Occupational Health and Safety regulations are continually applying more responsibility to business owners and management to carry out self-assessment of the safety risks in their workplace.
One safety aspect of warehouses that is commonly neglected is inspection of pallet racking. Faulty or damaged pallet racking can result in serious accidents affecting property and people. The Australian Standard stresses the importance of ensuring that pallet racking installations continue to be both serviceable and safe.
The main safety hazards that require attention are:
- Physical damage to pallet racking
- Misalignment of racking
- Looseness of floor fittings
- Weight of stored goods versus capacity of racking system.
Everyone should be serious about the importance of rack safety, especially when expensive capital damage; personal injury or potential loss of people’s lives could be at stake, said Managing Director of Storage Ideas, Robert Burke.
His commitment to the welfare and safety of his clients has led Storage Ideas to being the leading provider of periodic rack safety inspections that alert management to potential safety hazards. Robert Burke has even set up a specialist team, headed by his Service Manager, Mr. Joe Watchorn, to focus primarily on the safety requirements of clients’ pallet racking.
“Prevention is always better than the cure”, advises Mr. Burke, “periodic, rack safety audits should be a critical component of every warehouse’s planning and operations.”
Storage Ideas adheres to an industry rack safety inspection methodology that also acts as a communication tool for Warehouse Operations staff, Occupational Health & Safety committees, and senior management.
“There are many critical factors involved in a Visual Rack Safety Audit, ranging from pallet rack signage, the way storage equipment is used, to the actual inspection and then rectification of the damage reported”, added Mr. Watchorn.