How One Can Assess the Quality of Shelving Units

May 3, 2021 1:14 pm

With a wide variety of manufacturers, types and materials of industrial shelving systems, it is necessary to be able to reliably assess the quality of every given product. This needs to be done prior to making even the most cursory inquiries and definitely before any installation is undertaken.

The good news is that industrial shelving units and the entire industry surrounding them is stringently regulated. The two organizations monitoring the industry are OSHA (short for Occupational Safety and Health Organization) and ISO (the International Standardization Organization).

Both organizations have a set of standards and certifications that validate the quality of industrial steel shelving systems.

Ensuring the Quality of Industrial Shelving Systems
Any facility that uses industrial shelving should ensure the units comply with those regulations as part of the overall quality management policy. As a first step in assessing the product, one must ensure to only order from officially certified manufacturers. Those official certifications are the baseline that ensures the quality of the systems they produce and offer.

There are six key standards that certify the quality of shelving, the first three focusing on the product quality and remaining three on the manufacturing company and its practices.

The six standards are:

  1. ISO 3834 Welding Certification
  2. EN 1090-1 Standard
  3. EN 13501-1 Painting Certification
  4. ISO 45001 Certification
  5. ISO 14001 Certification
  6. ISO 9001 Standard

So as not to get bogged down in too much technical detail and maintain our focus on the topic at hand, namely shelves, let’s go over the first three.

This will ensure our readers are sufficiently familiarized to ask pertinent questions during the decision-making stage.

Industrial Steel Shelving Certifications Explained
The ISO 3834 Welding Certification ensures that industrial shelving units are built using correct welding practices that produce safe, reliable, quality results. The presence of this certification tells buyers that the build quality meets industry standards. Those shelving units and welded parts are structurally sound and have adequate integrity. For a business that stores heavy duty materials, this is of critical importance as safety is a primary concern.

The EN 1090-1 Standard is a certification that is required of any steel structure permanently assembled in a building. The standard originated in Europe but is also recognized in the US and Canada. While it is not a legal requirement in North America, it is considered a must by many clients seeking quality industrial steel shelving for a storage facility.

The EN 13501-1 Painting Certification is also an important aspect of the product intended for use in a warehouse. This standard focuses on there being no lead present in the paint used on the industrial shelving units. Another factor this certification ensures is that the paint used on the shelves won’t propagate a fire. So while not having to do with the structure of the shelves, this standard ensures they are safe to use and be around.

We hope this helps our readers to understand the key elements pertaining to the process of selecting industrial shelving systems for a warehouse. For additional information about steel shelving offered by WPSS, feel free to contact us today.

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