Once the decision has been made to purchase steel lockers, it’s often a daunting task to choose which type of locker is the right one for your storage solution.  There are very few schools, workplaces, gyms and changing environments in the UK which don’t benefit from the addition of having storage lockers for the safe storage of personal effects, clothing or IT equipment.

Whether it’s school lockers or work lockers there is a vast selection of sizes and finishes to choose from.  So how do you go about choosing the right locker?  Here at 3D Lockers we’ve put together our 5 simple steps for choosing steel lockers as well as some other options you may not automatically have thought of.

1.       Who are you providing lockers for?

Firstly consider your users.  Is the locker going to be used by an adult in the workplace or a child at school?  If it’s for adults the height of the locker would be ideal at 1800mm high.  The lockers can then be split down into smaller individual compartments.  If it’s for school children or a disabled person then three quarter height or half height lockers are a better option so they are able to fully access the compartments and locking mechanisms.

2.       What will be stored within the lockers?

Deciding what the locker will be used for and what will be stored within the locker, will quickly tell you how large or small each individual compartment or locker needs to be.  You also need to consider the size of the compartment from left to right along with the depth of the locker.  Here at 3D Lockers we are able to offer a range of sizes, widths and depths of lockers.  If you are choosing a steel locker for the storage of mobile phones or personal effects, then only a small locker would be required.  Our range of mobile phone lockers or personal effects lockers are the ideal size for storing small items.  School children often need to carry books and bags so a two tier or three tier locker would be more appropriate.  For workplace and clothes storage where hanging is required, a single door locker would be ideal.  Also consider the space available in your changing room or school corridor as well as the location of the lockers in order reduce the impact of creating bottle necks in heavy user areas.

3.       Quantity of locker units required?

If you are requiring a larger number of lockers, then a more economical way of purchasing lockers is to buy lockers in nested units rather than individual units.  Lockers can be in nests of 1, 2 or 3 meaning they are joined together side by side during manufacture.  The lockers have common sides thus saving on material costs and also installation costs.  However, the nested metal lockers cannot be spilt up at a later date so you need to be sure that the locker configuration is unlikely to change.

4.       Quality of steel lockers?

There are lots of steel lockers in the market place to choose from, so how do you know which is the best quality of steel lockers?  Our quality steel lockers are all manufactured in the UK to BS 4680 which is the BSI quality assured standard for lockers.  BioCote antimicrobial technology is also incorporated into all our lockers at the time of manufacture offering a constant protection against a wide range of bacteria.  Our standard metal lockers are suitable for the vast majority of applications, including workplace and schools.  However when extra strong steel lockers are required then we are able to offer our heavy gauge strong hold steel lockers with double skin doors to guard against leverage and impact.  We were contacted by Bishops Blue Coat High School recently who wanted steel lockers which would be much more durable and had reinforced doors.  Our Stronghold lockers were selected. See our Case Study

5.        Selecting the lock and accessories

Most steel lockers are fitted with either standard camlocks complete with 2 keys or a hasp and staple latch lock for use with a padlock.  These are a no cost option for all our metal lockers. However, we are also able to offer other locking options if required.  These typically could include coin return locks, coin retain locks, magnetic latch locks or combination locks.  Other accessories to consider are sloping tops for the prevention of litter being left on top of lockers, metal stands which raise the locker unit off the floor for ease of cleaning access, combined seating and stands, as well as changing room benches such as island benches and seating.

For further information or to discuss your steel lockers requirement in more detail, please telephone 01924 240291  or visit our website at www.3dlockers.co.uk  where you’ll find the company’s selection of lockers available to order online or by telephone.