Remember When You Should Get Your Pallet Racks Inspected

When is the last time you inspected your pallet racks and pallet racking protectors?  Best practices suggest that warehouses and similar storage sites inspect their racks on a regular basis, but there are rarely any specific regulations covering the matter.  It’s largely left up to individual business owners to decide when to do these inspections.

Of course, laws aside, it’s simply a good idea to have regular rack inspections – they keep both your employees and your products safe.  So, here are some suggestions for the best time to do these inspections.

Six Times You Should Inspect Your Pallet Racks and Pallet Racking Protectors

1. Annually

If nothing else, plan on inspecting your racks thoroughly once a year.  This can be a good part of your year-end review, since you can compare performance\maintenance against previous years.

2. After new rack installation

Perhaps it goes without saying, but you shouldn’t use a newly installed rack system until it’s been independently verified.  The best practice is to call in an independent third party to verify the racks but, either way, it should be someone besides the contractor who installed the racks.

3. After a natural disaster

Have you recently been hit with an earthquake, flood, or similar disaster that could have compromised the integrity of your facilities?  You should absolutely do a thorough check of all your racks and protectors to ensure that they are still up to spec.  Otherwise, minor damage done during the event itself could continue to get worse over time, until they fail.

4. Before a change of tenant 

If your warehouse facilities are for rent, the changeover between two tenants should be used to verify all the features within – including the racks and protectors.  You want your new renter to be able to move into the space without any concern for the safety of their products or people.

5. Missing documentation

Do you still have all the original documentation for your racking systems, with specs and expected weight limits?  If not, these materials can be reconstructed with a thorough inspection.  Plus, you’ll want this documentation on-hand if you ever sell the property to someone intending to continue warehouse use.

6. During a regulatory audit

Whether dictated by local laws, or corporate planning, a regulatory audit of your warehouse should absolutely include a thorough inspection of your racks.  The results of the audit can be saved and compared against future audits as well.

Need Pallet Racking Protectors?  CalWire Has You Covered

Since 1948, we’ve been a leading supplier of top-quality stainless steel mesh – including rack protectors used in warehouses around the world.  Contact us today to consult on our product line!