Choosing the right racking for your warehouse can often be a complex process due to the choices available and the variety of stock held, this makes finding the right solution a little tricky sometimes! The most common racking systems include, adjustable pallet racking (APR), mobile, live racking or flow racking, drive in/drive through, double deep and cantilever.
Your racking choice will depend on the type of application, cold stores and other stored products will guide the type of racking within your warehouse. It is quite often the case that you will require a mixture of racking methods because of the products you are storing. When deciding on the best possible racking solution you must always consider how handling equipment like forklifts will also affect the choice of racking and construction costs of a warehouse. We cannot forget that the height of a warehouse will affect the construction method for racking, automated warehouses will often go above 25 metres, meaning you should consider a clad-rack method, this means the racking is installed first and the walls are then affixed to the racking. This is a cheaper and more conventional construction technique.
It is important to consider how damage will affect your racking installation, it is worthwhile investing in column deflectors or protection posts to reduce damage, using rack net systems will control falls from height from poor loading and damaged pallets.
We often find that some businesses buy second-hand racking – and although this could be a cheaper alternative, we often have customers approaching us after the install as the used racking system just is not up to scratch and cannot be certified. This means the investment has actually been a lot higher than it could have been if a new racking system had been installed initially. It is often found that at least 25% of the used rack is unusable due to mismatched or missing parts, damaged by forklifts, disassembly and reassembly issues and improper use or over handling. These issues mean that installing the racking system takes much longer than it should and can cause huge delays which mean it has an impact on the business and shipping times. Another consideration is that making alterations to used racking can threaten the integrity of the structure if it is not installed to the rack makers instructions – changing beam levels, for example, can affect the loading capacity. As much as used racking can be a consideration it is important to weigh up the pros and cons of used and new racking installations and it is critical to ensure racking audits are completed by experienced engineers.
As part of your overall warehouse maintenance, racking maintenance should be one of your top priorities but we know this is hugely overlooked mainly because of the amount of racking accidents that occur every single year. By law every business should undertake due diligence which means regular annual rack audits, quick repairs and written procedures on layout changes – it is all very well having well-trained staff but if your racking is not maintained regularly, no amount of knowledge will stop an accident from happening.
Neglecting inspections means you are liable for the costs of a health and safety incident and incur costs for your systems being unsafe; as you will be responsible for everything from replacing stock, finding temporary storage, reduced productivity and legal proceedings as well as having to deal with managing your business’s reputation.
AT STS Storage we offer pallet racking and safety inspections, our inspectors are respected members of SEMA and have individual membership to the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).
