Cement storage in warehouses: Identify the INCORRECT practice among the following recommendations for safe stacking of cement bags.

Introduction / Context:
Correct warehouse stacking of cement prevents moisture ingress, caking, and collapse hazards. Standard recommendations address clearances, platforming, and stack dimensions.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Indoor covered storage with adequate ventilation.
• Bags are 50 kg typical paper or laminated bags.
• Conventional hand-stacked piles.

Concept / Approach:
Good practice includes: leaving clearance to walls for airflow and inspection, stacking on timber platforms to avoid capillary moisture from floors, and limiting stack size for safety. Within the stack, cross-stacking or header-stretcher patterns are used so adjacent layers do interlock and touch, improving stability. The directive that adjacent layers “do not touch” is wrong and unsafe.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Option (a): 30 cm wall clearance → correct.Option (b): Timber planks/platform to isolate from floor moisture → correct.Option (d): Height ≈ 2.7 m and manageable width ≈ 3 m → standard safe limits → correct.Option (c): Saying adjacent layers must not touch contradicts interlocking stack practice → incorrect → choose (c).

Verification / Alternative check:
Stacking guidelines recommend alternating bag directions between layers to interlock and prevent tipping; separation between layers is neither required nor desired.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
They reflect accepted warehousing practices intended to protect cement from moisture and ensure stability.

Common Pitfalls:
Placing bags directly on floors; pushing stacks against walls; over-height stacks causing deformation and accidents.

Final Answer:
Arrange bags so that the bags in one layer do not touch the bags in the adjacent layer is the incorrect practice.