What are the 4 Most Dangerous Fictional Workplaces? A SEMA Approved Racking Inspector has the Answer…

At Storage Equipment Experts, one of the things we regularly see in cinema, literature, and theatre is a dangerous workplaces.

We let a lot of details slide in the name of telling a great story. After all, over the course of its ten-year run, Friends regularly changed the ages of its main characters as well as major events in their lives in order to tell a new joke or two. However, one thing that gets ignored far too often are the places where our beloved fictional characters work.

Even Fictional Workplace Safety is Important

Characters get into trouble, whether it is comic or tragic, for a whole host of reasons and so it wouldn’t be outside the realms of good story writing to make workplace safety a pivotal plot point. Instead, we are usually left wondering how on earth so many fictional businesses are still functioning. After all, with regards to Friends, who else works at Central Perk other than Rachel and Gunther? What happens when someone needs to call in sick? And have you ever once seen someone clean those tables?

For some stories though, a proper appreciation of workplace safety and the intricacies of the day-to-day workplaces helps to add an extra layer of realism.

The Wire, HBO’s flagship crime-drama, was praised for its six-year commitment to consistent realism. It built an extremely convincing and compelling picture of the city of Baltimore, not by using broad brushstrokes, but by patiently adding thousands of small details together.

And yes one of these details was workplace safety. It became an important plot point as Officer Polk considers purposefully throwing himself down an unsafe stairway so that he can retire early and live off the compensation. Eventually, he can’t bring himself to do it. However, that unsafe stairway helps to teach us more about Polk’s character and his motivations, or therein lack of, for being a policeman.

Still, not every television show is The Wire. Sometimes a story moves too fast for the characters to pause and consider the unsafe working environment that they’re in.

A Sci-Fi Show with Pallet Rack Inspections?

There’s no reason why it couldn’t happen! Over the course of Doctor Who’s 50 years, The Doctor has experienced every kind of drama — from the political to the intellectual, to the comedic, to the absurd — so why haven’t pallet rack inspections found their way into the story? Would it really be any stranger than that time the Doctor was trapped in the Big Brother house?

Firefly, another sci-fi classic, lasted for just one season. Yet, despite this, the show still made room for some very simple details. We watch the characters eat meals together, we see how their beds fold out, and in the opening section to one episode, the crew are playing some kind of made up sport together.

In this fictional universe, where the everyday details are what make the show so believable, a safety inspection of some kind wouldn’t be entirely out of place.

Workplace safety is much more important to storytelling than we often give it credit. With that in mind, here’s our infographic on the most dangerous fictional workplaces of all time…

Whether it’s fairytale fantasy or fast-paced fight scenes, workplace safety factors into a lot more stories than we realise. Eddie Izzard once pointed out that the Death Star must have had a canteen. Equally, it must have had a safety inspector of some sort…

Pallet racking safety is no fiction! Contact Storage Equipment Experts for the best pallet rack inspections in the UK.

The 14th Annual Forklift Safety Conference takes place at the end of this month and there are plenty of reasons why it affects everyone.

The Forklift Safety Conference has taken place every year since 2002, and it affects a lot more than just forklift experts. With over a million forklifts sold in 2014 alone — that figure having risen steadily for several years — forklifts are serious business.

A warehouse in Telford recently learnt the value of a well-made forklift after its roll cage saved a worker from a potentially fatal racking collapse. All of which brings us to our first top tip for forklift safety…

1. Forklift Safety Should be Partnered with Racking Safety and Warehouse Safety

If pallet racking is properly secured, then it should be able to withstand most forklift impacts. Of course, forklift impacts should be avoided at all costs, and proper use of a forklift will ensure this. However, sometimes, no matter how careful you are, an accident might happen because the environment you are driving in is dangerous and not the forklift itself.

This is why forklift safety should be partnered with racking and warehouse safety. If your pallet racks are loaded properly, then a forklift can drive down aisles without worrying. However, this is permitting that the aisles themselves are free from obstructions or slippery services.

Another way that racking safety should be partnered with forklift safety is with the use of rack protectors. These can — and should — be added to racking wherever there is likely to be a collision. Though this comes with a caveat. Both we at Storage Equipment Experts and SEMA themselves are of the opinion that physical rack protectors are often misused. That is to say, many businesses are often over-reliant on them.

