As helpful as pallet racks can be for your warehouse, there’s a lot of things that need to be kept in mind when designing and installing them into your facility – not the least of which are the daily safety concerns. There’s a lot of safety factors that go into pallet rack usage to protect your items, your facility, and your workers, and we’ve provided these tips to help you get started:

Ensure Proper Installation

Pallet rack safety begins at time of installation, and making sure the installation is completed correctly and thoroughly is the perfect way to get off to a good start when it comes to safety. Ensure all the beams of the rack are correctly mounted to the floor (and each other), make sure it’s designed to the proper specifications of whatever items it will be holding, and double-check to make sure it’s being installed on a level surface to prevent accidents or falling debris.

Make Sure Loads Are Properly Placed And Managed

The next step when it comes to safety is to make sure the racks are being used properly, and a huge part of that is making sure loads are stabilized and balanced before being placed in the racking system. Install wire decking on your pallets to help balance the loads, and train your staff to make sure that any items being placed on the pallets are properly tied and secured to prevent unwanted movement, damage, or injury.

Install Safety Measures On The Pallets

In addition to the appropriate training and safety steps, safety measures can be installed on the pallets themselves to help increase product and worker safety. Pallet safety guard panels can be installed to cover the length of the rack to help keep items from falling down to the floor – or worse, injuring someone in the process.

Keep The Area Clean And Well-Lit

As simple as it sounds, proper housekeeping can do worlds for pallet safety. Keeping the area clean and free of obstruction will prevent any typical workplace accidents, which can be further minimized by following the rest of our tips and making sure the pallets aren’t at risk for injuring a worker or damaging a product. Proper industrial lighting can help too, making sure visibility is maintained wherever the pallet is installed.

Every warehouse is different and every facility will have different requirements, but these general tips should give you a good starting place to help maintain proper pallet usage and ensure safety for your workers and items.