Top Tips for Forklift Safety in the Warehouse

warehouse forklift safety 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!

What will a Brexit Mean for Workplace Health and Safety?

HSE Injury

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!

What Has the EU Ever Done for Health and Safety?

EU Health and Safety UK

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.

Responsible Business Practices Applied to the Warehouse

Responsible Business Submit Practices

This year’s Responsible Business Summit saw some of the UK’s leading CEOs come together to talk about safe and sustainable business, so what did we learn about racking inspection training?

The Responsible Business Summit (RBS) is an annual event where leading business people from across Europe come to discuss safe and sustainable business. The safety aspect was especially important as 2016’s event was sponsored by the Institution of Occupational Health and Safety (IOSH), one of the UK’s biggest health and safety organisations.

Racking Inspection Experts, HSE, and Supply Chain Safety

Every business person has their own opinion on how best to make the global supply chain safer, and we’re no different. In fact, we’ve spoken at length about how important racking inspection experts and HSE are to supply chain safety. That is our opinion and, at this year’s Responsible Business Summit, many influential business people expressed theirs.

Nigel Sizer (president of the Rainforest Alliance), Mark Robertson (from ICTI CARE), Shelley Frost (executive director of policy at IOSH), and Dr Kirstie McIntyre (from HP inc) all weighed in on how they thought supply chains could be improved. Safety, sustainability, and fairness were all key themes in their talks and it was widely agreed that all of those things could be improved alongside profits.

We have always championed the idea that a safer and more sustainable supply chain isn’t just good for moral reasons; it’s good for financial reasons as well. Safety and sustainability are heavily linked, and when a business is safe and sustainable, it tends to make more money. Regular pallet rack inspections and racking inspection training performed by a racking inspection expert are a great way to start making your supply chain smoother, safer, and more sustainable.

What Can Sustainable Businesses Learn from Racking Inspection Experts and Racking Inspection Training?

In an op-ed for The Guardian, business writer Aishwarya Nair argued that ”sustainability must join health and safety as a core business value”. She cited the long uphill battle that those concerned about workplace safety faced during a different era 50 years when the issue was not seen as an issue at all. Today, “safety first” isn’t just some glib business mantra: people really mean it. Safety is central to many businesses and a lack of safety can make a business look really outdated.
This same attitude was echoed at the RBS when representatives from four brands, including Timberland and Willmott Dixon, spoke about how sustainability has been integrated into their businesses. By making it a core business value, like safety, employees are encouraged to air concerns about sustainability issues the business might have in the same way they might air concerns about safety issues.

We strongly believe in employees being allowed to voice their opinions on safety. That’s why we offer racking inspection training by racking inspection experts. HSE recommend a visit from a SEMA approved inspector once every year, but they also recommend more regular inspections from staff. Giving your employees racking inspection training helps to give them the knowledge and the confidence to speak insightfully and authoritatively about racking safety issues your warehouse may have.
The Responsible Business Summit has taught us that though companies may have many different approaches to creating safer, fairer, and more sustainable business models, this need not be a bad thing. Combining ideas through listening to the experience of other business people can help all businesses to develop. More often than not, businesses can work together in order to achieve better things. This is precisely what we believe in and precisely why we help other businesses to be safer with SEMA approved rack inspections and racking inspection training.

Develop your business into something safer and more sustainable with pallet rack inspection from the foremost racking inspection experts in the UK.

The Relationship Between UK Schools and HSE

UK Schools HSE

Since HSE inception forty years ago, their role has changed a lot, and nowhere is that more true with their involvement in the safety of schools.

When HSE was first born, in the aftermath of the Flixborough, it was a bold piece of legislation designed to make workplaces safer, but that was never designed to its only role. It’s important to remember that the original name of the act that allowed for the birth of HSE was the “Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974”. That “etc” embodies one of the most important aspects of HSE, which is that, though a safe workplace is vital, the government should also step in to ensure the safety of other public spaces as well.

And so it is that HSE has entered into our schools as well. The result of this has been overwhelmingly positive. No-one would argue that HSE’s continued campaign to remove asbestos from school buildings is a bad thing. It’s a perfect example of why we need HSE. The invisible hand of the market alone cannot effectively clean up the asbestos disaster on its own, and we need someone to step up and tackle the issue head on. HSE was created for precisely this sort of job.

