What is it like to Work in a Warehouse?

work in a warehouse UK

Warehouses help to produce thousands of jobs, and good ones can produce thousands of careers, though not every warehouse is the same. What it’s like to work in a warehouse depends entirely on the warehouse itself.

A Bad Warehouse: A Lack of Racking Safety, A Lack of Planning, and A Lack of Respect

Bad working environments in warehouses are a serious problem in the UK, as this article by Simon Goodley makes clear. In the warehouse he writes about, staff are mistreated, corners are cut, and trust is non-existent. All of this can be both the cause of and the result of bad safety standards.

When employee motivation is low, when they do not care about the company they work for, then they are more inclined to take risks when it comes to safety. Likewise, if there is little safety regulation for employees working long hours in a potentially dangerous situation, this will have a negative effect on their morale.

This is a genuine concern for HSE, which is why they are delivering courses by psychologists on how negative behaviour from employees can increase the danger. In a follow-up course, they are explaining how positive behaviour can create a safer workplace.

If the bad attitudes in a warehouse are not address, then the machinery and pallet racking systems will bear the brunt of it. Soon, you are working in a warehouse that is dangerous through misuse. And once again, the same is true of the employer.

Their bad attitude towards their employees can mean that a warehouse is unsafe because racking safety was not build into the design of the building. This sends a message to employees to ignore racking safety and so the same cycle continues.

A Good Warehouse: Regular Racking Inspections, Racking Inspection Training, and a Respect for Safety and Staff

Regular racking inspections from a SEMA approved racking inspector have two effects. The first is that you can ensure the safety of your pallet racking and the second is that employees feel valued because time and money are being spent on their safety. Employees will return this respect with proper use and, in the long run, a better work rate.

HSE recommend an “expert inspection” from a SEMA approved racking inspector once every 12 months, but you can never be too careful. This is why racking inspection training is another way to guarantee that your warehouse is a positive and safe working environment. As with the inspections, employees feel valued and invested in and, with proper management, they will return this investment by doing good work.

Warehouse working can be a great thing, but as with any career, this is only true if employees and employers respect each other, the business, and the rules of safety.

Make your warehouse a great place to warehouse work with racking inspection training and a pallet racking inspection from the best SEMA approved racking inspector in the UK.

3 Reasons Why the Tate Modern Uses Storage Equipment Experts

pallet racking inspections

Everybody knows that pallet racking inspections are vital to the continued safety of any warehouse, but not all pallet racking inspections are equal. As a result, there are several reasons why big companies like Tate Modern use Storage Equipment Experts for their racking safety.

A SEMA Approved Inspector With a Passion for the Industry

HSE state that all businesses need an “expert” pallet racking inspection once every 12 months from a “technically competent” person, recommending “expert inspectors under the SARI (SEMA approved rack inspector)

scheme”. The racking safety services provided at Storage Equipment Experts are done so by a SEMA approved inspector but, more than that, this is a SEMA approved inspector with a passion for his field.

If there’s one thing Tate Modern respects and understands, it’s excitement about your work, and we at Storage Equipment Experts have this is in spades. This is why large British and even larger American publications have asked for our opinion on different issues within the realm of racking safety and it’s also why we are happy to give it. Our ability and our desire to write about what we do reinforces our knowledge of the industry and helps us to deliver the highest quality racking inspections and racking inspection training in the UK.

The Best SEMA Approved Inspector in the UK and the only SEMA Approved Inspector in London

Storage Equipment Experts is home to one of the few SEMA approved inspectors in the UK and the only SEMA approved inspector in London. Our central base in London means we are accessible from everywhere in the UK for people who want to visit us for racking inspection training. The reverse is also true for people who want us to visit them for a pallet racking inspection. By train, London is just over two hours from Manchester, less than three hours from Newcastle, and less than four and half hours from Edinburgh.

Racking Inspection Training for a Complete Approach to Racking Safety

Beyond providing racking inspections from a SEMA approved racking inspector, writing about racking safety, and producing a free racking inspection checklist, we take the delivery of racking safety one step further.

We are proud to deliver the best racking inspection training course in the UK, alongside all of our other services, as part of a complete approach to racking safety. We believe that all warehouse storage systems should be as safe as possible, which is why we make efforts in every direction to ensure that the service we provide is the best. That’s why Tate Modern uses us, and that’s why you should use us too.

Call us for a racking inspection by a SEMA Approved inspector and racking inspection training from the company that is trusted by some of the biggest names in warehousing.

Start 2016 with Racking Inspections And Training from SEMA Approved Inspectors

Racking inspection training UK

If there’s one New Year’s Resolution that warehouse owners should stick to, it’s making sure that their pallet racking inspections systems are as safe as possible. January is a great month to make sure your business has a post-Christmas visit by a SEMA approved racking inspector.

Racking safety and the Christmas gone by

The stress of Christmas may be over, but your pallet racking systems will have taken quite a lot of stress this holiday season too. The festive months of November and December are usually the busiest for commerce and for businesses in general. This extra business is great news for sales, but it can be bad news for racking safety if you ignore your warehouse’s needs. Now that your warehouse is quieter, it’s the perfect time to assess your storage systems with a pallet racking inspection.

Racking Safety and the Science of Temperature

The science of cold weather can be fun for those who are interested in the magic it can do, but this same science also means that the cold can have a negative effect on the metal in your warehouse. Metal contracts in the cold and expands in the heat.

