The three categories
The three core impact protection systems
| System | Where it goes | What it stops |
|---|---|---|
| Column guard | Around the front 1m of every aisle-facing upright | Fork-tip impact at floor level |
| End-of-row protector | First and last frame in each aisle | Cornering forklifts and pallet swings |
| Barrier rail | Aisle perimeter and pedestrian crossings | Forklift travel-path errors |
Materials
Steel vs polymer column guards
Both materials have a place in Australian warehouses. Steel guards are workhorses — bolted to the slab, painted yellow and easily replaced when bent. Polymer guards (often called "energy-absorbing" or "shock-absorbing" guards) flex on impact without transferring the load into the upright behind them.
- Steel — best for heavy-impact zones with full-time forklift activity.
- Steel — easy to source, easy to replace, lowest unit cost.
- Polymer — best where the cost of upright replacement is high (e.g. cold rooms).
- Polymer — stays yellow with no repainting; no rust.
- Both — must be slab-anchored, not floor-glued.
- Both — height of at least 400 mm to match fork-tip strike zone.
End-of-row
End-of-row protectors
The first and last frames in any aisle take the most punishment because forklifts swing into and out of the aisle there. End-of-row protectors are taller and tougher than column guards — typically a U-shaped or hairpin-shaped steel barrier anchored independently of the rack.
Anchor it to the slab
Cheap end-of-row protectors bolt to the rack itself. That defeats the point — any impact transfers straight into the upright the protector was meant to defend. Always specify slab-anchored.
Layout
Where to spend the budget first
- Every aisle-facing front column in your two highest-throughput aisles.
- Every end-of-row frame, both ends of every aisle.
- Frames adjacent to the dispatch / loading dock door.
- Frames at any 90-degree forklift turn or pinch point.
- Cold-room and freezer racking (replacement uprights are slow to source).
- Pedestrian crossings — barrier rail, not just floor paint.