Shelf Help : Quakes Prompt Retailers to Take Stock of Racks’ Safety

Ever since a 7.4-magnitude earthquake jarred the Southland two weeks ago, retailers have been trying to allay rising concern over seismic safety and ensure that their shelved products--and their reputations--do not come tumbling down with the next subterranean jolt.

Some local government and community-based public safety groups are pushing retailers to do more to ensure that goods stored on high racks are secure. The issue is particularly sensitive for warehouse discount stores such as the Price Club, Home Depot and Costco--retailers that store some of their goods on racks ranging from eight feet to 16 feet high.

The city of Montebello recently asked Price Co., a San Diego-based warehouse chain, to address the issue of seismic safety as it relates to tall racks the company might install in a proposed new Price Club outlet in that community. Regulations already require retailers to take measures to keep commonly used racks and shelves constrained.

Montebello has asked the company for the obligatory building plan and for information on how Price Co. plans to secure items on the newer tall racks, said Paul Deibel, director of planning for Montebello.

“We’d like to ensure that loaded racks would not fall off shelves by determining if they are designed to withstand an earthquake,” Deibel said.

However, goods did not fall from tall racks at existing Price Club stores during the recent temblors because employees generally tie down goods or constrain items by “shrink-wrapping” them in plastic with other goods, said Jacklyn Horton, executive vice president of Price Co.

“Price Co. takes extreme precautions to protect the merchandise on our racks and to ensure that it survives seismic activity,” she said.

To be sure, the issue of seismic safety at public sites such as commercial establishments generally gets new attention after an earthquake. Firms involved in seismic contracting, such as structural reinforcement, say a hop in their business is as inevitable as the aftershocks that followed recent Southland earthquakes.

“We expect more and more businesses to order internal and external modifications to their building--even if there are no new ordinances forcing them to make changes,” said Steve Notaro, co-owner of the Vernon-based Decoma Industries, a seismic safety firm specializing in engineering and construction. “However, new regulations and ordinances related to seismic safety are normally developed after a quake, and we’re expecting some new proposals.”

Indeed, some state and local officials say the safety issue should be examined. Tom Tobin, executive director of the Seismic Safety Commission, a state agency that investigates earthquakes and develops safety programs, said he would like to conduct a study of retail shelving and seismic safety--but lacks funding for such an effort.

Some structural engineers are recommending that retailers take further steps to secure goods stored on high racks. Also, some private, nonprofit earthquake safety groups have made similar recommendations, said Karl Deppe, chief of the earthquake division of the Los Angeles Building and Safety Department. Deppe said some California cities may enact ordinances requiring certain kinds of shelving restraints.

“More and more local governments are examining non-structural seismic safety--issues outside the question of the building itself,” he said.

However, other warehouse-style retailers also say they have taken adequate precautions. For example, Costco Wholesale Corp., a Kirkland, Wash.-based retailer with outlets in California, experienced no damage during the recent earthquake, said Jim Sinegal, the firm’s president.

“That’s probably an indication that the racking system is safer than it’s perceived,” Sinegal said.

Ikea, the furniture retailer, also has tall racks. Ikea’s shelving is safe, the company said, but it is willing to help fund a study of product restraint systems, said Rene Hausler, president of Ikea U.S. West, a four-store operation in the Los Angeles area that is part of the Swedish furniture giant’s 15-store chain.

Home Depot, the Atlanta-based home improvement warehouse chain, said it secures shelf items by shrink-wrapping goods when necessary. Managers and employees at the chain’s 54 California stores several years ago also began to conduct frequent safety inspections of racks, Home Depot executives said.

However, Bruce Munro, a Santa Clarita-based industrial products designer, said retailers using tall racks have not done enough.

Munro has been urging some warehouse-style retail chains to bolster restraints on goods stored near the tall racks and has offered to design such restraint systems for interested retailers.

“The measures they are taking are not adequate when there are severe (earthquake) jolts,” Munro said. “New methods for restraining goods should be developed and tested.”

But Munro has yet to obtain any seismic consulting contracts from retailers.

“I’m very disappointed that there’s no interest,” Munro said. “I can’t even generate an interest in providing a free demonstration of some of my ideas.”