Avoiding danger from above

RackNets from Warehouse Partners comprises a range of safety nets for adjustable pallet racking (APR) applications.

According to HSE figures, around 13% of major injuries in the warehousing industry are caused by moving/falling objects. The Working at Height Regulations require employers to take steps to prevent people being injured by falling objects, and identifies the following as common causes of objects falling within the warehouse environment:

• Goods disturbed from a congested shelf.

• Goods pushed through the back of a racking location due to carelessly positioned stock or excessive stock levels.

• Goods falling from pallets during handling on a fork-lift truck.

The HSE Guide to Warehousing and Storage specifically advises that employers should take steps to prevent people being injured by falling objects.

Warehouse Partners recognise this requirement, and has developed a range of safety net solutions which can be installed to most types of APR to protect individuals from falling items up to and including a loaded 1000kg pallet.

Working closely with our trade partners, Warehouse Partners have identified two distinct hazards when working with APR; fall-through and fall-out.

Fall-through occurs when a pallet is incorrectly loaded onto APR without any deck or other means of pallet support. This could be due to operator error, or by using an inappropriately sized pallet.

In this case the pallet falls into the bay between the beams, and usually results in the pallet and load coming to rest on the materials stored on lower levels, or goods scattering and falling outside the confines of the racking.

Fall-out occurs when a pallet falls from the rear of a single-sided APR run, often into a pedestrian or pick aisle. Warehouse Partners emphasises that a pallet fall out is more likely to happen if it is stored on decking. It is impossible to fall through and therefore has only one way to go. This is is particularly important when personnel or pickers are operating on that side of the rack. Recent initiatives from Warehouse Partners have been motivated by two significant events where pallets were stored on decking and due to forklift operators fell out of the back of the racks.

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This is often due to operator error, e.g. when a second pallet is loaded into a full location.

Warehouse Partners offers four systems, each designed to fulfill slightly different end-user requirements, but sharing the same fundamental design concept and installation method. Other bespoke systems for block-storage, tiered structures, automated systems and other storage applications are available.

Key systems are:

• RackNets 2.3 is designed to contain individual items or materials up to 50kg falling from a pallet racking system.

• RackNets 3.0 is designed to contain a pallet of up to 1000kg falling from a pallet racking system.

• RackNets 5.0 is designed to restrain and contain a pallet of up to 1000kg falling from a pallet racking system.
• RackNets In-Flue is designed for the centre of the rack to prevent product or pallets from being pushed through from one aisle into an adjacent aisle.

Each system is designed to distribute the loads caused by any impact throughout the whole system, thus minimising any localised loads and reducing the possibility of structural damage to the racking.

Data sheets are available on the Warehouse Partners website.