Talk about your ounce of prevention pound of cure scenario…

This forklift accident illustrates the importance of properly protecting the ends of pallet rack rows. The driver didn’t have much room to accelerate, but didn’t need much velocity to hit the rack hard enough to compromise the upright and start a domino effect that destroyed hundreds of thousands of dollars of alcohol (this was a Russian company, but forklift damage knows no national boundaries) and endangered warehouse employees. Utilizing bollards, steel guard rails, or upright rack frame post protectors might have prevented it.

It may also stress the importance of specifying sufficiently collision-resistant racks, such as heavy duty high-strength structural racks or totally-enclosed tubular uprights. Rack is often seen as a “stack it high” commodity, but in situations like that video, the value of correct specification and safety measures are underlined. If you have damaged uprights or unprotected rack columns, watch the video. And then get it fixed.

Tags: guard rails, liquor distribution center, Pallet Rack, rack safety, warehousing

Scott Stone is Cisco-Eagle's Advertising and E-business Manager. He is a 20-year veteran of the material handling industry. He publishes the award-winning Material Handling Tips & Information Newsletter and works on all aspects of the company's communications efforts. See Cisco-Eagle on Twitter