4 Types of Pallet Racking Accidents by a Forklift Control

You’ve seen the pallet racking accidents on YouTube. The ones where the racks come tumbling down with just a nudge from the forklift. A minor impact from the forklift usually doesn’t lead to an automatic tumbling down of the racking system. However, each time a forklift hits the racking system, it does have a cumulative effect. The integrity of the racking system weakens. Here are 4 types of pallet racking accidents that can occur with a forklift.

1.  Entering and Exiting an Aisle

This is a perfect example of a pallet racking accident. When the forklift enters or exits the aisle, the speed can be a bit too fast and cause the forklift to turn the corner too fast. The back wheels of the forklift can rotate and pivot causing the forklift to hit the racking system.

2.  Backing into the Racks Across the Aisle

It happens to both experienced and new forklift drivers. As they are removing a pallet from the racking system, sometimes cutting the turn doesn’t happen at the right time causing the rear of the forklift to hit the racking system.

3.  Forklift Forks and Lifting Masts

These are the most common types of impacts on the racking system. Forks hit the beams and columns while putting in or taking a pallet off of the racking system. Although it is a frequent occurrence, it can still weaken the system.

4.  Safety Pins Break

Safety pins are necessary to keep the racking system stable and safe. However, sometimes the forklift can break the pins while putting pallets away or taking them out.

Safety System to Help Avoid Pallet Racking Accidents

There are a couple of ways to reduce infrastructure damage. Let’s take a closer look at each.

S3 PD by SIERA.AI. The S3 PDS uses sensors and AI machine learning technology to scan and identify when an object is in the forklifts critical path. You know those nasty corners when the forklift turns in or turns out of the aisles, the S3 PDS will ensure they get a warning when getting too close. Now he’ll be able to either stop on time or change course to avoid compromising the integrity of the racking system.

Another great way to use the S3 or the S2 Digital Checklist with Impact Detection is to track the impacts. You may think it is an issue…or not, but by tracking low, medium and high impacts, you’ll be able to determine if it is a problem. Then you’ll be able to know if it’s a single operator or all of the operators that are having challenges with a corner. It took only one or two more tries before the forklift operator gave up. That’s what the forklift operator will experience with SIERA.AI’s forklift access control.

Next Steps

Now that you have a tool that easily gets installed and works as soon as you turn it on, you’ll be able to start collecting and analyzing data with the web-based Dashboard. Get started by getting a demo of the S2 and S3. Contact us at sales@siera.ai You’ll be happy you did.