In any workplace, safety is of the highest importance, and that’s even more so in any industrial workplace. At Colby Dandenong, we’re mainly concerned with warehouse safety, but of course we appreciate safety issues in factories and other workplaces as well.
One of the biggest issues in warehouse safety is keeping pallet racking safe. After all, one of the major components of a warehouse is its pallet racking and its industrial shelving. Pallet racking is needed in warehousing situations, but it can also pose a significant safety risk if not properly handled. So let’s explore a few ways you can keep your pallet racking safe for your warehouse workers and your business.
Adhere To The Australian Standard
Pallet racking is covered by the Australian Standard AS4084-2023 Steel Storage Racking. This standard is regularly updated and deals with the design, installation, and operation of pallet racking.
The first thing you should do to keep your pallet racking safe is to make sure you adhere to AS4084-2023. The rest of the advice in this article on keeping pallet racking safe comes either directly or indirectly from AS4084-2023, but anybody using pallet racking should familiarise themselves with it as well as consult an expert about any questions they may have about AS4084-2023.
Have Your Racking Professionally Installed
As mentioned, AS4084-2023 isn’t just involved in the design and operation of pallet racking, it’s also involved in the installation of pallet racking. Racking that is installed properly also has the required signage on it indicating safe loads for the racking, and a professional installer can supply the correct signage as required by the Australian Standard.
While it may be tempting to try and save money by installing pallet racking yourself or through a general tradesperson, a professional racking installer will ensure it’s compliant with the Australian Standard and, more importantly, safe.
Inspect Your Pallet Racking Regularly
AS4084-2023 requires professional pallet racking safety inspections be conducted every 12 months. These inspections will look for things like the condition of the frames, overloaded beams, damage, and the condition of anchor bolts. Consider the yearly safety inspections the minimum you should be doing for pallet racking safety. Ideally someone responsible should be conducting a weekly visual inspection of the pallet racking to check for obvious signs of danger or damage. This could be the responsibility of the warehouse manager to do every Monday morning, for example.
Be sure to log the results of each visual inspection and keep your the records.
How To Keep Your Pallet Racking Safe
After purchasing new pallet racking, it’s understandable that a business wouldn’t want the additional financial outlay of racking protection, but it’s an important part of pallet racking safety. We’ve seen businesses decide not to purchase racking protection and live to regret it. AS4084-2023 suggests pallet racking protection for any area that is at risk of collision with forklifts or other vehicles and, while it’s not a requirement, racking protection should be used.
If you’re concerned about the cost of racking protection, consider the cost of replacing the racking if a forklift drives into by mistake. Even the best warehouse workers have accidents from time to time, so get racking protection.
Use The Right Materials Handling Equipment And Keep It Maintained
Speaking of materials handling equipment (MHE) like forklifts, make sure it’s well maintained. This will make sure it’s less likely to malfunction and cause and accident that involves the pallet racking. Also, to keep your MHE in the best condition, make sure your racking fits your MHE and you’re only using your MHE for the correct purpose. For example, make sure any drive in pallet racking has the right spacing for the forklift being used. This may sound obvious, but people cut corners and that leads to accidents.
Don’t Overload Your Pallet Racking
This may sound like another obvious one, but it happens from people cutting corners or as a “just once” occurrence when a large shipment comes in. Overloaded pallet racking is at risk of collapse. Minimally, collapsed pallet racking means it and the inventory on it needs to be replacement, but the worst thing that could happen is injury or even death of a warehouse worker. Overloaded pallet racking simply isn’t worth the risk, so don’t get into the habit of it, even if it’s only temporary.
Source Racking From A Trusted Supplier
Hopefully this goes without saying, but you should only buy pallet packing from a trusted supplier and ensure that it’s from a trusted brand like Colby. Colby pallet racking and shelving is made in Australian from Australian steel made by Bluescope. This means you know racking products from Colby will be of the highest quality and can be easily tracked back to their source.
Stay Safe Around Your Pallet Racking
Ultimately, everybody deserves to be safe at work, and a basic way of doing that is ensuring the premises itself is safe. In a warehouse situation, this means that the pallet racking is installed properly and well maintained. While it may not be possible to get safety risks to zero, this should still be the goal in any industrial setting. If you have questions about the safety of your pallet racking, feel free to get in touch to speak to an expert.