The best form of racking protection comes in the form of prevention and protection. Put another way…

2. Racking Inspections from Racking Inspection Experts and Racking Inspection Training are the Best Form of Rack Protection

They really are. That’s why HSE agrees with us that pallet racking should be inspected by an expert, such as a SEMA approved rack inspector on a regular basis. And regular, in this context, means at least once a year. Added to that, HSE also states that racking requires a more regular inspection from internal warehouse staff. For this, we recommend racking inspection training.

The net result should be racking which is secure enough that, should a forklift bump into it, the system will not completely collapse. Forklift safety should be followed at all times but, should the worst happen, secure racking is there to make sure that a bad situation is not made worse.

3. Warehouse Safety is a Positive Feedback Loop

If you obey HSE’s guidance on racking safety, then you will be safe when something goes wrong with your forklift. If you obey HSE’s guidance on forklift safety, then you will be safe when something goes wrong with your racking. The two disciplines compliment each other well, but this is also true across your whole warehouse.

Your warehouse is a delicate system. When one thing goes wrong, it often leads to other problems. Wet floors lead to slips and trips, which can lead to low employee motivation, unsafe behaviour, and yet more accidents. However, the reverse is also true. That is to say, when things go right it can lead to other things going right.

If you use your forklift properly, then your racking will be safer. And if your racking systems are safer, then your whole warehouse will be safer too. Good things have a way of snowballing in much the same way that bad things do.

Combining forklift safety with racking safety is the best way to ensure that your warehouse is living up to its potential! Contact Storage Equipment Experts, the best racking safety experts in the UK!

The possibility of a Brexit is a very real one, and so it’s worth considering what it would mean for workplace health and safety.

At Storage Equipment Experts, we take pride in our knowledge of workplace health and safety, which is why we offer both SEMA approved rack inspections and pallet racking inspections from a racking inspection expert. However, with the EU being largely responsible for shaping workplace safety in the UK, it’s worth considering what a Brexit would mean.

HSE Recommend Racking Inspections by SEMA Approved Inspectors…

We often tell our customers that the authority of SEMA approved racking inspectors ultimately comes from HSE. HSE recommends an expert pallet rack inspection at least once a year to ensure racking safety. They mention SEMA approved rack inspectors (SARIs) by name as an example of racking inspection experts. This decision is made by HSE alone.

Still, there are a few things to bear in mind. First, there are many EU Directives that affect UK law, and that can have an affect on HSE. And sometimes the influence of EU Directives are hard to separate from HSE’s own decision making, something which HSE itself has admitted.

The second thing to bear in mind is that SEMA and the EU have a relationship which could change if Britain were to leave the EU. The resulting split could lead to SEMA having less authority, but this is also unlikely. SEMA and HSE’s relationship has only become closer over the years, with talks of SEMA even helping to create a law which HSE will enforce. From this, it seems almost certain that HSE and SEMA’s relationship will continue whatever the results of the referendum. And so whatever the reason for HSE’s recommendation, it is highly unlikely that HSE will stop recommending racking inspections by SEMA Approved inspectors. After all, if something is working, and working well, why change it?

Inside the EU, or outside of it, HSE will most probably carry on recommending pallet racking inspections from racking inspection experts at least once a year.

What about Warehouse and Workplace Safety as Whole?

The future of warehouse safety and workplace safety in a general sense is much less certain. As a rule, it’s fair to say that the more general the question is about the Brexit, the less certain the answer will be. As columnist David Mitchell pointed out in a recent article, “No one knows if we will be better off inside or outside the EU. The liars are those who claim to be certain.”

With regards to workplace safety, there is a lot of truth to this. To find out how safe or unsafe the EU makes the British workplace, the EU Directives that have influenced HSE decisions will have to be weighed up against the ones that HSE have decided upon themselves. That sort of comparison is next to impossible. After all, workplace tragedies rarely happen because an employer failed to follow just one protocol. Often it’s the case that a whole host of protocols were ignored.

Then there is the fact that, even if the UK were to exit the EU, HSE would not change overnight. The laws that HSE have made under the influence of EU Directives may or may not change on a case by case basis. However, what is certain is that — if the UK did leave the EU — each respective government would have more power of HSE than before. That is what lies at the heart of the EU debate in all other areas, and it doesn’t change with regards to workplace health and safety.

