To ensure the safety and performance of a racking system, it’s important to regularly perform rack inspections at routine intervals. But what exactly is the optimal inspection frequency in a given facility? Particularly considering that every rack design accommodates different, situation dependent applications?
Guidelines for Rack Inspections
In acknowledgement of that fact, RMI’s publication Considerations for the Planning and Use of Industrial Steel Storage Racks and its recent presentation at ProMat 2019, “Storage Rack Safety 101,” offer some basic guidelines to help the rack owner determine the frequency of regularly scheduled inspections. (It’s important to note that the guidelines advise that a system inspection occur immediately after any event that increases the potential of rack damage. These include seismic events or forklift collisions.)
Conditions Requiring More Frequent Rack Inspections
Perform rack inspections performed—at a minimum—annually. However, RMI’s guidelines also recommend performing inspections more often in areas with the following characteristics:
- High traffic. The more vehicles that pass through a portion of the storage rack system, the more likely that area will experience damage.
- Narrow aisles. The less width available to maneuver within the aisles, the more likely material handling equipment is to impact the rack.
- Transfer aisles. Rows of rack with transfer aisles are more likely to experience damage in those areas.
- Prior damage. A rack area that’s been damaged in the past has a higher likelihood of sustaining damage again.
- Cold environment. Racking in cold storage areas are more likely to be impacted by material handling equipment due to storage density.
Judging Impact Damage Risks
As for how often to perform rack inspections on systems at a higher risk of impact damage, here are a few best practice suggestions:
- Inspect racks with a high degree of potential for damage (with four or more of the characteristics outlined above) once a month.
- Inspect racks with a medium degree of potential for damage (with three or more of the characteristics outlined above) every three months (quarterly).
- Inspect racks with a low degree of potential for damage (with any one of the characteristics outlined above) twice a year.
Additionally, document the schedule and results of each rack safety inspection. Keep all inspection records on file for future reference.
Learn More About Performing Rack Inspections
RMI’s publication Considerations for the Planning and Use of Industrial Steel Storage Racks offers additional information about the inspection process.
