It’s a part of the supply chain process that usually is overlooked — until something goes wrong.

And when something goes wrong, it can have fatal consequences.

When was the last time you took a few minutes to tour the area in inventory where the racks stand?

Keep in mind the most-common reasons that pallet rack systems fail, to help you focus on potential problems:

• Racks are overloaded or improperly loaded
• Products have been pushed through the back of the rack
• Racks are being used for products they weren’t originally designed to house, and
• There’s no system for inspecting racks or reporting incidents that could affect rack stability — like being hit by a forklift.

Even if you’re not experiencing problems now — or haven’t had any accidents — there are three steps you can take to help protect your record.

• Safety training: Add rack safety to your regular rotation of safety training topics.
• Experts only: Only workers with the proper training can install or reconfigure pallet racking systems, and
• Regular inspections: Once again, make it part of the routine. You might even want to create a checklist of what to look for — dents, damage, sagging shelves and improperly stored product or even tools.

Tags: inventory, pallet rack system, rack, safety, supply chain