This expansion and contraction, across your whole warehouse during the cold months of January, can mean that your racking is under stress even if it is being used with the utmost care. If your staff have racking inspection training, then they can check on the effects of this. Still, if you’re unsure, it’s always a good idea to call a SEMA approved racking inspector.

A New Year, a New Start…

Make 2016 the year that you nip safety issues in the bud. HSE recommend a traffic light system for the racking inspections: green means okay, amber requires attention, and red requires immediate attention. This year, keep all your racking green and make your warehouse a zero accident workplace. Motivation in business is a big thing when it comes to sales and marketing but It is not utilise in workplace safety. At Storage Equipment Experts, we believe in motivating staff for safety. The start of a new year, and the extra push of racking inspection training, is a great way to achieve this motivation.

Begin this new year with a newfound knowledge of pallet racking safety. Contact SEMA Racking Inspections today for a pallet racking inspection and racking inspection training from the UK’s best SEMA approved racking inspector.

The Link Between Racking Safety and Sustainability

Racking Safety and Sustainability Business

Sustainable business and safe business are two things that go hand in hand more often than people realise. A practice introduced to increase safety usually has the added bonus of making a company more sustainable and vice versa. The inverse is also true, and examples of this are everywhere.

Short-Term Thinking: Lack of Safety and Lack of Sustainability in Business

In the United States, the four most dangerous states to work in, as measured by workplace fatalities per 100,000 workers, are North Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming, and Alaska. As a result, it’s not surprising to learn that the four biggest polluting states, as measured by carbon emissions per capita, are North Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming, and Alaska.

Around the world, there are far too many other examples of unsafe working conditions being linked with unsustainable business practices. In China, poor warehouse safety caused two chemical explosions. This was devastating for both the local people and the local environment. In Indonesia, appalling working conditions are being coupled with one of the deadliest environmental catastrophes of the last two centuries.

Short-term thinking in business is what leads to both danger and environmental problems. Due to unsafe working conditions during stadium building for the 2022 World Cup, Qatari businesses are responsible for thousands of deaths. This same shortsightedness in business explains why Qatar is also the largest producer of carbon emissions per capita in the world.

Long-Term Thinking: How Racking Safety Leads to More Sustainable Business

Journalist Aishwarya Nair looks back on when government safety guidelines first introduced, noting that “businesses eventually realised that health and safety benefited their bottom line”. She then goes on to argue that businesses now “need to recognise sustainability does the same”. The idea is a sound one. After all, if your business is safe and sustainable, then it will most likely be more efficient and therefore more economical too.

Racking safety is a prime example of this. Unsafe racking is harder to use, more likely to lead to spillages, and requires time. All of these things can harm the workers, the environment, and profits respectively. This is why it is good for businesses to have regular pallet racking inspections and racking inspection training from a SEMA approved racking inspector: it is smart decision that will benefit them long term.

In order to be safe and sustainable, businesses need to look to the future. Investing in decisions that help to achieve long-term goals requires patience and foresight. More than that, long-term thinking is the key to making a business a good thing for workers and a good thing for the planet.

Invest in your business’ long-term future with racking inspection training for you and your staff from the UK’s best SEMA approved racking inspector.

What Does 2016 Mean for Racking Safety?

Racking Safety in SEMA approved inspectors UK

2015 was a big year for racking safety, with the SEMA Safety Conference in November, the SEMA Seminar in June, and HSE’s introduction of new CDM regulations, but 2016 promises to be even bigger. Here are a few things to look out for this year.

1. Racking Safety Awareness Training & Racking Inspection Training

As usual, SEMA are running a variety of racking safety awareness courses throughout the year. SEMA have outlined their schedule for 2016 with three to four courses being run every month. The courses are all on racking safety, cantilever racking safety, and racking maintenance.

Many businessmen and SEMA approved racking inspectors will be in attendance. Here at Storage Equipment Experts, we too are continuing our commitment to safety training by continuing to run our racking inspection training course: the best course of its kind in the UK.

2. HSE’s New Attitude Towards Racking Safety, Warehouse Safety, and Workplace Safety

The current government and the previous coalition government have made several promises to treat mental health with the same concern as physical health, and HSE’s new series of courses seem to echo these promises. On their website, HSE has a full list of the courses on offer in the first few months of 2016, and several of these are dedicated to understanding how behaviour and mental health can affect the workplace.

The idea that prevention is the best form of protection for racking has long been a mantra for people in the warehousing industry. Consequently, in the June 2015 SEMA Seminar, the idea of “racking protection” was clarified; physical protection should be a last resort but racking safety regulations and regular racking inspection come first.

With HSE’s new courses on workplace behaviour and mental health, managers and employers can focus on a third level of protection: Why do workers take risks in the first place? How can I identify safe and unsafe behaviour? And how can I encourage healthier and therefore safer behaviour in my workplace?

At Storage Equipment Experts, we have long believed that the right behaviour, the right attitude, and the right motivation are key to the safety of any business. We agree that, while regulations are important, it is also vital to look at the human side of safety. Businesses are usually keen to motivate their staff for sales, but they are not often as keen to motivate them for safety.

However, Storage Equipment Experts, HSE, and the larger safety community see things differently. With a new attitude towards mental health and some great training lined up, 2016 will be a brave new year for racking safety and British workplace safety as a whole.

Start this brave new year with a smart and safe choice. Contact Storage Equipment Experts for a racking inspection and racking inspection training from the best SEMA approved racking inspector in the UK!