Can labels be applied inside a freezer?

Only with an adhesive specified for it. Many durable label constructions have a minimum application temperature around +10 °C even though they operate down to −40 °C, so applying them in a running freezer produces a bond that fails within weeks. Either apply during a defrost or shutdown, or specify a deep-freeze adhesive rated for application at the temperature that will actually be present.

How often should racking and its notices be checked?

EN 15635 covers inspection of storage equipment in use, and the regime commonly applied under it combines routine visual checks by trained warehouse staff with an expert inspection by a technically competent person, in most member states at intervals of no more than twelve months. Confirm the interval against the national guidance for the site. Label condition belongs in that check, because warehouse safety depends on it: an unreadable location label and a missing load notice are both defects, and warehouse signs that no longer match the installation are worse than none.

Are magnetic racking labels better than self-adhesive ones?

They are better where locations change and the racking is steel, and worse where locations are permanent, where the surface is not ferrous, or where the label is exposed to repeated forklift contact that can knock a holder out of position. Cold is a separate consideration, because ferrite-based flexible magnets lose coercivity as the temperature falls.

How large does a racking label barcode need to be for high-level storage?

Size follows the X-dimension the scan distance demands. A 15 mil Code 128 symbol is decodable to under two metres, while reaching beyond seven metres calls for an X-dimension in the 55 mil range or above, which makes a twelve-character symbol several hundred millimetres wide. Confirm the working range published for the specific scan engine in use before fixing a label size.

What is the best material for rack labels?

A synthetic face-stock, polypropylene or polyester, with a protective laminate, will withstand nearly every warehouse environment. Polyester handles the widest temperature range and resists abrasion best, polypropylene is a lower-cost synthetic for ambient sites, and self-adhesive paper is only appropriate for dry, low-traffic small parts shelving that will be relabelled anyway.

Are racking labels a legal requirement?

Location labels are not, but load marking is. Annex I, point 2.15 of Directive 2009/104/EC requires that work equipment bear the warnings and markings essential to ensure the safety of workers, and EN 15635 requires a printed load notice to be provided with the equipment and permanently displayed on or adjacent to the racking. Location identification labels are an operational choice; the load notice is not.

Racking Labels: Types, Materials and Load-Marking Duties

Updated: 8 September 2026 Andrzej Łukomski

Stickers - Tips from the pros

Racking labels are the identification markers fixed to pallet racking, shelving and storage areas so that every location has one unambiguous address. Rack labels are sold as a single category, but a complete scheme normally combines three different things that are often confused with each other: location labels that carry a barcode and a human-readable code for the warehouse management system, aisle markers and floor markers that guide the operator to the right run of racking, and load notices that state the safe working load of the racking itself.

The first two exist to make picking faster and to improve organisation across warehouse operations. The third exists because the racking is work equipment, and marking its capacity is a legal duty across the European Union rather than a housekeeping preference. Specifying racking labels well means deciding those three jobs separately, then choosing one material and one fixing method that survives the warehouse environment they will live in.

The types of rack labels, and what each one is actually for

Each of the rack labels in a warehouse solves a different problem, and mixing them up is the most common reason a labelling system fails an audit. Pallet rack labels, or beam labels, sit on the front face of the beam and identify the pallet position below or above them. Upright or totem labels run vertically down the frame and show several levels at once, which is what makes high-level storage locations readable from the aisle floor. Bin labels, shelf labels and shelving labels identify small parts locations on shelving rather than pallet racking. Floor markers identify block-stacked storage areas where there is no steel to fix to. Load notices are safety signs and signage rather than location identification, and they belong on the frame at the end of each run.

Marker	Where it goes	What it carries	Typical fixing
Beam label	Front face of the beam, at pick height	Location code, barcode or QR code, level arrow	Self-adhesive, or magnetic backing on steel beams
Upright or totem label	Vertical face of the frame	Several levels of the bay in one column	Self-adhesive on prepared steel
High-level location label	Beam faces above roughly four metres	Enlarged barcode and oversized characters	Self-adhesive, often retroreflective face
Shelving labels or bin labels	Shelf edge, small parts bins	Part number, description, minimum quantity	Label holders, ticket holders or adhesive backing
Floor marker	Concrete in front of block storage	Location code, bay outline	Heavy-duty laminated vinyl labels
Load notice	End frame of each racking run	Safe working load per beam level and per bay	Permanent adhesive or mechanically fixed plate

Warehouse rack labels are usually ordered as one family of parts, and colour-coded labels are useful on top of this structure, typically one colour per level or per temperature zone, but colour should never be the only carrier of meaning. Operators working under sodium or mixed lighting, and anyone with a colour vision deficiency, need the code itself to give clear identification when read from a distance. The same reasoning applies to vinyl floor stickers used as location markers, where the printed code has to survive being driven over as well as being seen.

