Case Studies
Safety Starts at Home, One Bit of Yellow at a Time
At Tru-Gard, we don’t just make safety products we use them too. Safety starts at home, which means making sure our own staff and new manufacturing plant are as protected as the clients and sites we work with. To create a safe environment for everyone on site, we installed our Tru-Gard Hand Rail System along workshop pathways, giving pedestrians a clear, protected walking space. Tru-Gard Personnel Gates mark entranceways to high-traffic areas, forcing foot traffic to slow down and giving staff time to check for forklifts and other moving vehicles before entering these higher-risk zones. We also installed our Tru-Gard Certified Barrier System to separate forklifts from employees and visitors, keeping everyone on the correct side and reducing the risk of collisions. Together, these systems create a clear perimeter around the entire site, which means we can safely show clients and visitors around the workshop while they stay protected in matching hi-vis vests. This project highlights our commitment to safety for both staff and visitors. By investing in our own plant and people we are demonstrating the Tru-Gard difference, because the safest workplaces start at home.
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Custom Colours and Critical Access at Marsden Point Refinery
If you need custom colour combinations or tones that match your branding, no problem, we’ve got you covered! This multicolour barrier was a custom request for a client at an enormous oil refinery site, where their onsite warning colour scheme is black and yellow. This colour combination can be found across the site, indoors and out, to indicate high-risk areas. It is something that is well drilled into their team. Our team was more than happy to calculate the metreage of barrier required to provide a full traffic safety zone around the site and arranged for half to be in our traditional Safety Yellow, with the other half in black. Installed in an alternating pattern, these were instantly recognised as part of the hazard warning system on site. The added bonus is that it looks great. Not only was colour a special requirement for the client, but they also needed removable pins in the barrier to hold it in place. In the case of a fire or other emergency, the fire brigade or other first responders need to be able to remove sections of barrier to access areas of the site with hoses or other equipment. It was vital that this could be done quickly and without the need for specialty tools. After all, the last thing a site dealing with highly flammable materials needs is an obstacle that prevents an emergency response. Our team got to work redesigning our usual permanent bolt assembly, creating a pin connection system to ensure the barrier was safe on site, but easily removable. The result was the ideal solution and a very happy customer. If you have a site with very specific requirements, need product colour matched to your brand standards, or find that nothing on the market quite works for you, contact our team today to discuss a bespoke solution that works.
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Built to Take the Hit: The Story of Tru-Gard Downpipe Protectors
Back in 2019, we started seeing a clear trend across factories and warehouses. Sites were busier, vehicles were bigger, and the knock-on cost of damaged building services was becoming harder to ignore. Downpipes in particular were taking a hiding in high-traffic areas. That growing demand for better asset protection led to the launch of our Downpipe Protector range. This Christchurch warehouse project was one of the first to put them to work, with 17 Downpipe Protectors installed as part of the site fit-out. From the outset, the focus was simple. Protect vulnerable services, reduce repair costs, and help drivers spot hazards before contact ever became an issue. Typically, Downpipe Protectors are installed from ground level to shield the most exposed section of pipework. On this site, however, some downpipes were positioned in areas used by larger trucks. To suit the traffic profile, several protectors were installed slightly above ground level to guard against higher impact points, showing the flexibility of the system to suit real-world conditions. Finished in high-visibility safety yellow, the protectors act as an early visual warning for drivers moving through the yard. In most cases, that visibility alone is enough to prevent contact. If a minor collision does occur, the 3 mm steel guard absorbs the impact, keeping fragile pipework intact and maintenance crews out of reactive repair mode. Our Downpipe Protectors are available in standard and large sizes, with adjustable widths to suit a range of pipe diameters. Each kit is designed for straightforward installation and supplied with fixings and clear instructions, making them easy to integrate into new builds or retrofits. What started as a response to a growing problem has since become a core part of our asset protection range. Today, Downpipe Protectors sit alongside our Column Protectors and Pallet Racking Protectors, helping sites across New Zealand and Australia protect critical infrastructure and keep operations running smoothly.
