Five pallet racking safety tips to protect your pallet racking

Five core pallet racking safety recommendations

Correct installation of racking

The best way to ensure your racking is installed correctly is to work with a pallet racking installation professional. While you may save a little money by installing pallet racking yourself, you can avoid some major accidents and headaches and save a lot of time by working with a professional.

Know and post your pallet rack capacity limits 

Pallet rack capacity may vary depending on the quality and gauge of the steel, vertical beam spacing, beam length, upright frame capacity, and pallet load weight and size. All pallet racking systems have manufacturer's maximum design load capacities.

Exceeding these limits may trigger a crash. When you clearly post the maximum capacity of each pallet or beam level, your warehouse staff will know how much weight the system can safely handle.

Sometimes, when a warehouse expands, it may be tempting to modify pallet racking to handle the expansion. However, these changes can exceed the initial safety design limits and eventually lead to rack failure.

Schedule regular inspections 

By regularly inspecting your pallet rack, you can spot minor damage that could turn into a major problem down the road. Signs of potential concern include

● Deflected beams

● Frame dents or scuffs

● Missing safety pins

● Bent beam connectors

● Bent rows or incorrect alignment

● Bent or buckled uprights

● Rust spots

● Loose base plates or connectors

Racks may begin to tilt due to uneven loads, improper installation and forklift impacts. This tilt can worsen over time, reducing the load capacity of the racking to reduce and possibly cause collapse.

Repair or replace any damaged racks 

If you notice obvious signs of damage, you need to make the necessary repairs or replacements as soon as possible. While it's tempting to take a wait-and-see attitude, you must put safety first. Even minor dents and dings can be a sign of a possible collapse.

In addition to inspecting the rack by eye, you can use tools such as a long level, lead hammer or laser wire to determine if the column is tilted, bent or buckled. You can fix a tilt by removing the rack, loosening the post bolts to straighten them, and then retightening the bolts.

Of course, repairs are often cheaper and have less impact on your business. But sometimes the damage is so great that the rack needs to be replaced. When faced with replacement costs, it's important to remember that the potential cost of a collapsed rack is much higher. 

Focus on employee training

Forklifts are an important part of most warehouse operations, but this machine can cause up to 90% of pallet damage. Therefore, forklift safety should be a major focus of your employee training.

Train forklift operators on the proper pallet load capacity and how to distribute the load evenly and drive carefully throughout the warehouse. Require drivers to report any accidents in a timely manner to assure them that safety is your primary concern.

Ask supervisors to help reduce accidents through frequent walk-throughs and video surveillance to ensure compliance with speed limits and safety rules.

While forklift operators are the key to pallet rack safety, all employees should be trained on basic measures for reporting rack damage and overall warehouse safety. And emphasize to your team that only employees who are fully trained in forklift operation should drive these vehicles.

If you have any questions about pallet racking safety and how to make your warehouse environment safer, contact the experts at Spieth. We are ready to help you design an efficient, economical and safe pallet racking system.

Further Reading:

Six tips for effective warehouse organization

Four Common Warehouse Management Mistakes

Introduction to the benefits of mezzanine floors

Reasons for storing lumber on cantilevered racks

Six Cost-Effective and Secure Warehouse Storage Solutions