Warehouse Work Area and Walkway Protection [Video]

Protect Staff from Falling Objects

Every day in warehouses and distribution centers across the globe, facility managers and safety officers have one crucial but unpredictable task — to keep their material handling staff safe. Training, PPE, and other warehouse safety products are essential to successfully completing this task. 

For many businesses, the means to adequately protect workers from falling objects can be difficult and costly. When dealing with a 30’ racking structure, the last thing a warehouse manager wants to see is something falling into a work area, causing injury or a potential fatality. Providing warehouse work area and walkway protection is key in these scenarios.

That’s where we step in. Adrian’s Safety Solutions offers several safety products to protect warehouse walkways and work areas from falling items. These products can be installed and removed quickly with no tools needed and are perfect for distribution centers, pick-and-pack operations, warehouse storage facilities, and manufacturing plants.

For example, our Modular Pallet Rack Safety Netting is designed to allow for overlapping or “shingling” of multiple nets. This design allows you to protect any space quickly and easily — straight out of the box.

If you’re looking for a product that offers product fall protection by keeping loose items or cartons from falling into a workspace or aisle, the Modular Safety Netting is a great choice. In addition, Modular Safety Netting is great for keeping items in loaded racks from falling onto conveyors, machinery, or worst-case, employees.

In this video, you can see how Modular Safety Netting helps protect against hazards in work areas and walkways.

Safety is a critical part of every warehouse manager’s day. We’re here to help with warehouse safety products that are affordable, install in seconds, and, most importantly, keep your employees safe.

Anywhere that you find large machinery, heavy items, tall racking, and people together, accidents are a possibility. Even though pallet racks are generally a very safe form of storage — especially if you’re using high-quality pallet rack safety solutions — dangers still exist.

Whether you’re improving safety at your industrial manufacturing facility, distribution center, or warehouse, here are some tips to keep aisleways and workspaces safe for your employees.

Be Careful When Double Stacking 

Double stacking your stock isn’t a bad practice. Lighter, low-density loads are safe to stack and can save space on your racking. 

When you double stack a dense or heavy load, however, the risks are greater. An item that is slightly out of square is much more prone to fall if the weight behind it is high.

Make sure the loads you have double stacked are light and not likely to fall due to their high weight.

Store Heavy Loads on Lower Levels 

Keeping your heavy items on lower levels helps lessen the fall, if one does occur. In turn, this reduces the risk of serious injury and product damage. Keep heavier items on lower shelves to also reduce strain on the racks.

Always put your heaviest stock as low on your racking as possible.

Inspect & Maintain Your Pallets 

Broken, damaged, old, or otherwise compromised pallets can cause a lot of trouble for you, your employees, and your customers. Even if your load is safely single stacked and secured, a broken pallet can cause the items on it to fall into the aisles or flue space.

Keep an eye on the condition of your pallets and replace any that look compromised. You can use this pallet rack inspection checklist from our friends at Cisco-Eagle as a guide. If they sag or give way under pressure, it’s time for a new pallet!

Use High-Quality Safety Solutions 

A great safety solution, like a Sliding Rack Safety Net, can help to protect your stock and employees while still allowing easy access to inventory in order fulfillment operations. These make a significant impact on the safety of your work area in pick-and-pack applications. If you need an effective solution for warehouse work area and walkway protection, consider the Fixed Rack Safety Net or Modular Safety Netting — which allows the option of overlapping. These take seconds to install and guard your stock and aisleways from falling items.

If a pallet breaks or an out-of-square item causes a load to fall, these pallet rack safety products can keep a falling item from landing in the aisle — or on an employee.

By following these four tips, you will create an environment that is much safer for your employees and help you avoid serious injuries and accidents.

Choosing the best safety solution for your walkways and work areas is extremely important. Without the proper solution, your stock may fall into a work space, potentially injuring your employees.

But not just any safety solution will do. If your safety solution is cumbersome to install or doesn’t fit in with your day-to-day operations, it won’t accomplish the job of keeping your employees and inventory safe.

Rack Safety Solutions to Prevent Falling Items

Preventing falling objects from being introduced into high traffic areas is a must for every facility. Therefore, industrial safety netting is one of the best solutions for keeping stock on the shelves and personnel safe working below storage areas. When evaluating your warehouse work area and walkway protection, ask yourself the following:

• How long will the installation of a pallet safety system take?
• How often will I need to access the items on those bays?
• And how difficult will it be if I need to access those items?

Most warehouses and distribution centers are looking for simple safety solutions that are easy to use, don’t require a massive installation downtime, are easy to remove to access inventory, and won’t break the bank.

The best solution for preventing falling items from entering your work areas depends on the types of inventory. Are there loose items? Are there some items on pallets?

That’s where we come in! All of our rack safety products, including our safety nets, are simple to install and remove in seconds for easy access to items on your shelving.

Which Front-of-the-Rack Safety Product is Best for Me?

We have provided the list below to help you determine what solution will best suit your needs.

Fixed Rack Safety Net

Attach the Fixed Rack Safety Net to the front of the rack to prevent items from falling into a work area or walkway. Plus, they are perfect for back-of-the-rack protection to keep stock on the shelves, rather than in your longitudinal flue space.

Sliding Rack Safety Net

We designed the sliding net to protect work areas and allow for easy pick-and-pack operations. In this video, you can see how the net easily slides to the side for easy bay picking, then slides back in place for ultimate protection.

Modular Safety Netting

We designed this netting to allow for overlapping or “shingling” of multiple nets, so you can protect any space quickly and easily. Plus, optional carabiner hardware assemblies are available for even more protection, depending on your application.

Rack Safety Straps

Rack Safety Straps are typically used for the back of the rack but can work well in the front of the rack for larger objects, too. These straps act as a barrier to keep large, palletized items from falling into a work area. Some customers prefer straps versus a net to hold back larger items, as demonstrated in this photo from Lift Power.

Rack Safety Cables

Rack Safety Cables are perfect for the retail environment. They add a high level of safety to your in-store warehouse storage racking by keeping product from tipping into the aisle while still providing good product visibility. Large retailers selling everything from mattresses to lumber enjoy using these to keep customers and employees safe.

If you have further questions about which warehouse safety product is the best fit for your warehouse work area and walkway protection, contact us today — we’re happy to help you find the perfect solution!