EarthQuakes and GISO 3241

The key regulation is General Industry Safety Orders §3241, which requires employers to store material in a manner that prevents it from tipping, falling, collapsing, rolling or spreading. It also requires employers to secure merchandise on shelves higher than 12 feet of “working warehouses.”

Hazardous items can include items located six feet or more above the floor, according to Cal/OSHA. Mitigation methods include:

• Locating employee work stations and exits away from such areas.
  
• Anchoring, bracing, containing or restraining objects by using brackets, clips, latches, bolts, screws, tie-downs, braces and hook-and-loop material.
• Using physical barriers, such as fencing, netting or barricades.
• Restraining objects by methods designed by a California-licensed structural engineer.