The first-ever research into non-occupational injuries that occur due to unintentional contact with pallets yielded some startling statistics.
An estimated 30,493 people were treated at hospital emergency rooms for these pallet-related injuries in 2014-2018.
The research, published late last year by the Journal of Safety Research, was conducted by two professors, Judd Michael at Penn State University and Serap Gorucu at the University of Florida. Most of the injuries were minor and did not require hospitalization.
Nevertheless, their research identified two major areas of concern: 1) pallets used for merchandising and close contact with consumers in retail stores, and 2) homeowners utilizing pallets for do-it-yourself projects. The injuries and causes differed depending on whether the pallet was used in a retail or home environment. This article will focus on findings related to injuries caused in a retail setting. The research indicates that both wood and plastic pallets can pose danger if misused.
Besides displaying merchandise in aisles on racks and other store fixtures, big box stores also use pallets or other industrial packaging placed on floors and filled with merchandise, noted Michael. “That’s one of our points. Retailers need to be careful about putting stuff in the aisle where a consumer could trip over it.”
“It’s not really the pallet’s fault. It’s the retailer’s fault,” warned Michael.
About 3,964 people – accounting for approximately 14% of all pallet-related injuries – were treated for injuries they incurred at a retail establishment.
In analyzing the causes of these kinds of injuries, the study found that 4,841 people or 16% were hurt because they tripped on a pallet at ground level. That would be “reflective of injuries at retailers,” said Michael, although the figure apparently includes some cases of injuries outside a retail setting.
To put a finer point on it, 51% of the in-store injuries were caused by tripping on a pallet.
“I did not see many falls onto pallets that were loaded with a display and merchandise,” explained Michael. “Most falls onto pallets appeared to be a case where one or two unloaded pallets were on the floor and thus were not seen, and a patron (often elderly) tripped and fell onto them.”
The researchers studied data in the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s National Electronic Injury Surveillance System. This database collects emergency department data from approximately 100 hospitals selected as a probability sample for all of the more than 5,000 U.S. hospitals with emergency departments. In addition to patient demographics, incident date, emergency room diagnosis, injury location and patient disposition, the system contains brief narratives describing incident scenarios.
The findings raise the question: what can retailers that use pallets for merchandising do to prevent these kinds of injuries to customers?
“I think most retailers understand the cost of an injury from slips and falls,” commented Michael. Retailers routinely face lawsuits from people in such cases.
Judd Michael went so far as to suggest that retailers should not use pallets for merchandising. “Based on our findings, the first obvious practical application of these results would be to eliminate pallets from being used in consumer-facing retail locations where unintentional contact could occur,” he advised.
However, since many retailers depend on pallets as merchandising tools and are unlikely to stop using them as such, Michael suggested covering the pallet with a bright colored material like cloth or cardboard to make them stand out more. This would involve an additional step for retailers though, he acknowledged; in order to put a covering on the pallet it would have to be unloaded first, then covered, then re-loaded. Retailers would like to move a loaded pallet from a truck or storage area directly to the sales floor, he noted.
“One question we could not answer is whether painted pallets (that is, pooled pallets from CHEP and PECO) are inherently more visible than a white wood pallet,” said Michael. “The red PECO pallets, for example, might just be a better option because of their color.” (CHEP pallets are blue.)
Retailers may be able to reduce the risk of injuries by limiting the use of merchandising pallets in certain areas, suggested Michael. “My suspicion is that end-cap displays of merchandise on pallets are less dangerous than displays left in an aisle.” Pallets used in aisle displays “seem much more likely to cause an incident,” he cautioned.
What if retailers put a three-sided wire or metal enclosure around the pallet, like a cage, one side open to shoppers to access merchandise? Or signage either attached to the pallet or next to it?
Anything that adds work for retailers is less likely to be embraced, said Michael. However, retailers could ask their suppliers to provide such enclosures. “Some vendors are already very good at this, and it helps draw in customers to their display. The trick is it has to be done in a way that still allows the pallet to be moved by a pallet jack.”
At the very least, it would seem that retailers need to do a better job of keeping the sales floor free of empty, unused pallets. “Retailers should work to ‘round up’ any loose pallets and get them away from customers,” suggested Michael.
Frequently, empty pallets get left on the sales floor by a “low-level employee who is not paying attention.” While managers can’t be everywhere, establishing good pallet handling and storage protocols are important. Retailers need to train all workers on these policies and work to ensure compliance with standards.
In addition, retailers should never let a damaged pallet onto the sales floor or be used in racking systems, he said, since they are more likely to cause an injury from loose boards or nails, broken or damaged boards, splinters, etc.
Pallets are critical for supply chain success, but they can create a liability if misused or ignored, especially in a retail environment.