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Felling Hazards, Raising Safety at Pan Pac Milburn
This is Pan Pac Forest Products Ltd, a subsidiary of Japanese pulp and paper experts Oji in Japan. To understand the history of Pan Pac, let’s take a step back in time. Back to an era where you’d hear John Rowles’ Cheryl Moana Marie on the radio, the classic It’s In The Bag made its TV debut, and flares and platform shoes were all the rage. The decade is the 1970s, when Pan Pac first established its site at Whirinaki, just north of Napier. Fast forward the cassette of time to 2014, and Pan Pac operations have expanded into Milburn, just south of Dunedin, where Pan Pac Forest Products (Otago) Limited was established, a lumber business operating a sawmill, boiler, continuous kiln, and dry mill. With Pan Pac products now being shipped to over 15 countries around the world, the mills are working at full capacity. This comes with a constant flow of heavy machinery, moving product, staff, delivery trucks, and associated hazards. Continuous traffic on site creates dangerous areas and increases the risk to both people and property. That’s where we come in. Our classic 910-2 Barrier was the ideal choice for maximum visibility and protection. Tested and certified, it creates clear passageways for foot traffic and protects buildings from accidental vehicle damage. Combined with our modular Hand Rail to provide safe walking spaces for pedestrians around the site. Fast forward the tape again to part two of this project, where we completed an additional sub-project to improve safety in the logging yard. This area is the most hazardous on the premises, as heavy machinery and rolling logs can seriously injure or even kill anyone in the wrong place at the wrong time. By limiting the entry of traffic and people to this part of the sawmill, hazards were identified and reduced, helping the business meet its obligations to protect staff and visitors. By modifying our standard Personnel Gates, we created heavy-duty vehicle gates fit for purpose. Some of the key features include: A new latch to secure double gates firmly in the closed position. A locking option on the latch for added security, with holes for a padlock to prevent unauthorised access, ideal for after-hours protection. A bracket option to mount gates directly onto bollards, making the gate stronger and providing extra protection if a vehicle misjudges the angle. The client is thrilled with the results in terms of security and access control, and our unmissable Safety Yellow finish makes them a strong addition to their overall safety strategy. We have helped make this site a safer place to visit and work. And we think that’s pretty groovy.
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Tru-Gard Barrier - Protecting People and Pinot
Need enough barrier to stop a truck? No problem. With our 910-3E Barrier, we can do just that. Here’s one we installed for a Matua Wines in Blenheim, NZ, who needed to protect their assets (and their wine) from potential trucking mishaps. Company management recognised the very real risks to staff, buildings, assets, and products, due in part to the sheer volume of large transport trucks calling on site daily. Should one of these trucks accidentally roll off a ramp and hit someone or damage assets on site, it would be a disaster. Enter our 910-3E Galvanised Barrier, offering three rows of certified and tested protection. With six screw bolts per post and 1100 mm centres, these features add extra strength where it’s needed most. This configuration is our strongest and is designed to stop a 23-tonne vehicle travelling at 11.5 km/h on a 25-degree impact. It doesn’t get much more robust than that. If you have people, premises, or pinot to protect, get in touch with our team today to find out more about our heavy-duty options to suit.
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Keeping the Herd Safe at Silver Fern Farms Hawke's Bay
Keeping pedestrians safe on busy work sites can feel a lot like managing a herd. At Silver Fern Farms’ Takapau in Hawke’s Bay, NZ, private roads are constantly active with both staff and vehicles moving around the site. A moment’s lapse in attention could have serious consequences, so clear safety measures are essential. This large sheepmeat processing plant has carefully identified its hazard areas and created unmistakable safety zones for the many visitors and staff who walk the factory grounds each day. To manage these high-traffic areas, we installed our Tru-Gard Hand Rail System along key pedestrian pathways, combined with Personnel Gates to clearly define safe access points. Our modular system made it easy to navigate tricky curves and complex site layouts, ensuring continuous protection where it’s needed most. These systems guide staff and visitors to check for vehicles before crossing, helping reduce the risk of accidents and keeping everyone moving safely through the site. By combining robust handrails, secure gates, and high-visibility safety zones, Silver Fern Farms Hawke’s Bay has created a safer, more organised site for staff and visitors alike. It’s safety done the Tru-Gard way—practical, reliable, and designed to protect the whole herd on site.
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A Heaping of Safety at Chelsea Sugar
Is there really anything sweeter than knowing your staff and assets are well protected and risks minimised? Well, if anything could be, it’s all of this combined with being on site at Chelsea Sugar (NZ Sugar Company) in Auckland, NZ. Wanting to take great care of their staff, they came to us for a solution that would stick. We suggested our certified and tested Barrier System, in a variety of configurations to suit height hazards and offering pedestrians protection against trucks and forklifts on site. Combined with our Personnel Gates, this provides safe access to the main floor so no one wanders in front of moving traffic. It’s a carefully crafted recipe for safety: a heaping of robust barriers, a dash of high-visibility yellow for maximum awareness, and a generous sprinkling of secure access points to keep staff and assets protected.
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Raising the Bar on Fall Safety at Pacific Steel
A steel plant sounds like exactly the kind of place where you would expect to find workplace hazards, although not always the ones you might think. In this case, management identified a fall risk created by a raised concrete platform. That’s where our Tru-Gard Hand Rail comes in. This inconspicuous-looking concrete platform at Pacific Steel, is frequently used by workers to inspect and maintain production machinery. The risk was that those working on the platform were often looking up, not down, which increased the likelihood of misstepping and falling from the platform. The solution was our Tru-Gard Hand Rail, customised with triple railing and fixed to side-mounted support posts. This was designed to create a clear physical barrier and set at a height to prevent accidental falls. To finish it off, we also added toe-kick boards, not only to prevent feet from sliding underneath, but to catch items such as tools that might accidentally be kicked off the edge during work. The solutions to these hazards do not have to be complicated, they just have to be effective. That is exactly where our modular systems are designed to quickly and easily solve these issues. If you have a hazard on site, big or small, let us help you find a Tru-Gard solution to suit. After all, there is nothing better than knowing workers are safe and injuries can be prevented.
