Safety: Maintaining Safe Pallet Racks

Maintaining safe pallet racks as part of the industrial shelving components is imperative to the safe storage and handling of materials in your warehouse of manufacturing facility. However, safety often gets put in the back burner and, as a result, damaged pallet rack can create complications in your work space and injury and liabilities for your business.

Ensuring Safe Pallet Racks

To ensue that your pallet rack is not damaged, make sure that working loads are at safe level at times. Pallet racks generally are designed to hold the specific weight and size of the products stored. Never overload or exceed the recommended load specifications for a pallet rack system. Place signs that show load limits for the racking prominently throughout the warehouse.

Also, report any forklift accidents, collisions, dropped or misplaced loads, and any other incidents that resulted in pallet rack damage. When an incident occurs, immediately report it and check the integrity of the rack system. Upright frames showing significant damage must be pulled from the floor immediately to prevent collapse and injury to warehouse personnel.

Regular Maintenance Tips

Have your storage rack routinely inspected for integrity and safety. Regular inspection of racking should be conducted by both in-house personnel and by independent auditors to check rack integrity and identify potential safety problems, such as a damaged pallet rack. In order maintain and preserve the safety of the rack system, you must regularly audit your pallet racking. A proper audit should focus on these key areas:

1. Check that loads conform to the design of the rack and that signs are posted to remind personnel of safe working loads.
2. Check for upright damage: are footplates, braces, and anchor damage free?
3. Check your beams: Are beams overloaded? Are beams damaged? Are beam connector safety clips missing? Are all beam rivets properly affixed to the upright?

Making Safety Our Priority 

Making sure that you and your personnel are working with safe industrial shelving solutions must be a priority. Contact the experienced rack professionals at HD Shelving today to schedule regular inspections of your pallet racks for damage and potential safety hazards.