Any tool or equipment wears down over time; this is true for pallet racking as much as it is any other piece of equipment. Worn pallet racking is dangerous and can lead to damaged products and injuries in the workplace. That’s why you need to run frequent and regular inspections to find any damage to your racking before anyone gets hurt. To help you perform an inspection, here’s a guide on how to inspect your pallet racks properly.
Clear the Area
The first thing you need to do is clear up any items or obstacles in the way of your racking. This includes anything that blocks pathways or access to the actual shelving. These obstacles can, at best, lead to inefficiency and, at worst, injure someone.
Checklist the Parts
The next thing you’ll need to do is organize a checklist of every part of your racking. That way, you won’t miss a part in your inspection. A standard list would include things such as anchors, beams, connectors, columns, rack accessories, and safety bars, as well as any other parts your specific racking might have.
Check the Supports
When checking your parts, make sure you fully go through the checklist. You also want to ensure that your racking is properly in place and unmoving. Safely check any anchors and safety systems your racking has in place to ensure they still function correctly.
Investigate Safety
Outside of the anchors, you should check the racking for any unsafe areas or parts. Look for overloaded racking or improper storage of products to avoid future incidents.
Inspect in Batches
If your warehouse or storage area is too large, you can separate your space into batches. In doing this, you can start sectioning off each area and only inspecting a part of your warehouse per inspection. This can make it much more manageable, but you’ll still want to check the full warehouse at least once a month.
Now that you know how to inspect your pallet racking properly, you may notice that dealing with constant inspections is frustrating and time-consuming for your workers. That’s why it might be worthwhile to hire inspectors who are trained in what a pallet racking inspection includes.