Improve loading dock safety by controlling three risks: the trailer moving while forklifts work in it, forklifts and people crossing at the dock face, and falls from open dock edges. Secure trailers with wheel chocks or a vehicle restraint and set brakes before any forklift enters. Keep dock doors closed or guarded when no trailer is present, and inspect dockboards. Separate dock walkers from forklift lanes, and add lights or detection that warn when a person is in the work zone. Interlocks that tie door opening to trailer restraint reduce the chance that a step is skipped.
The full guide is loading dock forklift safety. OSHA 1910.178 requires highway truck brakes to be set and wheel chocks placed under the rear wheels before a forklift boards, and 1910.26 covers dockboards.
Beyond those rules, check the trailer floor before entry, use fixed jacks under semitrailers not coupled to a tractor, and give drivers a safe waiting area away from the dock face. Signal lights inside and outside the door make restraint status visible to both the forklift operator and the truck driver. Shipping and receiving pedestrian safety covers people on foot at the dock.