Why the load notice is a legal duty and not an accessory

Marking the capacity of racking is a statutory duty across the European Union, and this is the part of warehouse labelling and signage that most label specifications leave out. Directive 2009/104/EC of 16 September 2009 concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for the use of work equipment by workers at work sets the requirement in Annex I, point 2.15, in a single sentence: “Work equipment must bear the warnings and markings essential to ensure the safety of workers.” Point 2.11 of the same annex adds that warning devices on work equipment “must be unambiguous and easily perceived and understood”. Storage racking is work equipment, so its load capacity marking falls inside that directive, which every member state has transposed into its own national health and safety law.

A second directive sits alongside it. Council Directive 92/58/EEC of 24 June 1992 on the minimum requirements for the provision of safety and/or health signs at work obliges employers to provide safety signs “where hazards cannot be avoided or adequately reduced by techniques for collective protection or measures, methods or procedures used in the organization of work”. An overload risk on a racking run cannot be designed away by procedure alone, which is why the load notice is treated as a safety sign rather than as an operational label.

On the standards side, EN 15635:2008, Steel static storage systems. Application and maintenance of storage equipment turns the duty into a specification. Clause 8, on the use of the storage equipment, requires that a printed load notice be provided by the supplier giving sufficient loading information on the equipment, and that it be permanently displayed by the user on, or adjacent to, the racking or shelving. Annex B of the same standard gives examples of typical load warning notices, which is the closest thing the sector has to an agreed layout. The standard also governs inspection of the installation once it is in service, and label condition belongs inside that inspection.

Two practical consequences follow for anyone buying racking labels. First, the load notice has to stay legible for the life of the installation, which means it is specified like a durable warning label rather than like a pick-face location label. Second, load notices are tied to a specific beam and frame configuration, so any reorganisation that changes beam levels invalidates them. Relabelling a warehouse without reissuing the load notices leaves the racking marked with capacities that no longer apply.

How far the barcode must be read, and what that does to the label

Reading distance, not durability, is what usually dictates the physical size of a racking label. The narrow bar width of a linear barcode, its X-dimension, sets the maximum range at which any scanner can decode it. Published decode ranges for a current long-range warehouse scan engine make the relationship concrete: a 15 mil Code 128 symbol decodes out to 182.9 cm, a 20 mil Code 39 symbol to 276.9 cm, a 55 mil Code 39 symbol to 744.2 cm, and a 100 mil Code 39 symbol to 1,407.2 cm, with the same engine reaching 685.8 cm on a 100 mil Data Matrix (Zebra SE55 advanced range engine specification sheet). Those figures are all subject to print resolution, contrast and ambient light, which is why print quality on a high-level label is not a cosmetic question.

Turning a range requirement into a label width is arithmetic. Under ISO/IEC 15417:2007, every Code 128 symbol character is 11 modules wide, the stop character is 13 modules, and the non-data overhead comes to 35 modules in total. A twelve-character location code therefore occupies 35 + (12 × 11) = 167 modules, before quiet zones. At a 0.38 mm X-dimension that symbol is roughly 63 mm wide and will not be decoded beyond about two metres. At a 2.54 mm X-dimension the same code is roughly 424 mm wide, which is why genuine high-level location labels are large panels rather than stickers. Warehouses that skip this calculation end up buying a scanner upgrade to compensate for a label that was printed too small.

The human-readable part has its own geometry. ISO 3864-1:2011 defines a factor of distance in Clause 3.2 as z = l ÷ h, the ratio of observation distance to sign height, and relates sign dimensions to observation distance in Annex A. Applying the same ratio discipline to location characters, rather than choosing a character height by eye, is what makes a bay identifiable from the end of the aisle instead of only from underneath it.

