Proper rack safety

Proper rack safety begins with the original design and installation of the uprights and beams, but it shouldn’t end there. Proper handling practices are equally important to ensuring rack safety.

Sara Pearson Specter, Editor at Large -- Modern Materials Handling, 3/6/2008 10:36:00 AM

With the majority of structural failures resulting from a lift truck collision or through misuse and overloading, facilities should establish an ongoing safety mindset, suggests John Nofsinger, managing director of the Rack Manufacturer’s Institute (RMI, 704-676-1190.

“The two main rack safety points are the proper initial design of the structure so it doesn’t collapse, and proper training of personnel to ensure a clear understanding of the structure’s operational characteristics,” he says. RMI also offers several resources for specifying, designing, testing and using rack on their Web site, Nofsinger notes.

It’s the corners and ends of the rack aisles that are most susceptible to a direct lift truck hit, explains Donald Heemstra, director of marketing for Steel King. In addition to training forklift operators to avoid impacts, a variety of protective devices should be evaluated, he says.

These devices include:

• guarding placed one to two feet in front of the rack ends,
• reinforcing cores for uprights to increase their collision resistance, and
• column protectors attached to the uprights to deflect impacts.

Other rack accidents occur when the structures are not properly bolted to the floor or when unsecured boltless beams are dislodged. Improper loading, either by exceeding capacity constraints or not placing the palletload squarely on the decking—causing it either to tip off the front or back of the rack, or to push another pallet off adjacent rack in a double-deep situation—are also issues that can be resolved by training and guards or netting.

“Storage rack that is damaged should be immediately unloaded and prevented from being loaded until it is repaired or replaced,” stresses Dan Clapp, director of engineering for Frazier Industrial. He adds, “pallets are part of the support structure of the product, and should receive the same inspection and have the same quality standards as the racking structure.” Use pallets sized appropriately for the loads they handle, and do not use a damaged or broken pallet.

Also potentially affecting rack integrity are earthquakes. While unpredictable, they can be planned for. “Seismic Considerations for Steel Storage Racks,” guidelines specific to the use of racking in areas vulnerable to seismic activity, is available from the Building Seismic Safety Council.