No matter how well your storage system is designed and your drivers trained, collisions between your forklift trucks, their loads and your storage racks are inevitable. To comply with all the safety regulations, we encourage our customers to regularly inspect their racking for damages and to maintain incident reports on all damage by their forklift drivers. We recommend a formal rack inspection be performed by an expert at least every 3 months.
Any damage to a rack upright will reduce its load carrying capacity. Unfortunately, there is no way to determine whether an upright is safe after being damaged. When a rack is inspected, it is examined for potential collapse conditions. Although important, the greater risk comes from the potential collapse on the next impact, potentially resulting in the entire load falling on the forklift driver and their co-workers.
Any upright with a tear, split or buckle should be replaced immediately. We can also assist you with these repairs. The basic principal of our method is simple: the uprights are pressed back into their original shape using controlled pressure and precision forming dies. This is done under full load of the rack. Once the uprights have been returned to their original shape, they retain their original loading capacity.
It doesn’t take much damage to put your team in jeopardy. The good news is that with our patented process, each upright can usually be repaired more than 2 times and still remain within the code. Maintaining the safety margins of your storage system is critical. For more information on the subject please contact Neil Bleskachek at (602) 339-8113.
