A day dedicated to safety of warehouses in seismic areas

An important event will be held in Ancona on January 25, with the aim of making users more aware of safety in warehouses and logistics locations as well as presenting and comparing regulations, experience and research for the safety of people and goods.

Milan, January 16, 2017 – An important new appointment with anti-seismic prevention: on January 25, an event dedicated to the safety of warehouses in seismic zones will be held in Ancona at the Hotel Ego. The event is organised by Modulblok, the Italian company that since 1976 has been at the forefront of the sector dealing with warehouses and warehouse logistics systems, and Hilti, a leading multinational company engaged in the development and manufacturing of products, services and software for building professionals.

This conference, sponsored by ANRA – the Italian National Association of Risk Managers and Corporate Insurance Officers, will be an important opportunity to explore in depth many aspects of safety in warehouses and to examine and interpret the relevant regulations, share and debate experience, research and studies on the topic.

In fact, only 5% of warehouses in Italy are designed to withstand seismic actions. A racking system built according to anti-seismic criteria should be a fundamental feature in the creation of warehouses. Proper design and execution of all structural aspects of a warehouse (flooring, fixing and metal structure) is a key precondition for reducing the risk of collapse associated with normal operation and a potential seismic event, in order to obtain an adequate level of safety.

Users, owners, and warehouse safety managers often fail to take sufficient account of the risk associated with the use of unsuitable equipment, underestimating the risk of collapse. Over the last few years, there has been an increase in the number of accidents caused by the collapse of racking, due to impacts by handling vehicles or connected to seismic events, as we all remember in 2012 during the earthquake in Emilia.

When purchasing new racking or refurbishing an existing warehouse, it is important to carry out an adequate risk assessment in accordance with the provisions of the current unified code on workplace safety. International standards are available that can guide the designer or the manufacturer towards the proper manufacturing of warehouses, in order to significantly reduce the risk of collapse associated with normal operation or potential seismic events and thus obtain an adequate safety level.

The appointment, organised by Modulblok and Hilti, under the patronage of ANRA, will be opened by Mr Salvaterra from ANRA, who will explore the field of seismic vulnerability of warehouses, analysing related risks and increased resilience. Modulblok’s Mr Tito Cudini will further examine the safety aspects of racking systems in seismic areas: the Italian regulatory framework and the European state of the art. With a strong academic value, the intervention of Mr Giovanni Plizzari, professor at the University of Brescia, will introduce the strategies for intervention in the design and construction of industrial flooring in seismic areas. The conference will end in the late morning with the address by Mr Alessandro Ferraro from Hilti, related to the requirements of post-instalment anchoring systems for the safety of storage facilities in seismic zones.

Thanks to this event, the two companies further confirm their commitment to providing the right solutions for working and living in completely safe conditions. An event that will take place in Ancona, in the Marche: a region heavily affected by recent seismic events where houses, workplaces and production facilities have been heavily damaged or completely destroyed due to the lack of adequate seismic-resistant structures. Now, more than ever, the region wishes to start again with properly regulated reconstruction in order to be able to be an example of proper anti-seismic design in the future.