Posted By Paul Leadbetter Having searched in vain for HSE guidance, can anyone offer some advice on the correct way to use pallet racking? My client is unable to store full pallets on the lowest level of the racking system because the cross beams for the next level are too low. I think that the heaviest pallets should be stored on the bottom level of a racking system but my client does not want to raise the cross beams to allow this as he thinks that this will raise 'the centre of gravity' of the system when the lowest level is empty. I can see the logic in his argument and, probably for that reason, have been unable to convince him that he is wrong. Am I right to try and have the heaviest pallets stored nearest the ground? Paul

Posted By Steve Sedgwick Paul The pallet racking would have been designed to carry specified max loads in each pigeonhole, and a max total load for the whole bay of racks. Check the supplier’s instructions before making any changes to the structure. You could consider fastening the racking to some other fixed structure if you have doubts about its stability. Regards Steve

Posted By Andy Beveridge Paul, Have a look at sema.org.uk (storage equipment manufacturers association) The info they supply has been of great use to me in the past. Let me know if you still need HSG 76. Hope this helps. Regards Andy