Walmart’s “standard in the industry” material storage racks did not meet federal OSHA requirements, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC).
In its decision regarding an incident that saw materials fall from a rack and injure a warehouse worker, the OSHRC found the agency properly cited Walmart for failing to secure items stored in tiers.
The Feb. 9 decision, which upheld an administrative law judge’s decision, will see Walmart pay a $10,864 fine and have the company abate the cited hazards within six months “given the physical changes the company must make at the warehouse to come into compliance with the standard.”
Walmart’s defense that the storage racks were standard in the industry was rejected by the OSHRC because “even if that was true … its managers knew the racks posed a hazard to employees.”
The company failed to prove its rack system was standard in the industry.
Back-to-back racks, 3 inches of pallet overhang
This case stems from an OSHA inspection following a worker’s injury at the Walmart distribution center in Johnstown, New York on Feb. 25, 2017.
Pallets are stored on racks that are about 30 feet tall, with one pallet per rack level. These racks are positioned back-to-back so forklifts can access them only from aisles at the fronts of the racks. At each rack level, a 48-inch-long by 40-inch-wide pallet rests on the front and back beams of the rack, which are 42 inches apart.
When properly placed, each pallet overhangs the beams by three inches at the front and back. Pallets on back-to-back racks are positioned about four to five inches from one another.
Forklift in opposite aisle bumped pallet above worker
The injured employee, an order filler, sustained neck and spinal injuries when she was struck by falling merchandise as she was retrieving items from a pick slot on a lower rack level.
A forklift was pulling a stocked pallet from a higher rack slot immediately behind the rack the order filler was picking from when the pallet on the forklift bumped another stocked pallet stored in a high slot directly above the order filler.
The bumped pallet tipped into the space between the storage rack’s front and back beams, causing some items on the pallet to spill out into the aisle and strike the order filler.
Items in tiers must be ‘stable, secure against sliding, collapse’
OSHA cited Walmart under 1910.176(b), which states, “Secure storage. Storage of material shall not create a hazard. Bags, containers, bundles, etc., stored in tiers shall be stacked, blocked, interlocked and limited in height so that they are stable and secure against sliding or collapse.”
The agency claimed Walmart failed to comply with the standard because “there were no bumpers, barriers, or other devices to block a bumped pallet from sliding perpendicular to the beams and tipping” and “the thin beams and large gap between the beams means that a bumped pallet needed only to slide a matter of inches to slide off of one of the beams.”
Walmart argued that its pallets were stable in the racking system because the instability only occurred when a pallet is dislodged by a forklift. It also argued that its racking system couldn’t be considered noncompliant because the same system is widely used in the warehousing industry.
The administrative law judge disagreed, finding that OSHA cited Walmart correctly under 1910.176(b). The OSHRC initially disagreed with the judge and vacated the citation but a ruling by the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case back to the commission for reconsideration.
Walmart has 60 days to appeal the decision.
