What Does OSHA Say About Pallet Rack Safety? | Apex Safety Spotlight
Pallet Rack Safety & OSHA Standards — What You Need to Know to Comply
The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) is the government oversight body in charge of monitoring workplace safety. As a general rule, businesses should want to avoid unsafe working conditions for obvious reasons, but the threat of OSHA oversight and hefty fines also provide strong incentives to comply. However, the waters can be a bit murky when it comes to pallet rack safety and OSHA standards. In general terms, OSHA focuses on worker safety and less on the condition of things like warehouse racking that can cause injuries. Therefore, the onus is on the business to maintain all equipment so as to provide a safe workplace. So, what does that look like exactly?
Here’s what you need to know.
OSHA Oversight
The General Duty Clause of the OSH Act — employers must provide “employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to…employees.”
Title 29 Standard 1910.176 of the Code of Federal Regulations gets a bit more specific noting: “Storage of material shall not create a hazard.”
Because the language provided by OSHA regarding workplace safety and material storage is so broad, injuries related in any way to…
- Falling Items
- Unsecured Racking
- Overloaded Rack
- Damaged Pallet Racking
…would all likely be under OSHA’s purview, allowing them to assess damages to your business beyond those already incurred by the incident itself.
In addition, to OSHA, the Rack Manufacturer’s Institute (RMI) sets safe rack manufacturing and installation standards, and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) establishes conformity with those standards. It’s important to note that OSHA relies on RMI and ANSI MH16L1-2021 specifically for the design, testing, and utilization of industrial steel storage racks. Your manufacturer, installation, and repair teams should be able to confirm for you that their products and work are in compliance with RMI and ANSI standards.
Tips to Improve Pallet Rack Safety
To minimize risk and improve warehouse safety, it is best to take a holistic approach to pallet rack safety. Let’s look at each of these scenarios and the best remedies to prevent negative incidents.
Loose or Falling Items – there are several ways to secure your inventory and materials within pallet racking.
- Palletize items for a uniformly distributed load. Stable pallets are safer to load & unload, and they are more secure in the rack.
- Stretch wrap cartons and secure the load to the pallet.
- Use pallet stops to prevent pallets from being pushed into the flue space or too far past the back beam.
- Install pallet rack netting to stop items from falling down from the rack.
Unsecured Racking – proper pallet rack anchoring starts with following the rack manufacturer’s instructions for installation and continues with regular rack inspections to check for damaged, loose, or missing anchor bolts, shifted shims, and damaged footplates. If your rack is unsecured, it is considered a Red Light Damage Level in the Apex scale and should be unloaded until it can be properly repaired.Rack Overload – the load capacity of your rack is not a suggestion; it is a fact. Your team must adhere to the stated load capacities provided by the manufacturer for safe rack operation. Load plaques should be prominently displayed for each rack system, per RMI (Rack Manufacture’s Institute).
Pallet Rack Damage – forklift and equipment strikes are the main culprits for pallet rack damage, but just because your rack is still standing doesn’t mean everything is OK. Steel pallet racking is very durable and designed to withstand some abuse; however, each rack strike should be evaluated to ensure that any damage is superficial vs. system-compromising.
In addition to promptly responding to reported strikes or damage, RMI recommends establishing and implementing “…a program of regularly scheduled storage rack system inspections.” They further suggest that the inspections be performed by qualified personnel familiar with the system design and installation.
That sounds like a lot –a lot of time, resources, training, etc., and technically it is… but you’re not alone. Apex has the tools and team to help –starting with the Apex Rack Repair app.
Apex — We’ve Got This!
The Apex Rack Repair app is your go-to resource to respond quickly to any pallet rack damage. With the app, you can assess damage severity and order a custom replacement kit if necessary. It’s all there at your fingertips, and the app is free to download and use. Yes, Free to download and use.
Do It Yourself Rack Inspection — just download the app onto your smartphone or tablet and follow the prompts to gather all the information you need to assess and repair your pallet rack damage. Your findings get uploaded to the Apex PROs, who will evaluate the report and get back to you quickly with the next steps.
Call the Apex PROs – not everyone is comfortable or has the team to address pallet rack damage and or regular warehouse rack inspections, but we do. Call the Apex PROs to schedule thorough warehouse safety inspections or just when you need an expert damage review. We act as an extension of your team.
Try to Rack Repair App yourself — download it from the App Store or today.
