Racking up safety
August 1st 2006

As well as improving safety levels, today's racking protection systems offer payback in terms of reduced repair bills in as little as a year. However, to ensure your racking is really safe it also needs to be managed properly, says Chris Cooper from Racking Protection and Management.

Thankfully major pallet racking collapses are rare, but is this through good fortune or good planning? In today's massive warehouses, often with hundreds of operatives working in racked environments, a 'domino' collapse of racks would be a catastrophe. There would be no alarm or time to evacuate, and the potential for casualties and fatalities would be huge.

The affect on the business and its customers would also be disastrous.

Pallet racking needs to be properly managed like all other equipment. Racking Protection and Management (RPM) is an independent company that specialises only in the protection and management of warehouse racking. Racking safety management requires both an objective approach to protection and an ongoing integrated management process.

Rackdefender Racking Protection and Management recently released, through its Just Barriers brand, an innovative pallet racking upright protector, the Rackdefender, to supplement their heavy duty range of steel protection solutions. Rackdefenders are proven to prevent damage to the uprights (over 90% in cost terms), which cause all the associated locations to become unsafe.

Unlike other protectors the Rackdefender has a re-settable impact indicator strip, which shows when and how severely the protector has been hit; this should prompt a check inspection based on the severity of the impact. Rackdefenders can readily be 'peeled' back to enable such inspections to take place.

The latest addition to the Rackdefender range is the combination Flying Buttress protector for very harsh environments. This combines the strength of steel with the energy dissipation qualities of the Rackdefender.

Whilst protection may seem to be the obvious first step to minimising the risks from unsafe racking, a common quote from large and small racking users alike is: "The repair of the racking has cost more than we thought, so we haven't got any money left for protection."

The installation of racking protection from day one can, in intensive environments pay back in 12 months and certainly within three years – even less when the real cost of unloading damaged racking and associated loss of revenue is taken into account. Such protection can be achieved at less than 3% of the initial racking cost.

RPM's approach goes beyond merely fitting the necessary protection. That company has identified that accountability for racking safety is rarely assigned to one individual or department. Generally, the larger the organisation the greater complexity of 'cross functional' responsibility and budget allocation. Typically, accountability is shared between the operational team, ie. warehouse manager, facilities team and health and safety team, with broader interest from the general management team. Each of these parties often has different priorities and interest in 'managing' racking.

RPM recognises that in order for racking safety to be effectively managed it is necessary to measure of the type, frequency and scale of risks and associated remedial tasks. To address this need the company has developed the only fully integrated Racking management process – RackCare.

Rackcare involves the users undertaking straightforward racking safety inspections.

When damage is found a special tag is attached to the location identifying the category and status of the damaged unit.

These details are recorded on a simple check box record. There is also an add-on option to collect this data through barcode scanning.

Once this information is registered with the system, the process prompts for all unsafe locations to be removed from service, then controls and allocates repairs. Most importantly, unsafe locations are only released to service against certified completion of repairs (which may be multiple types) associated with the location.

Real time monitoring RackCare provides real time monitoring of:

• The synchronisation of unsafe locations with the location management process (for the health and safety team)
• Overall location status by condition category (for the operational team)
• Allocation of repairs by selectable parameters and budget constraints (for the Facilities team)

All this information is displayed on an interactive 'dashboard'.

Importantly RackCare provides an excellent and foolproof control for the holding and release of unsafe locations as advised in the latest HSE guidelines, (HSG76 – Health and Safety in wholesale and retail warehouses).

RackCare facilitates a complete auditable process from inspection through to repair and subsequent return to service. Designed for the racking user and their health and safety regime, the system also provides the the control information to the other parties within the organisation. As a result of this, more informed – and hence better – decisions regarding protection, repair and operational methods can be made.

RackCare delivers integrated Racking management, providing a new dimension to racking safety in the environment in which it operates.

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