3 Ways to Build Safety into Your Warehouse

Picture this…

You walk into your warehouse, and it’s filled with pallet racks that go from floor to ceiling – from the front wall to the back wall. There are aisleways where forklift traffic is zipping back and forth. There are work cell areas built into the layout where employees are busy sorting and labeling. You also notice some high-value inventory that could afford to be protected, but you’ll worry about that tomorrow.

As usual, you head towards the back of the facility to find the person you’re looking for, but you get stopped along the way. Your shipping manager needs to tell you about some inventory that went missing and is nowhere to be found. You settle that predicament and keep walking. As you near the back of the facility, you watch one of your forklift drivers overestimate the rack landing and a pallet of boxes tumbles off the rack, barely missing another employee that was standing below.

Sound familiar?

Check out the top 3 easiest ways BeastWire Mesh can build safety into your warehouse:

1. BeastWire Mesh Rack Safety Panels

Wire mesh rack safety panels are a must-have in any warehouse or distribution facility. Our panels are constructed of 6- or 10-gauge wire welded in a 2” square mesh pattern and welded securely into a 1-1/4” x 1/8” thick full angle frame. The wire mesh allows for high visibility for inventory and is NFPA compliant, it won’t obstruct your sprinkler system. With the installation of BeastWire Mesh Rack Safety Panels, you can avoid pallets getting overestimated on the rack landings and often, damages to waterlines or other pipes that are mounted between pallet racks and exterior walls. When it comes to protecting your facility, you can relax because BeastWire meets the ANSI MH31.1-2019 standard which evaluates the strength and durability of steel mesh containment panels.

2. BeastWire Patented Grrripper Bracket

BeastWire Mesh Rack Safety panels attach to your existing uprights with either our patented Grrripper Bracket or the innovative L-shaped and Sleeve brackets. Our 3-, 6- and 12-inch brackets allow for offset adjustability, making product storage changes simple because you won’t need to buy new brackets. The Patented BeastWire Grrripper Bracket is the world’s first and only drop-in bracket. The pin drops into a tear-drop upright and won’t disengage from the rack upon impact when it’s installed correctly. The Grrripper Bracket saves time and money on the initial install.

3. BeastWire Mesh Doors

Still looking for an additional level of security for your warehouse? BeastWire Mesh pallet rack doors are great for the secured protection of high theft or combustible products on selective pallet rack. Our doors mount directly to the front of your uprights, as a cost-effective means to avoid purchasing independent doorposts. Most typically installed as bi-parting doors to cover beam lengths of 6’ to 12’ but can also be installed as single doors for smaller 4’ bays. All doors come equipped with a padlock hasp and can be installed in minutes.

If you’re tired of walking into your warehouse and getting pulled in twenty different directions because of safety concerns, let us help! Build safety into your warehouse design so that you can protect your employees, products and facility before an unfortunate accident happens.

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The Most Comprehensive Rack Safety Solution on the Market

Episode 12: Creating a Safer Work Environment

This week, Josh Smith, President at Wholesale Pallet Rack Products (WPRP), joins me to discuss how he has successfully created a safer work environment for his employees and customers throughout the past 6-8 months of the pandemic. Josh discusses changes that they’ve made to the office environment and the warehouse. A particular item we discuss is the BeastWire Mesh Driver’s Cage that he has installed in their warehouse. This has allowed them to increase their security measures and keep people from wandering through their facility. Listen to the interview to learn how everything is working out for WPRP and what feedback Josh has received from employees. One of the biggest difficulties through all of this has been creating a safe environment that could remain open 100% of the time. When will you know if what you’re doing for your organization is safe enough for your employees to feel comfortable at work again?

