Missing Pins and unsecured guards form the basis of our first question this month Then we look at what needs to be considered when racking is erected outdoors on a “slight” gradient.
Missing Pins and Loose Column Guards
Q. I recently performed a monthly inspection and I found a number of issues, mainly missing pins or loose column guards. Could you answer the following points:-
• If a guard has four holes for fitting to the ground, must all four holes be secured with heavy duty anchor bolts, or are two bolts in diagonal corners adequate.
• Should all missing nuts from a guard be replaced or repaired.
• If the racking is used as a picking location with lightweight products does it require locking pins?
A. First of all there is no SEMA requirement for a column guard to be fitted to the floor in any particular way and recommendations on this would be expected to be provided by the manufacturer. Having said this we would have personally expected to find column guards fixed to the floor through four holes, one at each corner. Fitting bolts diagonally would seem to work only if it can be predicted with some certainty which direction a potential impact will come from, which obviously needs to be along the line of the bolt group to gain maximum benefit, and is difficult to predict.
If only two bolts are to be used, then the manufacturer’s statement that this is an acceptable practice should be obtained. Perhaps some test data from the manufacturer’s product testing programme should be requested to confirm that this provides resistance to impacts from all directions. Plainly if nuts are missing off bolts then they need to be replaced if this can be done and a satisfactory joint obtained, no problem, otherwise the whole nut and bolt fitment needs to be replaced. You may want to look at why the nuts were missing in the first place and whether you may need some form of lock nut provided to ensure that having come off once this is not repeated.
As far as locking pins are concerned, these are required for all pallet racks. If some pallet racking has been decked out and is being used as hand loaded shelving and cannot be approached by fork lift trucks or other mechanical aisle equipment then it is sometimes argued that since no large upward forces can be accidentally applied to the underside of the beam then there is no need for a beam connector lock. In this case the racking is the same as hand loaded shelving shelving.
The nub of your argument seems to be whether the picking operation is being done with mechanical equipment that could accidentally lift a beam and secondly if the product in this rack is being replenished by a pallet truck which could do the same. If either of these is the case then beam connector locks are necessary. If not then it can probably be defined as heavy duty shelving rather than racking.
We take the view that if some beam connector locks are present then all should be present as changes of use in a warehouse can take place without anyone mentioning to the racking inspector that this is being planned. There is nothing in any of the published standards that require this, however and it is something that given the small cost of beam connector locks is viewed as a common sense issue rather than anything else.
Outside erection tolerance
Q. Are there any erection tolerances for static racking erected on outside yard with a slight gradient?
A. Outside racking on sloping ground tends to set alarm bells ringing. Your definition of a slight gradient might not coincide with someone else’s interpretation of what a slight gradient is!!
Trying to be a little more positive however outside racking does need to be designed for snow load and wind load which is not the case with internal raking therefore even if perfectly installed the carrying capacities are likely to be less for outside racking compared with the same product used internally.
In addition it may be necessary to have the structural design checked and approved by your local building control department.
On your specific question relating to erection tolerances there is no difference in the installation tolerances for static racking whether it is internal or external and you might like to refer to the SEMA Guide to erection tolerances for static racking which can be found and purchased under ‘publications’ on the SEMA web site www.sema.org.uk
Alternatively there is a British Standard, BS EN 15620 Steel Static Storage Systems-Adjustable Pallet Racking – Tolerances deformations and clearances which is a little more up to date, however it is considerably more expensive.SEMA Technical Enquiries
We hope you find the above articles, and those in previous editions, interesting. If you have a query send it to us by fax or email and we will do our best to have it answered by one of our technical experts.
SEMA Rack Safety Awareness and Inspection Courses
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