"Where, oh where has my little pallet gone, oh, where oh where can it be. . ."

Some of you might have heard about the recent recall of Tylenol products. The recall was the result of potential odor problems caused by the pallets (presumably wooden) they were shipped on. The incident suddenly brought to mind an experience of mine that I’d like to share with you. 

Shipping Safety and the Pallet Factor

Two years ago, I was the EH&S Manager for a major multi-national manufacturer sending and receiving pallets of parts and finished products world-wide. I had some major concerns with in-bound materials. First, I wanted to ensure that our material handling was being done safely and that hazards such as sharp, springy steel banding, poor lifting, etc. were being properly managed. Second, to the extent that chemicals were involved, I wanted to make sure that all of our HazCom procedures were in place and being obeyed.

Other than concerns about splinters, the actual pallets were the furthest thing from my mind; nor did the folks in the Receiving Dept. give much thought to the pallets. Out-bound-wise, I simply expected us to ship materials on pallets in good condition so as not to endanger our customers or sister plants on the receiving end.

Then, one day, we received several "new" domestic wood pallets from an outside storage building that had an ominous black mold on them. We did a test and found that the mold was potentially harmful. So we sent the pallets out for reconditioning. 

We later learned that the pallets had been kept near pallets from European and possibly Asian sources. Now, those of you who work for companies that export to Europe know that the Europeans have standards on the wood used to construct pallets. In addition, paperwork must be completed and certification made for some shipments. That said, Asian pallets, especially those from China, are subject to little, if any, regulation. (American-produced pallets are all over the place in terms of standards.)

Keeping Track of Where Your Pallets Have Been

Wood pallets have a cellulose base that can easily transmit and "grow" any number of blights and molds. Consider, too, that the wall liners and floors of many semi-trailers are constructed of wood—ditto for box car and container floors. That’s a lot of cellulose to contend with!

So it’s important to determine where our pallets have been and what they have been in contact with. Tracking our pallets’ past enables us to identify not only the potential blights to which they were exposed but the controls that were in place to control those hazards.  

Two solutions come to mind:

• Use only pallets made of plastic or metal; or
• Provide a careful inspection of certified wood pallets and document their travels. 

Some of our 'reused' pallets from customers and vendors were stamped with the name of the original owner but even in captive-service, tracking the previous travels of pallets isn’t simple.

Conclusion

With all the recent focus on hand-washing to prevent H1N1 contagion, I submit to you the following question: Are we thinking about what our pallets may bring us (or take from us)? I welcome thoughts and experiences of my fellow SafetyXChange members so we can avoid our own recalls and the notoriety they bring.

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