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Tom Wagner, a regional manager
with New Jersey-based storage solutions provider Unex Manufacturing.
Industrial steel storage racks are
designed to last for years if properly
installed and maintained, he says.
“It’s hard to damage them through
normal wear and tear,” Wagner
explains. “If it’s not getting hit, it’s
not going to wear out like a piece of
machinery would. Abuse and misuse
is where the need [to] replace and
repair comes in.”
In addition to developing a sen-
sible layout and making sure the
equipment is properly installed,
Wagner emphasizes the need for regular
monitoring for rack damage and ensuring
that safety devices, such as pins and bolts
that reinforce connection points, are in
place and secured.
“So many places you go in, those are
missing or gone,” he explains, adding
that such items cost little to replace when
compared with the cost of product loss
or worker injury due to a rack collapse,
which can be catastrophic.
“It looks like dominoes when it goes,”
Wagner says of a rack failure.
GUIDELINES FOR INSPECTION
Storage racks should be inspected at least
once a year, Clapp and others say—and
possibly more frequently, depending
on how quickly the inventory is turned.
Continuous observation and assessment
should be a part of every maintenance plan
as well. Experts say warehouse employees
should be on the lookout for damage
as well as wear and tear when working
around storage racks, and forklift drivers
should report any impacts right away.
Thomas Gibbs, founder of Bolingbrook,
Ill.-based independent pallet rack inspec-
tion company United Rack Services,
agrees.
“The more the product is cycled, the
more often [racking] should be inspect-
ed,” explains Gibbs, whose company con-
ducts storage rack safety inspections and
training at warehouses throughout North
America. “An archival storage facility,
for example, where they put [product]
into the racking and hardly ever pull it,
will require [less-frequent inspections].
But a grocery distributor, where they are
constantly turning over product, should
[inspect its racks] more often.”
That’s because more-frequent use can
increase wear and tear, and lead to more
accidents, especially fork truck collisions.
Harsh environments, such as pallet or
storage racking inside a freezer, can also
shorten service life and create the need
for more frequent inspections. As part
of the inspection process, experts such as
Gibbs will assess the general condition of
the racking and look for any damage or
weakness to the structure. They will make
sure the structures are anchored properly,
that safety locks are in place, and that no
