Inspecting Pallet Rack Damage — Know How to Assess & Fix | Apex Safety Spotlight
Evaluating Pallet Rack Damage – When to Stop, Watch or Move Ahead
Regular pallet rack inspections are essential to warehouse safety. Your racking systems are on the front lines of your operation and critical to overall productivity. However, they are vulnerable to forklift strikes and close encounters with other warehouse vehicles, heavy inventory, and busy workers. So, what do you do when you find pallet rack damage? Follow these guidelines to assess damage severity and ensure fast, safe repairs.
Getting Started – Warehouse Safety & Pallet Rack Damage Inspection
Begin with a regularly scheduled rack inspection and warehouse safety walkthrough. How often you conduct these inspections depends on your activity level. Ensuring that each system gets a once-over regularly helps prevent dangerous conditions and more significant and expensive repairs down the road. Download our Pallet Rack Inspection Checklist to optimize inspection time and catch all damage and safety concerns.
Apex Tools to Help with Warehouse Safety & Rack Inspection
The Apex Rack Repair App makes pallet rack inspections even easier by putting your assessment tools in a convenient mobile app. You can quickly capture photos and all the necessary rack specs for each damage location within the app. At the end of your assessment, just upload your findings to the Apex team for review, and we’ll determine if anything requires repair or replacement. You’ll receive a report with cost-effective, independent repair solutions ready to order if needed. The app is free to download and use. We also offer professional team training and helpful instruction videos to support your rack inspection efforts.
How Severe is Too Severe?
Green Light – But Don’t Ignore!
It’s important to address all safety issues that you find during your rack inspection.
- Superficial damage – scrapes that don’t bend, crease, or buckle the component
- Damage to rack guarding that doesn’t transfer to the column. Replace the guard if needed.
- Missing safety pins – replace the pins
- Loose anchors – anchors can loosen over time tighten them to secure the system
- Replace any missing, or outdated load capacity signs
- Report any overly dark or burned out lighting that can cause accidents or injuries
- Damaged or misaligned wire decking – replace or reposition
- Crowded flue space – unload racking and carefully reload. Consider adding pallet stops or safety netting to ensure flue space remains open.
Yellow Light – Rack Damage to Watch
Standalone Rack System
Areas with repeat damage – If you repeatedly find damage in the same spot, something is wrong. The turning radius may be too small, the lighting poor, the operators need more training, etc. It may be best to have a professional rack inspector check the damage on-site and provide a solution to the problem and a repair for the rack.
Standalone rack structures – it doesn’t take much to compromise the integrity of a single row of rack. Any damage to a standalone system is of concern and requires review by professional inspectors.
Red Light — Unload & Address
If your rack is red light damaged, it must be unloaded and marked off so that it isn’t loaded accidentally. Alert your team and call professional rack inspectors for a custom-fit repair or replacement solution.
- Unsecured rack – missing or damaged anchors (must have one anchor per baseplate)
- Beam damage
- Creased
- Buckled
- Corner (bend) damage
- Upright damage
- Creased
- Buckled
- Bulged
- Out-of-plumb
- Overloaded beams & uprights (visible bowing) – beam deflection
- Excessive strut damage, or multiple struts, in frame line or row
- Strut deflection – horizontal or diagonal deflection over ½”
- Multiple damaged components in a row or system
 Upright Deflection |
 Beam Deflection |
Apex is Your GPS for Warehouse Safety 
When you need a green light to go, call the Apex team.
The Apex PROs are your source for warehouse safety, rack inspection, and repairs.
Our team can evaluate and repair any severe damage areas. We can also be your professional source for an annual warehouse safety inspection. Whatever works best for you.
Just call to schedule your inspection. We use the Rack Repair App and will provide a comprehensive report at the conclusion. If a repair or replacement is needed, we will provide the most cost-effective, long-lasting, independent solution.
Try the Apex Rack Repair App today for yourself. It is easy and free to download from and the App Store.
