How to Prevent Industrial Pallet Rack from Damage?

Pallet racks are essential and most widely used across every industry, especially in warehouses and distribution centers where streamlined product storage and space-saving becomes a necessity. Distribution centers and warehouses are also the places where accidents are bound to happen due to mishandling of pallet racks while maneuvering heavy loads and heavy equipment. Thus, it is important to have damage prevention practices that ensure employee safety and minimize loss. Safety is always a high priority when it comes to protecting your pallet racks. If these racks are excessively loaded or not properly maintained then they may collapse and cause damage to workers' life, as well as property. This post discusses some essential tips that can prevent pallet racks damage.

8 Simple Tips on Pallet Rack Damage Prevention

With the help of the following simple tips, you can easily prevent pallet rack damage.

• Select Appropriate Racks: The pallet racks are available in various configurations and designs such as drive-through racks, push back, and flow racks. You need to choose an appropriate racking system as per your requirement. An accurate understanding of various rack system designs and your load requirements will help to meet industry safety standards. Selection of pallet racks depends on various factors such as a number of units to store on the rack, installation area, and material handling method. In addition to this, you need to consider the fastest turnaround time of the product or how frequently you need to take it off the shelf brackets.


• Provide Proper Space: Space planning is one key aspect of safe racking system. Your distribution center provides space for workers to maneuver heavy equipment or heavy load units from one to another space. However, that is not enough, you need to place these pallet racks such that they are at safe distance from each other. Also, you need to train your worker on how to keep corridor ways or aisle free of unnecessary units.


• Ensure the Aisles Have Proper Width: At many workplaces, material handling equipment such as forklifts, trolleys, and trucks are used on a regular basis for moving materials. Cluttered aisles can be a big problem in such situations, as they may increase the possibilities of accidents. It is important to ensure that the aisles possess ample width to ensure maneuverability of these devices.


• Use Safety Guards: When it comes to storage rack safety, then this aspect plays an important role. Pallet rack guard panels are helpful in protecting workers, as well as your inventory. Installing safety guard is one economical way to avoid dangerous and costly damage. Once safety guards are installed, don’t forget to train or guide your worker on how to use them in an emergency.


• Ensure Adequate Lighting: Warehouses or other storage areas should be equipped with proper lighting solutions. They not only make the warehouse safer but also help in reducing the number of accidents. Additionally, appropriate lighting helps raise and maintain the concentration of workers, which results in a huge positive impact on their productivity. Adequate lighting in the warehouse is also important for forklift operators. These lighting solutions allow them to safely drive through the walkways. With these lighting solutions, the drive can easily observe their surroundings and at the same time avoid unnecessary mishaps.


• Conduct Regular Inspections for Damage: The pallet racks bear lots of wear and tear, not just forklift damage. The various causes of pallet rack damage include improper loading, faulty equipment or some error, the weight of the items being stored and so on. Thus, it is very important to inspect your rack and attached safety guard panel on a regular basis. Also, repair them as needed. The frequent inspection helps identify the potential damage before it becomes a major issue. A few things to be taken care of are loose hooks and bolts, corrosion or rust on mounts and posts, loose mounting holes, damaged beams, and so on. If you repair as soon as the issue is noticed then it may be easy, however, if the components are structurally damaged beyond the repair then replacement is the only option.


• Set Speed Limits for Maneuverable Equipment: Forklift instabilities is one of the common causes of accidents in workplaces. There are chances that forklifts may overturn when the driver applies brakes suddenly. Due to this, it becomes important to set speed limits while operating the forklifts. The maximum speed for forklifts may vary based on various environmental conditions such as the flow of pedestrians, poorly lit areas, and so on.


• Devise an Appropriate Usage and Training Program: Workers’ training should always be a priority for the warehouse owner. This is one of the easy ways to prevent pallet rack damage. During the training program, train them on how to safely load, balance, and remove the units from the storage racks. By offering a helpful training program, workers will perform the task with ease. Workers should also receive training in the racking system maintenance, as well as operational limits of the forklift used.

All the outlined tips play an important role in the prevention of pallet racks damage. Also, these tips should help lengthen the lifespan of your storage racks. Still, you have concerned about pallet racks safety hazards? Feel free to contact SPS Ideal Solution. The company is one of the leading suppliers of industrial storage racks. The experts at the company will also assist you in the right selection of pallet racks.

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