that part of the dock stays open, and out-of-hours working can be arranged.
Do traffic lights and interlocks need maintenance?
Yes. Lights, sensors and interlocks should be checked at each planned service visit, including testing the full sequence and confirming that steps attempted out of order are blocked. As part of the dock equipment they fall under PUWER, which requires work equipment to be maintained in a safe condition.
Will interlocks slow down my loading operation?
Interlocks add a fixed sequence, but each step takes only moments and staff soon get used to it. In practice many sites find the sequence saves time overall, because there are fewer arguments about when to open the door and less damage from levellers being raised into part-open doors.
Dock traffic lights and interlocks near Hayes
The same survey, quote and repair service is available in towns around Hayes, such as Southall (2 miles), South Ruislip (3 miles) and Greenford (3 miles).
Other loading bay services in Hayes
Full guide to dock traffic lights and interlocks · Everything we do in Hayes
Whether it is a new bay or a fault on an existing one, call us or request a quote for your site in Hayes.