Logical storage solutions blog

What causes racking damage?

Damage to the racking in your warehouse can have a devastating impact. Not only can it slow down your operations and cause damage to your stock, but it can also put your employees at serious risk of injury which in turn can spiral into financial loss and potentially damage to your reputation as a business. But how does racking damage occur in the first place? Here are a few common examples.

Vehicular damage
Warehouses are busy environments and while vehicles like forklifts are excellent tools in speeding up your operations and reaching areas that would be more challenging on foot, used incorrectly or without proper training they can pose serious hazards. Accidental collisions with racking systems are a common cause of breakages and while more serious incidents may be too hard to ignore, small bumps and knocks could go unnoticed but still do damage that compromises your systems.

Poor warehouse layout
While poor training of drivers can lead to collisions with racking, sometimes it is not the driver who is at fault. Instead cramped and poorly maintained areas that don’t utilize tools like coloured safety tape and notices or have poor housekeeping can result in drivers having to make tight maneuvers that can often end in collisions.

Overloading
The most common cause of racking failure is that of overloading. By calculating factors like frame size, beam size and depth we can work out exactly what the limit should be for weight on your racking. However, if advice is ignored and your racking becomes overloaded then structural damage is bound to occur at some point. It is important to make it clear to workers through both training and notices exactly what weight limits are.

Seek advice
The key to avoiding racking damage is to quickly identify faulty or damaged racking. By organising periodic reviews of your racking with a professional company you can quickly identify small signs of wear and tear before they develop into something much worse.

Logical Storage is highly skilled in spotting the often hard-to-find signs of racking degradation. We carry out regular reviews for a number of businesses helping them to keep their systems in good working order and to maintain their legal obligations under the Health & Safety Act.  To find out more please call us on 0845 689 1300.