“Now HSE Want to Ban…”

We should rejoice that we live in a country which is so safe that mocking HSE for being “too safe” counts as a news story. You’ve probably heard some outrageous claims about HSE’s involvement in schools, but these claims are usually exaggerated, taken wildly out of context, or not a result of HSE but a decision made by the school itself.

Do HSE want to ban children playing conkers in schools? No, they do not. Do HSE want to ban playing pin the tail on the donkey in schools? Nope, guess again. Do HSE want to ban school ties? Not right this time either. The list goes on and on, and HSE are tirelessly releasing myth-busting statements every month.

HSE Just Want What is Best For School Children

However, sometimes myth-busting is not enough. Recently, HSE’s chief, Dame Judith Hackitt spoke out about HSE’s reputation. She argued that the over-zealous attitude some schools have towards health and safety runs a risk of making a mockery out of genuine health and safety legislation. HSE’s role in schools is important, but if their voice is drown out by “overprotective parents and risk-averse teachers” then students will grow up thinking that health and safety is some kind of joke.

We are lucky enough to live in a country where children are so well protected from the dangers of their school that health and safety does seem like a joke to them. Students are only able to feel this way because their schools are much safer than schools were before the creation of HSE. Those same children will grow up to have jobs in workplaces where rates of fatal injury have fallen by an enormous 86 percent since the creation of HSE.

Racking Inspection Training Means Continuing HSE’s Quest to Educate

HSE’s role in British schools makes a lot more sense when you consider that the aim of any health and safety legislation, health and safety training, or health and safety press release is to educate. Teaching people how to be safe around pallet racking goes hand in hand with teaching people how to use pallet racking, and this is why pallet racking inspection training is so important.

At Storage Equipment Experts, education is at the core of what we do. Our racking inspections and racking inspection training is very much in line with HSE’s belief that health and safety is essentially a matter of teaching people how to be safe. Fines and the laws are an important enforcement tool, but education is at the core of what we do.

HSE recommend expert racking inspections because they know how important a well-educated opinion on safety is. HSE’s continued involvement in schools and continued involvement in the warehouse industry is about creating the same thing: a safer and more intelligent workforce for the future.

School yourself in the basics of racking inspection and racking safety with our free racking inspection checklist.

Better yet, contact us for expert racking inspection training from a SEMA approved racking inspector.

5 Reasons Why a Safe Warehouse is Essential for Trade

Safe Warehouse

Good Trade Depends on Good Warehouses and a Safe Warehouse is the Best Kind of Warehouse with the Business Show 2016 and World Fair Trade Day both happening this month, all eyes are on small businesses to see how they can make the world a better place. At the heart of many good businesses, there is usually an element of altruism. Whether it’s because you want to provide the people with world-class whiskey or whether it’s because you want to provide the people with world-class coffee, good businesses aim to make things better.

We believe that the best way businesses can make things better is to make things safer. There are many reasons why a safe warehouse is essential to trade, but here are just five.

1. Safe Warehouses are a Legal Requirement

We’ll start with the obvious statement that nobody wants to trade with a company that is breaking the law. However, with regards to warehouse safety, this is a mistake that some big companies are still making. Anheuser-Busch, the multinational beer giant who should probably know better, recently paid $150,000 to OSHA after failing to adhere to basic aisle and pallet racking safety standards.

The immediate cost of this huge company breaking the law is the aforementioned enormous fine, but the indirect costs are also pretty terrible. After all…

2. Warehouse Safety is a Huge Part of Your Business’ Image

Breaking the law can make your company look bad, but bending the law right up to breaking point doesn’t look good either. A famous sports retailer in the UK has been accused of pushing its employees to the edge after it emerged that ambulance services had been called to their warehouse more than 80 times over a two year period.

The company has not yet been accuse of breaking any laws, but all press is certainly not good press in this instance.

If your draconian managing style is pushing your employees too hard, and pushing away potential traders as a result, then maybe it’s time to try something different…

3. Racking Inspection Training is a Huge Motivator for Employees

Rather than looking at warehouse safety as something that businesses are obliged to do because of the law, or for fear of looking bad, warehouse safety should be seen as an opportunity to rally your employees around a common goal.

Racking inspection training is one of the many ways to get employees motivate about health and safety. Training of any kind can help employees to feel valued, respected, and important members of the team. However, racking inspection training has the added benefit of doing all those things while making your warehouse safer.

