Guide to Warehouse Safety Products

Material Handling Safety Best Practices

According to a study published in 2011, occupational injuries and illness combined to cost the U.S. about $250 billion in 2007. While it’s now 11 years later and safety processes and products are always improving, it’s safe to say whatever the cost is now is still pretty high. Although regulatory agencies such as OSHA exist to make workplaces safer, it’s ultimately the responsibility of the company, its management, and its employees to actually cultivate warehouse safety.

Although it’s an essential part of responsible and productive warehouse operations, following warehouse safety best practices is sometimes easier said than done. There’s a lot to keep track of, and standards are always evolving. To stay on top of specific warehouse safety standards, there are excellent tools to bookmark, like OSHA’s Warehouse Safety Pocket Guide and the RMI Safety Blog, to name just two. Along with the specific safety standards set forth by organizations like OSHA and RMI, it’s also helpful to keep general guidelines and rules of thumb handy for reference.

In our now almost two decades as a material handling business, we’ve learned a lot about safety in warehouse storage and practical ways to make working with material handling equipment safer. As part of our overall goal to help you, the dealer, we’ve condensed and curated many of the safety topics we’ve learned and written about into a guide to warehouse storage safety. We hope it comes in handy when conducting a safety audit or making recommendations to a customer for how they can make their warehouse a safer place for their employees. 

Warehouse Safety: Pallet Racking

Pallet Rack Maintenance Plan

Unlike a roller coaster or a Boeing 747, pallet rack systems don’t have thousands of complex moving parts. But don’t let that fact lull you into thinking pallet racking is maintenance-free. Like any piece of heavy equipment, pallet rack systems need to be inspected, according to RMI, at least annually. It’s easy to overlook damage done by small collisions or the disrepair that can accumulate with years of use. Better to make pallet rack inspections a habit and not wait until the racking is compromised.

Pallet Rack Backing and Safety Netting

Storing heavy items several stories in the air doesn’t come without risk. That’s why pallet rack backing and safety netting are popular accident prevention tools in the modern warehouse. While rack backing and safety netting have some differences, both serve a common purpose: keeping inventory from falling off load beams.

Pallet Rack Capacity Labels

Pallet racking can hold a lot of weight, but it’s not indestructible. Overloading pallet rack is dangerous and should be avoided at all times. But if you’re a lift truck operator and your goal is to stay within your pallet rack’s capacity rating, you’ll first need to know what that rating is. That’s where capacity labels come in handy. If you’re the owner of the racking and don’t know what its capacity is, we recommend contacting the manufacturer of the racking to verify it.

End-of-Aisle Rack Protectors and Column Guards

Damaged pallet rack is often weakened pallet rack. RMI guidelines limit the acceptable “out-of-straight” ratio in an upright column to 1/2” per 10’ of column. Columns exceeding this limit are considered compromised and may pose a safety risk. One of the best ways to prevent damage to frames, aside from proper training and careful driving, is to install end-of-aisle protectors. End-of-aisle rack protectors act as bodyguards for frames. For frames not located at the end of an aisle, column guards are recommended.

Pallet Rack Safety Clips

Most modern pallet rack beams come with built-in safety clips that keep beams locked into upright frames. These clips are important because, without them, friction and the force of gravity would be the only things holding beams in place — no match for the upward force of a lift truck. For beams without built-in clips or beams whose clips are gone, we highly recommend installing pallet rack safety clips.

When to Replace Pallet Racking

If and when a frame becomes damaged, the decision will need to be made whether or not it needs to be replaced. If the frame exceeds the out-of-straight ratio of 1/2” per 10’, it will need to be addressed. We almost always recommend replacing the entire frame when this happens, as opposed to buying a repair kit for the damaged frame.

Pallet Rack Height-to-Depth Ratio

Per RMI standards, the height of a pallet rack system shouldn’t exceed 6 times its depth. In other words, a 36” deep frame shouldn’t be taller than 18’. Any taller than this and the application would need to be reviewed by the manufacturer’s engineer. Fortunately, most pallet racking available to end users falls within this ratio.