Warehouses are dynamic environments packed with activity: forklifts, inventory, people, and machinery all moving at a rapid pace. In these high-traffic zones, structural columns often fade into the background—until something goes wrong. According to OSHA, nearly 11% of forklifts in the U.S. are involved in accidents each year, and many of these incidents involve impacts with structural columns.
These collisions can be more than just expensive; they can be dangerous. Forklift operators navigating tight spaces or making rushed maneuvers are prone to striking unprotected columns. While enforcing proper training and safety protocols is crucial, having the right physical protection in place is just as important.
That’s where structural column protectors come in. In this article, we’ll explore four common types of column protection—plastic, rubber/foam, concrete, and steel—and evaluate their pros, cons, and ideal use cases to help you make the best decision for your warehouse.
Common Types of Structural Column Damage
Material-handling vehicles can cause all sorts of damage to a warehouse’s structural columns. Be it by simply grazing one while turning a corner or by directly backing up into one while unloading a dock. Here are some of the most frequent types of column damage you could find in your facility.
Grazed or Chipped Concrete Columns
With tight aisles and encumbered alleyways, driving around columns can become a precision challenge, increasing the chances of contact between a forklift and a structural column. While a graze or chipped column, like the one shown in the image below, can seem harmless, if left unaddressed, this type of surface-level damage can worsen over time and lead to more serious structural issues.
Figure 1: Grazed concrete column.
Bent Steel Column
With the constant flow of merchandise and the often tight spaces in which these products are moved, a direct collision with a column can happen fast. In the showdown between a square steel column and a 10,000-pound forklift, the hit can be severe and damage the structure of your warehouse and equipment. According to many case studies, a slight bend in a structural column can be the start of a domino effect leading to a structural collapse.
Figure 2: Bent column... doesn’t seem strong anymore, does it?
Pierced Structural Column
Although less common, a forklift’s forks can puncture a steel column in more severe collisions, significantly weakening its structural integrity and increasing the risk of collapse.
Pierced columns typically are a higher risk compared to bent columns as they significantly reduce the column’s original strength and pose the risk of crack propagation. Although both issues should be addressed when they are spotted, perforated columns usually face a more immediate strength loss and pose a higher risk compared to a bent column. The picture below depicts an instance where a fork has almost entirely sheared a column.
Figure 3: A steel column pierced by a fork.
Structural Column Protectors
The market for structural column protection offers a wide variety of options for preventing column damage from forklift impact or other common warehouse vehicles. From padded concrete covers to standalone steel column guards, the possibilities are nearly endless.
However, not all protectors are created equal—materials vary widely in terms of durability, performance, and long-term value. Choosing the right one means balancing your safety needs with your warehouse conditions.
1. Plastic Column Guard
Plastic column guards are molded casings made from high-density polyethylene (HDPE) designed to fit standard column shapes. They are usually lightweight and easy to install, as they only require Velcro or straps to secure them around the column. Some options come with impact sensors and alarms that make an impact more noticeable to drivers. They offer good protection in low-traffic areas and against low-speed collisions or grazing.
Figure 4: Plastic column protectors.
Advantages:
- Regain shape after minor impacts (plastic elasticity)
- Bright colors enhance visibility
- Lower cost and easy-to-install
Drawbacks:
- Limited to standard column shapes and little to no room for customization
- Limited impact resistance; ineffective against piercing and heavy impacts
- Fixed directly to the column, transferring energy upon impact
2. Concrete Column Base
Concrete blocks, like those used for lamp posts, provide a robust barrier around the columns. They’re made either by pre-molded concrete blocks used as a base for the column or by molding a concrete base around a pre-installed column. The concrete’s high inertia and exceptional compression strength make it a good solution against most collisions with columns. However, the low deformation rate of the concrete poses a higher risk of equipment damage.
This solution can be adapted to almost any column shape with molding, though the installation process is far more complex and less cost-effective than other solutions. Additionally, concrete may pose a higher risk of cracking during seismic events such as earthquakes if it is not designed to withstand these types of forces.
Figure 5: A molded concrete column base.
