9 useful tips on Preventing Pallet Racking Damage
Photo by Ruchindra Gunasekara on Unsplash
Warehouses and distribution centres can be chaotic, manic places. Pallet racks are frequently subject to abuse. They can be overloaded, hit by heavy forklifts, misloaded, and otherwise impacted. So it’s essential you have good damage prevention practices in place to avoid employee injury and product loss.
Forklift vs Pallet Rack
Even the best driver occasionally has a collision, and in the battle of forklift vs pallet rack, the safe money is on the forklift winning every time. Rack collapse is rare, but the structural integrity of the rack can be diminished, laying the foundation for future failure. Fortunately, a lot can be done to prevent these accidents and minimise the damages when they occur. Here are 9 useful, easy tips to help you avoid the danger, frustration and expense of pallet rack damage.
Train, follow up and then train some more
Driver training should always be at the top of your list. Do your forklift drivers know the right procedures for backing away from racks (and toward the opposite row)? Do they observe speed limits and widen turns near racks? Driver training is an ongoing process, and management must buy in for it to be effective. Drivers should also receive training in the racking system and the maintenance, characteristics, and operational limits of their forklift. Given the cost, inconvenience and danger of a single rack collapse, the time and effort spent on drivers is worth it. Treat them more as skilled workers than general warehouse hands and it will pay dividends.
Rack loading
Racks should be properly labelled with clearly defined load tolerances. Drivers should be properly trained to balance and stack loads on the rack, keeping weight centred. Heavier loads should be placed on the lower rack levels.
Rack inspection
Pallet racks suffer constant wear and tear. Collision with forklifts, improper loading, being climbed on by workers and normal use all put stress on the racks. Trained personnel should inspect racks regularly for structural integrity, damaged uprights, missing bolts, corrosion, row alignment, overloading and floor condition and level.
Replacement and repair
Continued use of a structurally damaged rack could lead to failure, which would result in greater cost than fixing the problem. In many cases, repairs are much cheaper and involve less down time than rack replacement. If damage has occurred, it should be repaired immediately by a qualified contractor.
Clean your House
Clutter can contribute significantly to rack damage because it limits the manoeuvrability of forklifts in an already confined space. Pallets stacked in aisles, pallet jacks left in front of bays and other obstructions endanger rack by reducing visibility and limiting a driver’s options. Will a driver swerve to miss an obstruction and then swipe a rack? See what can happen here:
Optimise lighting and visibility
The more a driver can see, the more safely they can do their job. Rack aisles throw more shadows and are naturally darker than open floor space. Good lighting allows a driver to safely negotiate the aisle and have a good view of the racking. It also keeps them sharper.
In addition, wide-angle convex mirrors mounted on the forklift and at the ends of aisles give forklift drivers an increased ability to observe their surroundings, greatly reducing the opportunity for accidents.
Widen your aisles
One of the major issues with pallet racking is the width of the aisle. It’s understandable companies want to maximise limited space, but this can be incredibly counterproductive if aisles are too narrow. While reconfiguring a series of rack aisles is painful and can be time consuming, consider the cost of a single rack collapse due to insufficiently wide aisles. Refer to your forklift manufacturer documentation for recommended aisle widths. Aisles should also be free of clutter. Stacks of pallets in the aisle only increase the likelihood of an accident.
Watch the corners
Racking is often damaged at the lower five feet (1.5m) when it’s hit at the end of a row. This happens because forklift operators turn into the bottom of the racking systems as they round a corner while emerging from or entering an aisle. As well as consistent training, you can help prevent this type of damage if you install bollards, end-of-aisle guard railing or other protective systems that make sure drivers give themselves enough turning space.
Watch speed limits
Obvious posting of speed limits, ongoing driver training and general warehouse safety practices are a good way to keep employees aware and mindful of speed limits.
Avoid those avoidable accidents
Warehouses are busy and hazardous places and accidents will happen. However, with careful planning, employee training, properly maintained equipment and a culture of safety many accidents, damage to your pallet racking, disruption to your business (and the associated unnecessary cost) can be avoided. As the old saying goes, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
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