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Safety Tactics to Reduce Rack Damage in Your Warehouse

January 17, 2022

If you’re running a warehouse, you know how important it is to keep your equipment as well as employees safe. Damaged pallet racks can waste precious time and affect your business’s finances. There are several simple tactics that you can take to protect your pallet racks, and in doing so, your employees as well. In this article, we’ll go through a few of the most important things to remember for pallet rack safety.

Inspections

Pallet racks should always be inspected by a qualified professional and checked for that they are the right load-bearing weight. Although this doesn’t protect against accidents in the warehouse, it does protect against damage as the inspector will notice if something is amiss and needs to be changed out. When dealing with the safety of your pallet racks, it's always best to be ahead of the problem. It’s important to always look for minor dents and other small damage due to forklift collisions or overall wear and tear. By doing this you’ll be able to correct any minor issues to prevent costly maintenances down the road. This is especially important after any accidents with forklifts or bulky warehouse carts.

Employee Training

Investing time and money to properly training for employees is important not just for their safety but the safety of your inventory. Having the proper procedures in place for lifting and moving inventory, backing away from, and moving towards pallet racks, as well as setting speed limits for drivers can help keep your warehouse moving efficiently while avoiding any damage to your racks.

Pallet Rack Setup

Your warehouse should always be as organized as possible, without anything to encumber the driver while they move through the aisles. The isles should be wide enough to fit a forklift or pallet jack so that they can move through the space comfortably. Not only does this help your employees feel comfortable in their positions but it will also help to avoid damage.

Investing In The Right Pallet Rack Accessories

Although pallet rack systems are effective structures in supporting inventory loads, they are not strong enough to withstand the impact of forklifts. However, there is a myriad of accessories that are designed for pallet rack protection such as pallet rack decking, which helps to keep the crossbeams secure and stable as you store your inventory on, and wall ties, row spacers, and column protectors, which keep minor accidents and bumps from creating severe damage. Pallet supports, pallet rack netting, and pallet rack dividers help to keep inventory organized and in its intended place. Although often we don’t want to spend additional money upfront when managing a warehouse but in the long run, you’ll save because you’ve kept your inventory and pallet racks secure. This will make sure that you avoid the high cost of fixing even a single collapsed section of pallet rack.

Sporadic Checks

When operating a warehouse, you want to have tactics in place to ensure that the best practices and producers are always followed. While some warehouse owners and managers decide that installing cameras and monitoring systems works best for the safety of their business, others leave a box for anonymous reports for accidents. Whatever one decides on, employees must know that their work is noticed and their dedication to safety is rewarded.

When these safety tactics are followed, it protects your warehouse from the hassle and cost of fixing damaged pallet racks, which in the end aids in growing your business’s efficiency and bottom line. So don’t wait and get in contact with American Surplus today. Our knowledgeable team of sales associates will be able to help you in identifying your pallet racking needs.