Choosing a material for the conditions the label will live in

Material selection for challenging conditions turns on three separate failure modes: cold, moisture and abrasion. Durable materials are not interchangeable across warehouse environments. The most misunderstood of the three is cold, because the temperature at which a label can be applied and the temperature at which it can operate are different numbers. A standard thermal transfer polyester construction is a clear illustration: 3M Thermal Transfer Polyester Label Material 7818 has a minimum application temperature of 10 °C but long-term service resistance from −40 °C to 149 °C. It will survive a freezer indefinitely and will not bond if it is applied inside one. Dedicated low-temperature adhesives exist for exactly this reason. Avery Dennison groups its range into deep-freeze adhesives for application down to −20 °C and chilled adhesives for the 0 °C to +8 °C band, and states that adhesive service temperature generally lies within −40 °C to +80 °C (Avery Dennison, low-temperature adhesive factsheet).

Abrasion is the failure mode nobody plans for. A pick-face location label at 900 mm from the floor is in the strike zone of pallet corners, hand pallet truck wheels and forklift forks, which is the single biggest threat to warehouse efficiency once a site is labelled. Print carriers matter here more than facestock thickness: thermal transfer with a resin ribbon, or screen and UV printing under a protective laminate, will outlast direct thermal or unprotected laser printer output in a high-traffic aisle by a wide margin. A matte or gloss laminate over the printed face is the cheapest single intervention that extends label life, because it takes the scuffing that would otherwise remove the barcode. The same logic underpins inspection and inventory stickers, where readability after years of handling is the whole point.

Moisture is the easiest to design around. Synthetic facestocks such as polypropylene and polyester withstand a wash-down or a condensation-heavy area without delaminating or cockling, and paper does not. Any label going into a chilled area will meet condensation every time the doors open, which rules out self-adhesive paper regardless of price.

Permanent or repositionable, and why the cold store answer is counter-intuitive

Magnetic racking labels are the standard answer for warehouses that reorganise, and for good reason. Magnetic label holders and label strips lift off steel beams cleanly, leave no residue and can be reissued when a location code changes, so the labour cost of a warehouse reorganisation collapses. Where a site expects to re-slot pick faces two or three times a year, that recurring labour saving typically outweighs the higher purchase price of magnetic labels.

The counter-intuitive part concerns cold stores, where general guidance and AI-generated answers commonly recommend magnetic labels on the grounds that freezer adhesives are unreliable. Flexible magnetic sheet is bonded ferrite, and ferrite behaves in a way that works against this advice. A hard ferrite factsheet from a European magnet producer puts the physics plainly: “At decreased temperatures, the remanence increases and the coercive field strength decreases”, and irreversible losses can occur at lower temperatures depending on the application. Published ferrite data sheets put the reversible temperature coefficient of intrinsic coercivity at about +0.27 %/°C, meaning coercivity falls as the material gets colder, and note that demagnetisation is possible in freezing conditions, with a higher working point reducing the risk (ferrite and ceramic magnet data sheet). Flexible magnetic sheet also carries a modest upper limit, commonly quoted at 60 °C maximum operating temperature, which matters under an uninsulated roof in summer.

In other words, magnetic backing is an excellent answer to churn and a questionable answer to cold on its own. A freezer location that changes often is a case for a magnetic label holder specified with the low-temperature grade confirmed by the magnet supplier, not for a general-purpose magnetic strip.

Situation	Recommended fixing	Reason
Stable bulk storage, ambient	Permanent self-adhesive labels	Lowest cost per location, no maintenance
Pick faces re-slotted several times a year	Magnetic label holders with printed inserts	Reissue the insert, not the fixing
Chilled area, 0 °C to +8 °C	Chilled-grade adhesive on synthetic facestock	Condensation resistance, adhesive rated for the band
Freezer, below −20 °C	Deep-freeze adhesive applied before the bay is chilled, or a cold-rated magnetic holder	Application temperature governs, and ferrite loses pull in the cold
Shelving and small parts, frequent changes	Ticket holders or ticket pouches	Paper inserts changed without touching the shelf
Non-ferrous shelving, plastic or timber	Self-adhesive labels only	No metal surfaces for a magnet to hold on

Treating location numbering as a system, not a batch of stickers

A labelling system is a naming convention first and a print job second. The usual structure runs aisle, bay, level, then position within the level, with a fixed number of digits in each field so that codes sort correctly in warehouse management and inventory management software and so that variable data printing can generate the whole site in one run. Two conventions decide how well it works in practice. Levels are conventionally numbered from the ground upwards, so adding a beam level at the top does not renumber the entire bay. Aisles are conventionally numbered so that the odd and even sides face each other, which lets an operator confirm they are in the right run without walking to the end.

