Product Spotlight: Storage Manufacturers Association

Content was pulled from MHI Solutions Magazine  

New Standards Lead to Safer, More Reliable Work Platforms and Shelving

Manufacturers and warehouse managers needing work platforms or multi-level shelving can now utilize two standards approved by the American National Standards Institute—thanks to MHI and its Storage Manufacturers Association (SMA) Industry Group.

SMA members and MHI collaborated to develop ANSI MH28.3-2018 – Design, Testing and Utilization of Industrial Steel Work Platforms, and ANSI MH28.2-2018 – Design, Testing and Utilization of Industrial Boltless Steel Shelving, a revision of the 2012 standard.

Both voluntary standards are intended to provide useful information and guidance for owners, users, designers, purchasers and/or specifiers of material handling equipment or systems. The goal is to have these standards in the International Building Code by 2021, said Matt Rescorla, vice president, engineering at Cubic Designs Inc., a member firm of SMA and MHI.

“If you have platforms manufactured that don’t follow the new standard, the consumer could be getting an inferior work platform that may not meet applicable building codes,” Rescorla said.

Manufacturers and warehouse managers also benefit by having a ready-made knowledge base they can refer to when selecting a vendor, he said.

“When they are shopping around for a work platform, they can ask if a vendor follows ANSI MH 28.3,” Rescorla said. “They should require that their platform be designed to that standard.”

ANSI MH28.3-2018

An industrial steel work platform is typically a prefabricated free-standing non-building structure—similar to a building with an elevated surface that utilizes a pre-designed framing system—and is located within an industrial or similarly restricted environment, according to the standard.

Flooring may include other structural or non-structural elements such as, but not limited to, concrete, steel and engineered wood products. The standard does not apply to platforms with structural framing components that are not made from steel.

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Cover photo from Mathias Rosenthal/Shutterstock.com

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