Advantages:
- Strong resistance with some piercing protection
- Minor damages are repairable
- Can enhance the structural column’s capabilities in some cases
Drawbacks:
- Bulky and space-consuming
- Complex installation
- Hard to replace since the damaged concrete needs to be chipped away
- Higher risk of vehicle damage
- Lower resistance to seismic forces
3. Plastic or Rubber Column Wrap
These sleeves wrap around columns, offering basic protection, particularly for solid-shaped columns like square steel or round concrete columns. They’re made from a softer material than the column itself, either from industrial rubber or a foam-like expanded polypropylene (EPP) covered with a protective sleeve.
They’re commonly used on concrete columns or column bases (sometimes referred to as concrete column wraps) to protect against grazing and chipping. They are mostly useful in parking garages or other tight spaces with high traffic.
Figure 6: Square column protection wrap.
Advantages:
- Good protection against grazing or chipping
- Simple installation
- Bright color increases visibility
Drawbacks:
- Minimal impact protection
- Unsuitable for a high-risk area
- Do not prevent force transfer to the column
4. Steel Column Protector
Standalone steel column guards are robust barriers that provide superior protection for structural columns. Unlike the other types of column protection systems, they’re anchored directly into the floor around the column, allowing the impact energy to disperse into the ground without interfering with the structural column’s capabilities.
Figure 7: Standalone steel column protector.
Since they’re a standalone solution, they don’t rely on the column shape and can be made to order. This makes them suitable for a wider range of column sizes and shapes, providing a higher number of personalization options including extra protection in the gaps to resist piercing damage.
Those steel column protectors are, in most cases, more resistant than plastic column protection systems because of their stronger steel body. The steel construction is more resilient to heavier impact, making it a more durable option. Some systems also exist with a hybrid construction, using steel members linked together by flexible polymer joints, which allows for higher deformation when hit. Discover how one company used steel column protectors to safeguard its new warehouse—and save on costly repairs.
Bollards are an alternative form of standalone protection. For more information about bollards vs. dedicated steel column protection, read our blog Building Column Safety: Comparing Bollards & Column Guards.
Advantages:
- Great resistance to impact
- Wide range of customization
- Impact energy transferred to the ground
- Longer lasting and more reliable than plastic column protectors
Drawbacks:
- Higher upfront cost compared to plastic options
- Requires floor anchoring
- More space-consuming than wrap-around protection
Conclusion: Choosing the Right Structural Column Protectors for Your Needs
When it comes to structural column protection, not all solutions offer the same level of safety. While plastic wraps and polymer sleeves may offer light protection, they ultimately transfer impact energy to the very columns they are meant to protect. This can still result in structural damage, costly repairs, and increased safety risks.
In contrast, steel structural column protectors like DAMO SHIELD are fully independent of the columns themselves. Anchored securely to the floor, they absorb and redirect impact energy to the ground, preserving the structural integrity of your building. Their robust construction, high customization potential, and long-lasting reliability make them the gold standard for column protection.
Let’s protect what’s holding the roof above our heads—with solutions engineered to last. Contact us today to learn more about how steel structural column protectors can safeguard your facility.
Reference List:
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- ABDEWAHED, B. (2019). A review on building progressive collapse, survey and discussion. ScienceDirect. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214509519300993
- MAKOOND, N., SETIAWAN, A., BUITRAGO, M., & ADAM, J. M. (2024). Arresting failure propagation in buildings through collapse isolation. PubMed Central. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07268-5
- JOSHUA GONZALES, C. (2024). OSHA Forklift Accident Statistics & Facts You Need to Know. Warehousewiz. https://warehousewiz.com/blogs/news/osha-forklift-accident-statistics
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- FARIDMEHR, I., & HAJMOHAMMADIAN BAGHBAN, M. (2020). An Overview of Progressive Collapse Behavior of Steel Beam-to-Column Connections. Applied Sciences, 10(17), 6003. https://doi.org/10.3390/app10176003
- ESC Steel LLC. (2021). Steel-Concrete Composite Construction. https://www.escsteel.com/post/steel-concrete-composite-construction
- Choi, M., & Lee, C. (2022). Seismic Behavior of Existing Reinforced Concrete Columns with Non-Seismic Details under Low Axial Loads. Materials, 15(3), 1239. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8840738/