By this point, you will have most likely already made up your mind about the EU and your vote has already been mentally cast. If you are in favour of the EU, then that’s because you probably think that its influence on British workplace safety is generally a good thing. If you are not in favour, then that’s probably because the reverse is true. Still, whatever your political view, we at Storage Equipment Experts will not be changing as a result of the vote. Our dedication to delivering SEMA approved rack inspections will remain the same.

Contact Storage Equipment Experts for pallet racking inspection training from the UK’s best racking inspection experts!

As the referendum draws closer, voters in the UK should be asking themselves “what has EU ever done for health and safety?”

Monty Python’s The Life of Brian is now almost 40 years old, and yet the moment where John Cleese asks “What have the Romans ever done for us?” is still relevant today, even more so as the EU referendum fast approaches. That question is — in the old routine — followed by a series of things the Romans did do for us. In much the same way, the question “What have the EU ever done for health and safety?” might also be followed by a series of things the EU has done for health and safety.

However, the real question is “has the EU ever done anything good for health and safety?” After all, there’s no doubting their influence on British workplaces, and the UK as a whole, but has it always been a positive influence?

How Does the EU Affect Health and Safety?

One thing that should be pointed out is that the EU regulation can’t just force itself the British workplace on a whim. According to HSE’s appraisal of the situation, it often takes several years for regulation suggested in Brussels to affect a warehouse in Milton Keynes or anywhere else in the UK. The reason for this is that there are many checks on the EU’s power over HSE.

However, just because it might take a long time, that doesn’t mean that it won’t eventually happen, even if there is strong opposition. In 2006, for example, an EU Directive on artificial optical radiation was heavily opposed by the British parliament. Despite this, the directive had to go into effect so as to adhere to EU law. HSE still follows the directive, but only at the barest possible minimum.

The UK controls to what extent it will follow EU health and safety legislation with transposition notes. These are amendments that accompany EU Directives and they are the UK’s way of implementing EU regulation in a way that best works for British businesses and British people. Depending on how you feel about a particular EU Directive, the fact that the British government can’t simply overturn it may be something you support. To give just one example, much of the UK’s commitment to environmental safety, an increasingly important part health and safety, comes from its adherence to EU law.

The EU, HSE, SEMA, and You

It’s clear that the EU are an influential voice in health and safety and that this can sometimes be a good thing and this can sometimes be a bad thing. Still, it’s also important to recognise that the EU is not the only voice and that the influence doesn’t just go one way. As we have previously mentioned, SEMA has its own influence over the EU and this influence helps to give SEMA its authority.

At its worst, the EU imposes rules on the UK which negatively affect health and safety and which the UK uphold under duress. At its best, the EU helps us to shape laws that better the lives of everyone and hold governments to account when they don’t deliver on their health and safety promises. The relationship between the EU, HSE, SEMA, and British businesses is a conversation. Your vote will depend on whether or not you feel the EU has anything worthwhile to say.

How Does the EU Affect Racking Inspections and Racking Inspection Training?

Despite the EU and SEMA’s relationship, the requirement that businesses receive a pallet rack inspection at least once a year from a racking inspection expert (such as a SEMA approved rack inspector) is not an EU directive. This is something which HSE decided to implement on its own.

That decision may have been inspired by an EU Directive, but this is why looking at the EU’s relationship with — and influence on — British health and safety is so difficult. As HSE itself has admitted, “maintaining a strategic overview” of the relationship between HSE and the EU is filled with “particular challenges”. This is because of the length of time it takes to implement an EU Directive and how much back and forth there is between the two bodies during that time.

Despite all this, HSE’s recommendation is something that is unlikely to change regardless of the result of the referendum. The EU and SEMA’s relationship may go some way to legitimising SEMA’s authority, but even without this SEMA are still a well-respected organisation and this is unlikely to change outside of the EU.

Whatever the result of the referendum, we will continue to deliver expert racking inspections and racking inspection training for businesses across the UK. The result will not affect our continued commitment to the highest standards of racking safety.

Contact Storage Equipment Experts for the highest standard of racking inspection training in the UK.