It is a question that is often asked, indeed, almost always, by those who are about to buy or install metal shelving for their warehouse for the first time. Should a metal shelving system be anchored to the wall behind it?
The first instinct would make us say yes: after all, if anchoring the shelving to the floor guarantees stability, fixing it to the wall should double security. However, we do not take into account a fundamental element: anti-seismic safety.
A metal shelving anchored to the wall, in fact, in the event of an earthquake – even slight – could not dampen the seismic wave that propagates through the wall, but would undergo them fully, causing serious damage to both the structure and the goods stored. Conversely, if the metal shelving is not anchored to the wall, in the event of a seismic event it can absorb shocks in a much more elastic way, reducing the possibility of collapses or damage to things and people.
So, on this, the anti-seismic legislation is clear: industrial metal shelving should not be fixed to the walls.