The short answer
Plan the layout before anyone paints: map how forklifts and people move, separate them where you can, define aisles, walkways, storage and staging areas, mark what must stay clear, choose one color scheme and use it everywhere. Then apply the lines in epoxy or a traffic coating over a prepared surface, ideally as the last step of a new floor or in sections outside operating hours.
Step 1: map the flow
Walk the building with the people who use it. Where do trucks unload? Where does product go next? Where do forklifts turn, and where do people cross? A layout drawn on the building plan, with the real routes on top, shows where lanes and crossings belong.
Step 2: separate people and vehicles
Wherever possible, give pedestrians their own walkway, marked clearly, with defined crossing points. The most common layout problem is a walkway that stops where people actually need to go.
Step 3: define aisles and zones
- Forklift aisles wide enough for the equipment and turns you use.
- Storage areas and rack lines, so pallets stay out of the aisles.
- Staging and loading zones near the docks.
- Work cells and equipment areas.
Step 4: mark what must stay clear
Electrical panels, fire extinguishers and hose stations, eyewash stations, exits and doors. OSHA requires permanent aisles and passageways to be kept clear and appropriately marked, and keep-clear boxes in front of equipment make that visible.
Step 5: choose one color scheme
OSHA’s safety color code uses red for fire protection equipment and danger and yellow for caution. For the rest, most facilities follow an industry convention: yellow for aisles and traffic lanes, white for equipment and fixtures, green for materials and finished goods, blue for raw materials or work in progress, and red for defects or scrap. Write the scheme down and train people on it. We cover the colors on our floor line marking page.
Step 6: choose the material
Tape works for temporary layouts but lifts under forklifts. Lines in epoxy or a traffic coating are bonded to the floor and last much longer. Epoxy suits interior floors; traffic coatings suit parking and wet areas.
Step 7: schedule the work
On an existing floor, the areas where lines go are prepared first. On a new epoxy or polished concrete floor, the lines go on as the last step, so there is only one shutdown. Either way, the work can be done in sections and outside operating hours.
Next step
Send us the building plan or photos and tell us how the space works. We lay out the lines with you and give you a written quote. See floor line marking and commercial epoxy flooring.
