For guidance on all aspects of warehouse workplace safety, we would refer you the Health and Safety Executive, and their booklet HSE76.

With regards to the fixing of your Doncaster pallet racking installation, there are circumstances where free standing pallet racking is acceptable. Where forklifts and other loading and picking machinery are not used, you may not need to bolt the racking to the floor. This is especially the case where the racking is affixed in some other way to the warehouse building, providing the fixing points have been proven as being capable of being able to bear the loads and stresses involved.

However, since very few industrial warehouse storage systems in Doncaster can dispense with forklifts and similar, the guidance is clear: if picking/loading machinery is involved, your pallet racking should be fixed securely to the floor.

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What the HSE says

In actual fact, the HSE guidance starts off rather vaguely, recommending the fixing of pallet racking installations in Doncaster “where necessary”. Fortunately, the guidance goes on to define what constitutes ‘necessary’.

Where your Doncaster pallet racking system is subject to vertical forces (from the weight of each pallet) and horizontal forces (from loading and unloading pallets) the pallet racking system should be fixed to the floor. This effectively includes all industrial storage solutions that involve some form of mechanised picking and loading.

The HSE does provide specific fixing guidance based on height to depth ratios of the racking system, but in practice we and many other pallet racking companies will frequently opt for the safest option of all: bolting all uprights to the floor.

Call Rack-Master

Rack-Master designs, supplies and installs industrial pallet racking systems in Doncaster and across the North.

To plan your next installation, or to ensure your existing Doncaster pallet racking is safe, call us now on 01422 300 644.

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