Reorganisation is where systems fail. When a location code changes, the old barcode has to become unscannable, not merely be covered by a new label placed nearby. Block-out labels, an opaque overlay printed to kill the old symbol, exist for this reason, and they are cheaper than the mis-picks caused by a scanner reading a stale code through a translucent overlay. Customisable formats make this easy to get wrong, so sites planning a full relabel should agree the numbering convention, the label format and the load notice reissue in the same specification to optimise the whole scheme at once, then order the printed labels and stickers as one batch of warehouse rack labels so that material, laminate and print carrier are identical across the site.

Multi-site operators have one extra decision. A group running warehouses in several countries gets a cheaper and more auditable scheme by holding the numbering convention, the label material and the load notice layout common across the group, and varying only the language of the human-readable text and of the load notice wording. The barcode itself is language-neutral, so a single artwork template with a swapped text layer covers a network of sites without a separate specification for each one.

Where national rules diverge

The duty to mark work equipment is European, but it reaches the employer through national law, and the wording differs. Directive 2009/104/EC is a minimum-requirements directive, so member states may impose stricter national rules and several publish their own detailed warehouse guidance on top of the transposed text. The United Kingdom, now outside the European framework, retains a near-identical duty in regulation 23 of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, which requires every employer to ensure that work equipment is marked in a clearly visible manner with any marking appropriate for reasons of health and safety, and its national safety regulator publishes warehousing guidance asking for a clear, unambiguous notice securely fixed to racking stating the maximum load together with any specified load configurations.

The practical effect for a labelling specification is small, because the standard underneath is the same one either way. EN 15635 is a European standard adopted nationally across the member states and in the United Kingdom, so a load notice built to Annex B satisfies the technical expectation in every one of those markets. What changes between countries is the language on the notice, the national guidance a labour inspector will quote, and the record-keeping the inspector expects to see. An operator specifying labels for sites in more than one country should confirm the language requirement and the local inspection documentation, not the physical specification.

FAQ

Can labels be applied inside a freezer?

Only with an adhesive specified for it. Many durable label constructions have a minimum application temperature around +10 °C even though they operate down to −40 °C, so applying them in a running freezer produces a bond that fails within weeks. Either apply during a defrost or shutdown, or specify a deep-freeze adhesive rated for application at the temperature that will actually be present.
How often should racking and its notices be checked?

EN 15635 covers inspection of storage equipment in use, and the regime commonly applied under it combines routine visual checks by trained warehouse staff with an expert inspection by a technically competent person, in most member states at intervals of no more than twelve months. Confirm the interval against the national guidance for the site. Label condition belongs in that check, because warehouse safety depends on it: an unreadable location label and a missing load notice are both defects, and warehouse signs that no longer match the installation are worse than none.
Are magnetic racking labels better than self-adhesive ones?

They are better where locations change and the racking is steel, and worse where locations are permanent, where the surface is not ferrous, or where the label is exposed to repeated forklift contact that can knock a holder out of position. Cold is a separate consideration, because ferrite-based flexible magnets lose coercivity as the temperature falls.
How large does a racking label barcode need to be for high-level storage?

Size follows the X-dimension the scan distance demands. A 15 mil Code 128 symbol is decodable to under two metres, while reaching beyond seven metres calls for an X-dimension in the 55 mil range or above, which makes a twelve-character symbol several hundred millimetres wide. Confirm the working range published for the specific scan engine in use before fixing a label size.
What is the best material for rack labels?

A synthetic face-stock, polypropylene or polyester, with a protective laminate, will withstand nearly every warehouse environment. Polyester handles the widest temperature range and resists abrasion best, polypropylene is a lower-cost synthetic for ambient sites, and self-adhesive paper is only appropriate for dry, low-traffic small parts shelving that will be relabelled anyway.
Are racking labels a legal requirement?

Location labels are not, but load marking is. Annex I, point 2.15 of Directive 2009/104/EC requires that work equipment bear the warnings and markings essential to ensure the safety of workers, and EN 15635 requires a printed load notice to be provided with the equipment and permanently displayed on or adjacent to the racking. Location identification labels are an operational choice; the load notice is not.

Sources

The regulatory and technical claims above are drawn from primary documents rather than from supplier marketing, because the load-marking duty and the scanning geometry are the two areas where secondhand summaries are most often wrong. The duty is set out in European directives, the storage-equipment requirements in a European standard, and the material and scanning figures in manufacturers’ published technical data. National transposition adds wording but not a different obligation. Anyone specifying a warehouse labelling scheme should read the load notice requirement and the scan engine working range directly.