Finding ways to enhance safety for employees is always a smart business decision, but particularly for companies in the material handling industry, where injuries can be very serious. For warehouses that utilize pallet racking, there are measures that can be taken to help improve safety aspects for employees that work around the storage system and better maintain an overall safer work environment.

Always Follow Racking System Load Capacity Guidelines

The load capacity for each bay on your pallet rack system should always be easily visible on the system so that you can ensure you don’t exceed the weight guidelines. By storing more in a storage bay than the pallet racking system is designed to handle, you seriously compromise the structural integrity of the overall system, which could put employees who work around the system at risk of injury, cause severe damage to the system, and lead to harm for the goods being stored. Always make sure that you are well aware of the load capacity guidelines and use extreme caution when loading pallets to be store on the system, making sure that you don’t inadvertently place too much weight in a storage bay.

Routinely Inspect Your Storage System

Taking the time to have your pallet rack system inspected on a regular basis can enable you to identify small problems with the structure before they become larger issues. It is a practice that not only can help you potentially save money – as a result of damage to the system or goods that are stored – but it can also prevent accidents from happening. Pallet rack inspections should always be conducted by racking experts who are trained to know exactly what to look for. However, that shouldn’t prevent you from walking around the system to look for things that are amiss, such as rust, corrosion, cracks, and dents. If you ever feel that a portion of the pallet rack system needs to be repaired or replaced, the maintenance should always be performed by trained personnel to ensure the work is done properly.

Make Sure Plenty of Room for Forklifts to Operate

Facilities that utilize pallet racking systems will undoubtedly also use industrial forklifts to load and unload goods. These vehicles require ample room to operate safely, and it is extremely important that when formulating the pallet rack design that enough space is left for forklifts to maneuver. If the space is limited, even highly trained forklift operators could have trouble navigating safely around the system, and that can cause the lift trucks to come into contact with the pallet racking. A forklift coming into contact with pallet racking can compromise the structural stability of the overall system, forcing you to make costly repairs, and perhaps even footing a bill to replace a portion of the system entirely.

Continually Educate Your Employees on Safe Work Practices

Every employee should be properly trained on how to work safely in every area of the facility in which they will conduct business, as well as receive training on all equipment they may use during their day-to-day duties. It is important to remember, though, that safety training should be a continuous process. Setting up routine safety seminars is always a good idea, as is promoting to your employees that they should keep an eye out for and alert upper management of any unsafe work practices being performed.

Charlie O\’Brien is a professional writer specializing in the material handling industry. His writing focuses on new and used pallet rack, cantilever rack, and other industrial shelving, and his work has been featured on multiple material handling industry websites.

Charlie O\’Brien is a professional writer specializing in the material handling industry. His writing focuses on new and used pallet rack, cantilever rack, and other industrial shelving, and his work has been featured on multiple material handling industry websites. http://www.aceshelf.com/

Author Bio: Charlie O\’Brien is a professional writer specializing in the material handling industry. His writing focuses on new and used pallet rack, cantilever rack, and other industrial shelving, and his work has been featured on multiple material handling industry websites.

Category: Business Management
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