In the workplace it is easy to find metal shelves used for the storage of goods and products.
Often, however, the shelves are not given the right weight in view of the assessment (and reduction) of the risks present in the company. This exposes workers to various dangers, including crushing following the overturning of the shelving, falling materials from above, etc.
It is therefore necessary that the employer correctly assesses the risks associated with the presence of shelves and respects certain obligations.
Some aspects are summarized below, which cannot be considered exhaustive but outline a general framework of the various cases or situations that may arise and which must then be investigated on a case-by-case basis.
Shelving and maintenance
Before entering into the merits of the obligations relating to shelving, it should be noted that there are many types of shelving found in the workplace. The Commission for interpellations (in particular in the interpello n.16 / 2013 of 20/12/2013), taking inspiration from the "Guide to the safety of shelving and mezzanines" published by ACAI, has classified the shelving into:
- light shelving (shop or commercial shelving, archive shelving, warehouse shelving);
- medium and heavy shelves (cantilever, drive in, drive trough, pallet rack);
- very heavy shelves (portacoils warehouses, sheet holders with capacity per floor - each level of each light - from 5t to 20t);
- gravity dynamic warehouses (heavy dynamic warehouses with steel rollers for pallets, light dynamic warehouses with plastic rollers for boxes, containers etc.);
- automated warehouses and archives (warehouses for hanging or hanging garments, vertical rotating warehouses or archives, horizontal rotating warehouses or archives, vertical translating warehouses, warehouses with stacker crane);
- mobile or compactable archives and warehouses (light compactable, heavy compactable); - self-supporting shelving (real buildings that support the roof covering the building);
- light shelving with multi-storey walkways (equipped with walkways used for the passage of workers) ".
Read the whole article, edited by: Ing. Davide Marcheselli - Syrios Srl, at this link: https://www.ambientesicurezzanews.it/sicurezza/scaffalature-stoccaggio-sicurezza-obblighi.php