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Silver Fern Farms Finegand: A Safety Legacy
Exported to and enjoyed by meat lovers in over 60 countries worldwide, travel with us to rural South Island, NZ, to Silver Fern Farms Finegand. A part of the local Clutha landscape and employer since 1912, the facility has changed hands a few times over the years, but most recently was purchased by Silver Fern Farms. A huge asset in their portfolio, this plant processed its millionth sheep in one season, just nine years after the takeover. Needless to say, this is a busy and hazardous site. Uniquely offering both beef (approximately 100,000 per year) and sheep (over 1 million per year), this site surges during the peak season with staff, stock, vehicles, and deliveries. When it came time to bring its safety standards up to date and comply with new legislation, they turned to our team for help. With hundreds of metres of Tru-Gard Safety Barrier, personnel gates for clearly defined access, protective bollards in key areas, and a range of handrails to create better pedestrian zones, this job is no mutton dressed as lamb; this is safety as it should be. A huge thank you to the team at Silver Fern Farms for trusting us to bring this iconic NZ meat processing facility up to current safety standards.
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Staying Udderly Safe at Blue River Dairy
Deep in the South Island of New Zealand, you’ll find a busy dairy plant making world-class dairy products, safely. Welcome to Blue River Dairy. This busy factory is home to a large team, constant product movement, storage areas, heavy transport, forklifts, and more. From product-laden trolleys to delivery trucks, and staff on foot to exposed office areas, there was no shortage of hazards on site. That’s where we came in. Our first recommendation was to install a full pedestrian safety zone, allowing office staff to move around the space while being protected from vehicle movement with our certified 910-2 Barrier. We also added personnel gates for access into high-traffic zones, ensuring pedestrians slowed and checked their surroundings. For the exposed office space, we recommended a similar zone using the same barrier style, keeping anyone working there well protected from passing forklifts and other vehicles. Needless to say, the team are thrilled that they can now navigate the space safely, supported by a well-engineered traffic plan that will keep them safe for years to come.
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Living the Dream Safely at Golden Bay Fruit
Golden Bay is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful spots in New Zealand, producing some of the best fruit in the world. Imagine living in this little slice of paradise, working in the sun, producing top-quality fruit, and doing it all safely. For the Golden Bay Fruit Company, that’s no dream; it’s their daily life. Business has been growing steadily over the years, and they needed to expand their infrastructure by building a large new packhouse. Considering the financial investment, the type of work that happens in these spaces, and the need to protect people and assets for the long term, safety protection was a top priority. That’s where we came in. Our 610-1 Barrier was the perfect choice for protection against side swipes from passing vehicles, while also creating a clear pedestrian walkway so staff on foot can feel safe moving around the plant. We also recommended our Personnel Gates to slow down pedestrian traffic at the main vehicle thoroughfares, giving peace of mind to drivers and those on foot. Then it was time to move from people protection to asset protection, looking after the newly installed industrial doors. Not only are these a high-value asset, but there is also the downtime for repairs and parts to consider. In some cases, our barrier or standard bollards provided ample protection from damage, but as some of these doors were exposed to larger vehicles, our Door Frame Bollards were the protection of choice — a full-framed approach to protection from the ground up. We’re very proud to have helped Golden Bay Fruit make this a safer space for their people and their facilities from the outset. After all, we want them living the dream, safely, for many years to come.
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A Prime Example of Safety at Prime Range Meats
Welcome to Prime Range Meats, a New Zealand-based supplier and processor of meats and small goods, delivering door-to-door around the country. Like many processing plants we’ve seen, the volume of traffic and pedestrians is increasing - and so are the associated risks. With door-to-door delivery and a high volume of meats being processed, the inwards and outwards goods are constantly moving on site. Trucks, forklifts, staff, site visitors, public shoppers at their retail store, and delivery drivers all make for constant activity. While there were designated heavy traffic areas on site, the deteriorating painted warnings weren’t cutting the mustard anymore. To avoid any kind of disaster, we worked alongside the Prime Range team to create clearly defined safety zones, installing our 910-2 barrier in the most hazardous spots. Combined with our personnel gates to ensure safe crossings in the shared zones, this made for a much safer site. With personnel safety now sorted, we also helped prevent damage to their facilities. We’ve all seen areas on site that are notorious for forklift bumps and scrapes, so we installed bollards at key corners and doorways, acting as both a visual reminder and a sturdy shield. If your site has a few forklift scrapes you’d like sorted, or you have high-traffic areas that need more than a fresh lick of paint, we’re happy to help. Chat to our team about making your workplace a safer one.
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