Steel gratings may be installed using welding, specialized installation clips, or powder-actuated fasteners. Each steel grating panel shall be secured using no fewer than four installation clips. With the exception of clips manufactured from stainless steel, installation clips and bolts made of carbon steel must undergo hot-dip galvanization or an equivalent surface treatment; the diameter of such bolts shall be no less than 8 mm. When secured using powder-actuated fasteners, the penetration depth of the fasteners shall be no less than 10 mm and must satisfy the fastening strength requirements specified in the industrial platform design.
Once installed, steel grating panels must remain immobile and securely seated on their supporting frames; the bearing bars at both ends of each panel must have a minimum bearing length of 25 mm on the supporting structure. All steel grating components must be firmly anchored to the supporting structure and shall not rely on adjacent components to prevent lateral displacement. The use of removable steel grating panels with equal length and width dimensions (square panels) should be avoided; if such panels must be used, additional positioning measures shall be implemented to prevent incorrect orientation of the bearing bars-a condition that could lead to the risk of the grating panel dislodging and falling.
Periodic inspections of the fastening components are required to detect any signs of corrosion, hazardous loosening, or displacement of the clips.
Steel grating work platforms are typically designed to accommodate a uniformly distributed load of 2 kN/m². Furthermore, at the most critical location on the platform, a localized area of 200 mm × 200 mm must be capable of supporting a concentrated load of 1.5 kN. Maintenance platforms are generally designed to accommodate a uniformly distributed load of 4 kN/m². Steel grating walkways intended for single-person traffic shall have a uniformly distributed load capacity of no less than 3.0 kN/m²; walkways intended for two-way traffic shall have a capacity of no less than 5.0 kN/m²; and walkways intended for high-density pedestrian traffic shall have a capacity of no less than 7.5 kN/m².