Listen to Episode 12 below:

Biggest safety concerns as a manufacture and wholesaler
How to create a handsfree facility
Receiving employee feedback and how to reward it
Determining when to allow visitors into your facility
Recognizing when your facility is safe enough

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Episode 10: Rack Safety Design Considerations

This week I was joined by Arlin Keck, Corporate R&D Engineer of Steel King Industries. Arlin has been around the material handling industry for over 40 years, and with Steel King for 15. In this episode, he discusses safety factors that should be considered when designing a rack system. Arlin explains how frequently rack should be inspected and who should preform those inspections. We also discuss the common areas in a rack system that are considered high risk and what factors effect system capacity.

Listen to Episode 10 below:

Rack safety design considerations
Frequency of rack inspections
High risk areas and how to protect them
Pallet load stops and rack safety panels
Safely and securely storing products

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Pallet Rack Doors Vs. Pallet Rack Netting

Overview

One US automotive company learned the hard way a cheaper alternative to safety isn’t always the best solution. They thought by installing a mesh netting solution along the pallet rack uprights, they had made a safe decision for their employees and their products. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case for this company.

Challenge

It was a normal workday and the employee was just doing what he always does—added a pallet to a warehouse rack. But, on this day he mistakenly pushed the pallet too far and it tipped off the rear beam.
The security netting did hold the pallet for a short time, but with the weight of the pallet and the force put on the mesh netting it stretched too far. The pallet landed on the desk behind the row of pallet rack uprights. Thankfully, no one was sitting at the desk at the time. But the accident could’ve been very costly.

Solution

The automotive company immediately reached out to Eastern Lift Truck, a SpaceGuard Products dealer, to address the crisis at hand and work to get the area opened back up quickly. Time was money!

Due to their variety of pallet rack heights and products, Eastern Lift Truck decided on BeastWire Warehouse Rack Safety Panels as a solution to prevent an incident like this from happening in the future.

BeastWire mesh panels are constructed of 10-gauge or heavier-duty 6-gauge wire welded in a 2” square mesh pattern and welded securely into a 1-1/4” x 1/8” thick full angle frame—providing the ultimate strength and durability. They attach to the existing pallet rack uprights with either the patent-pending Grrripper Bracket or the innovative L-shaped or Sleeve brackets.

The BeastWire Grrripper Bracket (patent-pending) is the world’s first and only drop-in bracket. The pin drops into a tear-drop rack upright and it won’t disengage upon impact when it’s installed correctly. The Grrripper Bracket makes installation easy saving on time and money.

BeastWire Warehouse Rack Safety Guarding Panels are preferred over most nylon mesh netting. The wire mesh panels provide a definite stop to keep pallet loads or stray boxes from falling into pedestrian aisleways, like what happened to this customer.

Unlike plastic netting or nylon mesh netting—which are flexible by nature, BeastWire’s welded wire mesh design, won’t allow sharp objects to damage or cut through the wire providing a more secure guarding option.

Conclusion

When security and protection are of the highest importance, you can count on SpaceGuard Products to provide an exceptional product—BeastWire Mesh Pallet Rack Safety Panels. Because the wire mesh panels were easy to install, Eastern Lift Truck got the area operational in a timely manner. And, the employees felt safer knowing BeastWire was there to protect them.

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Steel Mesh Containment Panels: Performance and Testing (American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Standard MH31.1)

Steel Mesh Containment Panels Used in Pallet Rack and Vertical Storage System Applications: Performance and Testing Requirements was developed by MHI, along with the Protective Guarding Manufacturers Association (“ProGMA”) and is intended to provide useful information and guidance for owners, users, designers, purchasers, or specifiers of material handling equipment or systems

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Rack Safety Panels VS Mesh Safety Netting

How Can Your Business Stay NFPA Compliant with BeastWire Warehouse Rack Safety Panels?

How Can Your Business Stay NFPA Compliant?

Your warehouse just received a large shipment of valuable goods that a warehouse worker has stored on one of the back-to-back bays of a selective pallet rack. Without realizing it, one of the boxes slipped off the pallets and became lodged between the two pallet rack bays.

Later that night, a minor electrical fire was sparked below the bays. The sprinklers immediately release which would typically extinguish the fire instantly. However, the box lodged between the two bays is preventing the sprinkler from doing its job. Within minutes, the fire spreads and destroys all your newly imported valuable inventory.

