How do you assess the condition of a racking system?
Our specialists walk the facility and perform a visual assessment of the racking systems from the warehouse floor. Damotech has a network of specialized dealers across North America that can survey racks and service your warehouse. Following the rack survey, they can also suggest the correct rack repair kits and protection products for your facility, free of charge.
They can also help determine if a more complete and thorough assessment of your racking systems is required based on the overall condition of the racking and the issues found during the survey. In this case, using a third-party safety expert with qualified specialists who visit the facility and conduct in-depth inspections is strongly recommended. Our engineers will perform a full conformity inspection and provide you with a comprehensive report to give you an overall picture of your racking systems’ condition and compliance with the relative racking codes and specifications based on your location.
How often should racking be inspected?
A professional rack inspection performed by a qualified specialist is recommended once every year. A professional inspection should be performed more frequently for racking systems subject to high levels of forklift traffic or if the level of damage sustained by the racking systems is consistently high. On top of an annual third-party inspection, a monthly in-house inspection performed by a knowledgeable warehouse employee is also highly recommended. We have prepared a guide on this subject if you would like to know more about pallet rack damage assessments, it can be found here: Practical Guide to Rack Damage Assessment. It offers a wealth of knowledge and guidelines to help you perform your own in-house inspections, based on warehouse safety guidelines aligned with ANSI/RMI, OSHA, and FEM standards/recommendations. This guide covers the following key points:
- The “1-2-3 rule” for addressing local deformations on an upright.
- Understanding the significance of braces in maintaining rack system capacity and stability.
- Highlighting the risks associated with homemade repairs such as in-house welds.
- The maximum allowable tolerance for beam deflection and out-of-plumb uprights.
- Identifying other key racking components which may not conform to standards.
- An overview of pallet rack repair, providing a reliable and efficient solution.