Fire can be one of the most significant dangers workers and managers face in a warehouse; with the potential of serious injury or death, facilities need to take steps to mitigate damage. One of the most critical methods to combat fires is to ensure that pallet racks have adequate flue space.
These spaces give the fire and heat an avenue to the ceiling, allowing alarms and sprinklers to activate. Knowing how to prevent flue space push through is vital to maintain this safety measure and prevent fire from catching you off-guard.
Employee Training
The first solution you should look into is whether or not employees are following the correct storing procedures. Often, the primary cause of push through is workers unaware of the necessity of flue space or do not know that they are placing inventory too far back. Identify those who are known to place pallets too deep within shelves and offer them further training to correct their mistakes.
Safety Stops
Even with training, there may be times when a pallet pushes through just enough to block flue space. This occasional push-through can be normal, but you still need to address the safety risk. One of the relatively inexpensive ways to answer this problem is with the installation of pallet rack safety stops. Put simply, they are bars that you connect to your pallet rack, blocking pallets from going beyond a certain point.
Deeper Racks
The final option to consider when training (and safety stops aren’t solving the issue) is to determine whether your shelves are deep enough for your pallets. Replacement can be the most expensive option—having to change sections of your racking system—but sometimes the only solution is for an overhaul.
If push through becomes a persistent problem that requires deeper shelves, you must make the switch for the safety of the facility and all the employees working in it.
Fix the Problem Before It Becomes Dangerous
Occasional push-through doesn’t pose much of a threat as long as it gets corrected quickly; however, consistent issues can result in a failure of the sprinkler system and put the warehouse, inventory, and workers in danger. Take the necessary steps beforehand to ensure that the working environment is safe for everybody by knowing strategies to prevent flue space push through.