This scenario is a clear example of an NFPA compliance issue.

What if we told you that we have the absolute perfect solution to prevent fires from happening while keeping your business NFPA compliant?

What if this same solution was efficient, kept your workers safe from falling objects, and helped prevent facility structure damage?

Welcome to the world of BeastWire!

Our BeastWire Rack Safety Panels are the answer to all your concerns. These panels come in 10 or 6-gauge wire mesh panels and include four styles of brackets. These panels are easily attachable and can be quickly shipped to meet your immediate demand.

So, how do BeastWire Pallet Rack Safety Mesh Panels keep your business NFPA Compliant?

We’re glad you asked.

These safety panels keep your inventory on your bays organized and protected—preventing boxes from accidentally falling between the flue spaces. Keep in mind, NFPA regulations require back-to-back bays to have at least six inches of flue space allowing flames to vent up rather than out. It also enables sprinkler systems to put out any of these fires efficiently.

In Conclusion

By ordering BeastWire Rack Safety Panels for your warehouse, you’ll be adding a critical safety measure to your business. On top of this new safety measure, you’ll be preventing all those valuable goods that you just had imported, from being set on fire.

Contact us today so we can immediately ship you an order of BeastWire Pallet Rack Safety Mesh Panels to help keep you NFPA compliant.

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Episode 1: Protective Guarding Safety & Standards

To kick off our podcast I am joined by Ray Niemeyer, Director of Business Development with SpaceGuard Products. Ray is also the Vice Chair of the Protective Guarding Manufacturers Association (ProGMA) and discusses the latest ANSI standard that was recently announced at MODEX 2020. We discuss the benefits of protective guarding in the material handling industry, and how that initial investment can help keep your employees and products safe and secure.

Listen to Episode 1 below:

Current trends in Protective Guarding
New ANSI Standard MH31.1 Steel Mesh Containment Panels used in Pallet Rack and Vertical Storage Systems Applications: Performance and Testing Requirements
Financial benefits to installing Protective Guarding in your facility

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Automotive Industry Project

How To Maximize Warehouse Space Without Upsetting Your Insurance Carrier

Overview

Everyone knows space in a warehouse is a commodity—and, it’s one companies need to maximize for full financial benefits. But what happens if this highly coveted space is limited due to fire regulations? How can a company overcome this challenge? BeastWire offered a creative solution for our customer.

Challenge

A tier-one supplier to the North American automotive industry was sourcing guarding for 200 bays of pallet rack. Due to the nature of the materials stored on the rack, each level required fire suppression which prohibited them from maximizing the full capacity of the open storage space available.

The sprinkler heads protruded below the rack beams into the open storage space. The customer needed to reduce the height of the pallet loads on each level preventing them from maximizing their storage potential.

Their solution needed to be both rigid and porous. Solid steel materials such as additional rack beams were unacceptable since they could potentially obstruct the reach of the sprinklers in the event of a fire. Furthermore, any solution that the customer came up with to protect the sprinkler equipment had to be approved by its insurance carrier.

Solution

An engineer responsible for the project met SpaceGuard at a major national tradeshow and was introduced to the BeastWire Mesh Guarding brand. He concluded that the BeastWire material was heavier-duty than any other steel mesh product he observed at this show.

SpaceGuard designed a special 8” high panel to fit directly below the rack beam and extend the minimal required distance to protect the sprinkler heads adequately. Also, sample panels were provided directly to the customer before an order to ensure the customer’s insurance carrier was equally pleased with the chosen solution.

Conclusion

SpaceGuard worked the sales lead through one of its trusted partners, Hy-Tek Integrated Systems who handled the scheduling, project management, and installation. SpaceGuard and Hy-Tek were able to move the ship dates up to meet the customer’s tight timeline. It was such a successful project that the customer has since ordered additional materials for another warehouse.

Download Printable PDF of “How To Maximize Warehouse Space Without Upsetting Your Insurance Carrier”

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