Racking Component Breakdown & Their Structural Importance
Racking structures have been designed and rigorously tested to be able to withstand loads imposed on them during the day-to-day use, each component is designed specifically to maintain the rack load bearing and structural stability, each individual component is vital in ensuring the performance and safety.
Here we will briefly explain the main components…
Frames
Constructed with front & rear uprights with a baseplate on the foot of each, connected by frame braces of which now add the rigidity to load bear when connected by beams to form a bay of racking.
The depth of the frame is dictated by your pallet depth.
Uprights
A cold formed steel section specifically designed for load bearing in a downwards force.
Each manufacture has dedicated designs to suit varying carrying capacities (called ‘Duty’) generally stamped in the front or side face.
Generally, slots in the front face to seat the beams but louvres are also used.
Frame bracing
Typically bolted (may be welded) to the front and rear upright, they ensure the ‘frame’ is both square and rigid, they also assist in transferring load to ground level as well as offering ‘some’ impact resistance.
Baseplates
Seats the upright solidly on the ground to offer positive support enabling the transfer of load from the upright to the floor, various designs to suit the loadings imposed and the number of bays in a run.
Floor fixings
These are an important part of the structural stability and load bearing of the racking structure, in most cases a single fixing is used (despite alternative holes in the baseplate) but by design there maybe 2 floor fixings required.
Each floor fixing is specified to be able to transfer 5Kn in shear and 3Kn in tension.
Beams
The horizontal bar that the pallets sit on, slotted into the face of the upright. They come in many different dimensions to suit the pallet weights in use and the span required to house the pallets, although the industry recognises 2700mm & 3300mm beams in length are ‘standard’.
Beams are designed and tested to carry varying loads, manufactured in different sections to suit requirements, not every beam is rated at 2000Kg!
Beam Safety Lock
Possibly the lowest cost value item in the racking system, but no less important, Beam Safety Locks ensure that the beam is located correctly in the upright, also it reduces the chance of beam becoming dislodged if subjected to a small uplift force during day-to-day operations.
As they are manufacturer specific it is important that the correct beam safety lock is fitted, one at each end of the beam.
Load Notice
The SEMA load notice is a key piece of information relating to the individual racking structure, it gives general Health & Safety information including warnings, but more importantly, shows manufacture information of loadings and design details at the original time of installation.
Should for any reason the rack be re-configured, the load notice MUST be updated to reflect the new layout with original manufactures data.
Rack Protection
A retrofit option in various forms designed to offer a design protection to the uprights and/or end frames. Rack protectors within aisles should be regarded as a ‘last resort’ means of avoiding damage and other ‘Root Cause’ methods of damage prevention should be considered before taking the decision to use rack protectors.
However, as advised within the Health and safety executive (HSE) extract – HSG76 Warehousing and storage a guide to health and safety – Racking protection should be in place at aisle ends and transfer bays (tunnel bays) to ensure end frames are sufficiently protected.
Where goods are stored against end racking frames it is advised that low level full height frame protection be in place to assist in the prevention of goods or mhe forks causing damages to end frame components.
Risk Classifications
Under SEMA Standards and Guidelines and EN15635 damage limits of components have been adopted since the mid 80’s with colour coded risk classification categories to reflect the seriousness of issues and the response required.
Red Risk
Very serious damage requiring immediate action. Areas where a high level of damage is identified of over twice the SEMA limits. This warrants immediate offloading and isolation of the affected area until repair work is carried out.
Amber Risk
Hazardous damage requiring action as soon as possible. Areas where the damage identified is greater than the SEMA limits. This warrants remedial work to be carried out. However, the damage is not sufficiently severe to warrant the immediate offloading of the area.
No additional loads shall be placed in the affected area and, once the pallet positions in this area are emptied, they should not be refilled until the repairs are carried out. If repairs are not carried out within 4 weeks, an Amber risk item automatically becomes a RED RISK item.
Green Risk
Damage requiring surveillance. Areas where damage is present, however, the level of damage is within the SEMA limits and should be recorded for further consideration at the next inspection.
Any damage will result in a reduced safety factor in the structure and deviations in excess of the SEMA limits should result in the affected area of the racking being offloaded. The course of action following categorization is shown in the following flow chart.