Damage to products is an all-too-common occurrence while in the warehouse. It can be caused by improper pallet stacking, unsafe storage, general mishandling, damaged pallet racks, and human error. Training employees on how to reduce product damage in your warehouse will ensure that everyone knows their responsibilities and how to practice with more caution. Training will preserve the integrity of your warehouse’s product while keeping workers out of harm’s way.
Know the Quality of Pallets
Be aware of the limits of your pallets and make sure any incoming pallets are safe and secure to handle. It can happen that pallets coming in, or ones that you have had for some time, have broken boards, loose nails, and a fractured frame.
Broken Pallets Can Equal Broken Product
These faulty pallets can fail at any given time, and when they do, they pose a threat to workers and product alike. Whether in the process of being moved or if they are on storage on a rack, old and unreliable pallets are a safety and business risk.
Make Sure Pallets Are Loaded Correctly
If the pallets you do have are stable, then you must make sure workers know how to properly stack items to avoid breakage or unstable packing. Heavier boxes stacked on lighter ones can crush whatever is underneath. This further causes instability and can lead to all the contents of the pallet toppling over.
Proper Training
While the concept seems obvious, make sure to reinforce proper stacking procedures to employees. Assuming that everyone is on the same page can lead to accidents that could have otherwise been avoided.
Have the Right Safety Equipment
When pallets are stored on racks, they still have the potential to fail, whether by faulty pallets or incorrect stacking. In either of those cases, a collapsing pallet at a higher elevation on a rack can cause serious safety risks to workers, on top of harming the product.
Mitigate Disaster
Installing back guards for pallet racks or shelving safety straps can prevent objects from falling to the ground. This has the benefit of protecting workers from falling debris and keeping materials from falling several meters. This will mitigate the damage done to the product, where it may only fall a few feet instead of a few yards.
Constant Consideration
There are always aspects in the warehouse that can be improved upon; some of those shortcomings are not so readily apparent. Always keep your eyes open for ways to reduce product damage in your warehouse and institute ways to prevent or mitigate losses.
