Rack load notices are fixed to warehouse racking and contain all the critical information required to use the racking safely.
Amongst other things the rack load notice should show the following.
- Rack supplier contact details. This allows staff to quickly contact the rack supplier for spares or inspections.
- Maximum rack bay load. A bay being defined as the space between two frames. The weight of the bottom pallet level is excluded if pallets are located on the warehouse floor.
- Maximum uniformly distributed load per pair of beams. This will normally be 2 or 3 pallets of say 1000 kgs gross weight. It doesn’t mean one pallet of 2000/3000 kgs gross.
- Height from floor or ground beam to top of first beam and subsequent spacing between beam levels. The first beam level is critical factor in rack design and determines the maximum bay load. If the first beam level is moved upwards the bay load will decrease.
- Preferably pallet dimensions and gross weight. Important in that oversized pallets can damage the rack frames. Overweight pallets can also be quickly identified.
- Date supplied and some sort of project reference. This allows regular inspections to be organized.
Ideally there should be a load sign on every run of racking.
This is because different rack designs are frequently found in the same warehouse. The racks may look the same but have significantly different design loads.
Barpro Storage supplies rack safety and PRRS (Person Responsible for Racking Safety) training. But without the correct load notices it is not possible to check the racks properly as the bay and beam loads and levels are unknown.
If there are no load notices in a warehouse, then the original rack supplier can be contacted and new rack load signs or the relevant information requested. If the original supplier is unknown, then an engineer with rack experience should inspect the racking and calculate the load sign information from first principles. When requesting new load signs from the rack supplier make sure that the design pallet weight dimensions match what is currently stored on the racking and that the beam levels have not changed.
On a practical note, I have frequently found rack load notices to be incorrect as they can be attached as part of a “tick box” exercise and their accuracy not confirmed. On several occasions, the original rack load signs are on the racking, but the first beam level has been removed to accommodate higher pallets. Beam levels must not be changed without the original supplier’s consent or sign off from an engineer. Once the beam levels have been changed, the existing load signs must be replaced with new ones.
If you need additional information or have queries about rack load signs, please do not hesitate to contact us on either:
CPT – 021 552 9190
JHB – 011 392 1702
DBN – 066 232 7363