Anti-Collapse Mesh — Deciding Where It Is Actually Needed

The Question Is Where, Not Whether

Once a site accepts that items can be pushed through the back of a rack, the debate usually shifts straight to cost — because cladding an entire warehouse is a large number. That framing is wrong. Anti-collapse mesh is a targeted control, and the useful question is which specific runs create an exposure to people or critical assets on the far side. Answer that and most sites find the genuinely necessary scope is a fraction of the total racking, and the budget conversation becomes straightforward.

Walk the Back of the Rack, Not the Front

The exercise takes an hour. Walk the reverse side of every run and write down what is there. A solid external wall with no access behind it is generally a low priority. A pedestrian walkway, a pick face worked by people on foot, a packing bench, an office partition, a battery charging bay or a fire exit route is a high priority. A second racking run back-to-back sits in between and is normally handled with a shared central panel. The output of that walk is a prioritised list, and it is far more persuasive to a budget holder than a blanket quotation for the whole building.

What Raises a Run Up the List

Three factors move a run from low to high priority regardless of what is behind it. Load type: loose cartons, sacks, drums and irregular items are far more likely to shift and fall than shrink-wrapped uniform pallets. Handling intensity: aisles with high pick frequency, tight turns or reach truck operation see more contact with beams and frames than slow-moving bulk storage. Height: an item falling from the fourth beam level carries considerably more energy than one falling from the first, so the top levels of a tall run often justify cladding even where the lower levels do not.

Phasing a Retrofit Without Stopping the Warehouse

Most retrofits are phased over several visits rather than done in one hit, and that is usually the cheaper route as well as the less disruptive one. Group the priority list into blocks of adjacent runs so each visit is a contiguous area, and schedule work out-of-hours or across weekend downtime. Only the bays being clad need to be cleared, and in some layouts even that can be avoided by working from the reverse side. Where cladding is going onto tall runs, plan access equipment into the same visit rather than hiring twice. Ask your supplier to quote the phases separately so you can release them against budget periods.

Fix the Racking Before You Clad It

Mesh should be fitted to racking that is straight, undamaged and within tolerance. If a run has bent uprights, missing beam locks or impact damage at floor level, deal with that first — cladding over a damaged frame hides the defect and gives the mesh a distorted surface to align to. It is also worth confirming the racking has a current inspection regime in place before you spend money on secondary controls.

What to Give Your Supplier

A good anti-collapse quotation needs four things: the prioritised run list from your walk-around, the racking manufacturer and profile if known, photographs of a typical frame and upright, and your preferred working window. From that a supplier can confirm bracket compatibility and give you phased pricing. Avoid buying to a catalogue panel size — the panels should be made to your upright and beam pitches so they sit cleanly between frames.

Nationwide Supply and Installation

Rackstor UK Ltd surveys, supplies and installs anti-collapse mesh for all major makes of pallet racking across the UK, including phased out-of-hours programmes. Call 0800 654 6955 or use the enquiry form.

Frequently Asked Questions