solved

Storage earthquake conundrum

Canterbury-based Vaico says it has found the solution to protect New Zealand workers and stored goods in major earthquakes.

The new Pallet Restraining System (PRS) is an amazingly simple, elegant and cost- effective invention that helps to keep pallets and goods in place during seismic events, says the company.

The Christchurch earthquakes and more recent seismic events in the Kaikoura and Wellington regions have confronted every manufacturer, storage operator or transport company with dangers of working in elevated storage facilities.

“We are aware of the dangers of falling materials and after nine years of development we now have the system to help protect staff and mitigate loss of materials,” says Vaico co- director Ashton How.

The company reports the globally patented invention has already been hailed as an essential part of any racking or storage facility that takes the health and safety of their staff seriously.

The Vaico PRS activates immediately in a seismic event to drop in front of the pallets, lock them in and helps keep the goods and the workforce safe. Drop, lock, safe.

The Vaico PRS is said to be the only seismic restraint device that can be retrofitted on any existing facility without changing the racking configuration.

Dexion, Vaico’s exclusive supplier and installer in New Zealand, can install the PRS in minutes with minimal interference of the warehouse operations. Once installed, the elegantly designed PRS is neatly tucked away and does not get in the way of any handling of goods.

“Most importantly, being manufactured in Christchurch, the price point of the PRS does not only make it the smartest, but also the most costeffective solution to protect storage facilities from seismic events,” says How.

Vaico is a Rangiora-based company with a second office in Auckland and are New Zealand’s leading provider of customised, non-structural, seismic engineering solutions.

The locally-owned company is the New Zealand partner for United States market leader International Seismic Application Technologies.

“They are also very interested in the PRS and we will use that relationship to introduce the PRS into the North American market,” says How. www.demm.co.nz/reader- enquiry #171012

THE BOTTOM BAR HAS DROPPED FROM ITS HOLDING POSITION WHEN ACTIVATED BY A SEISMIC EVENT WHILE THE TOP BAR HAS ALREADY DROPPED AND LOCKED IN FRONT OF THE PALLET TO STOP IT FROM MOVING.