4. Warehouse Safety Makes Trade Easier

What kind of warehouse do you want? An efficient one full of highly skilled and highly motivated employees helping you to trade as quickly and safely as possible? Or a slow warehouse filled with underskilled and undervalued employees who are forced to navigate a dangerous warehouse in order to help a company that they don’t care about?

When you put it that way, the answer is obvious. Warehouse safety makes things easier. When employees are not trained enough with regards to safety, they are not confident, they are not motivated, and they work less. All of this slows the pace of warehouse work and, worse still, makes warehouse work unsafe. Accidents slow the pace of work even further by de-motivating employees and the negative feedback loop continues.

When employees are train well enough, they have the confidence to work faster and safer. Employees who work in a faster and safer warehouse are more likely to feel motivated. This isn’t just conjecture. It’s all part of the psychology of workplace safety which HSL, the government funded research branch of HSE, has been exploring.

5. A Business with a Safe Warehouse is a Reliable Business

Signing contracts with trade partners is about long-term investment, and nothing says long-term investment like a safe warehouse. Moreover, racking inspection training and warehouse safety training in general are further examples of a long-term investment. If you want any business to trade with you, a secure future is essential, which is precisely why warehouse safety is essential too.

Secure the future of your business with expert racking inspections and pallet racking inspection courses from the UK’s best SEMA-approved racking inspectors.

Pallet Racking Safety and You: An Introduction to Pallet Racking Safety

pallet racking safety

Businesses of All Sizes, From All Over the World, Can Benefit From Knowing a Bit More About Pallet Racking Safety.

Pallet racking is a big asset to any business, but it’s also a big responsibility. Pallet racks are large structures that, when not used properly, are cumbersome at best and dangerous at worst. A warehouse that uses pallet racking well can operate with an efficiency to make any competitor jealous. Though laws about pallet racking safety may differ around the world, the key ideas remain the same. That’s why we at Storage Equipment Experts have created this infographic.

Pallet Racking Safety and Racking Inspection Training

Our knowledge of pallet racking comes from the wisdom accrued from years of being on the front line of the racking industry. We’re always keen to share our knowledge, and that’s why we offer rack inspection training delivered by rack inspection experts.

Racking inspection training allows businesses to ensure their pallet racking is inspect by their own staff.

Checking that pallet racking is properly secure, checking that it’s not bent, checking that it’s not damaged, and checking that it’s not overloaded in some way: these thing are not just one skill. They are a series of skills that can be acquired by varying levels of training.

And so while every country recognises the importance of this training, different countries have different attitudes to it. This is why some countries, like the UK and Australia, require that a racking inspection expert from outside your business inspect your pallet racking and other countries, like the US, do not.

The UK and Australia then also differ with how often a racking inspection expert should inspect your pallet racking. Furthermore, the two countries also differ with what constitutes a racking inspection expert in the first place. All of which is why we made this infographic. We want to clear up a lot of the confusion surrounding pallet racking safety.

At its heart, the principles of pallet racking safety are simple. Though they differ from country to country, the core ideas should be the same. In reality, it shouldn’t matter what country you’re operating in. We know this to be true because, despite being performing racking inspections as per HSE’s guidelines, we have offered our insight to American, South African, and Asian publications.

Pallet racking safety can be easily achieved by following the legal guidelines of your own country. Still, knowing about how pallet racking safety works in other countries can help to inform your decisions as well.

pallet racking safety inspections

Pallet racking is our passion at Storage Equipment Experts. Our desire to inform is why we provide a free racking inspection checklist as well as SEMA-approved racking inspections and rack inspection training. We offer a variety of services because we understand that pallet racking safety is a varied discipline. Pallet racking safety is always a worthwhile investment, and so it’s never a bad time to call or email us!

Contact Storage Equipment Experts for a visit from the racking inspection experts. We aim to provide the best racking inspection training and pallet rack inspections in the UK and we do so by adhering to HSE’s strict standards.

World Fair Trade Day 2016: The Relationship Between Racking Inspections and Ethical Business

World Fair Trade Day 2016

Racking Inspections are Essential for the Safety of Any Business and Safety is Essential for Any Ethical Business

14th May 2016 marks the 16th annual World Fair Trade Day, an event promoted by the World Fair Trade organisation. This year’s event specifies that people should “be an agent for change” (with particular emphasis on the “for”) and, at Storage Equipment Experts, we wholeheartedly support this idea. In its own small way, we sincerely believe that racking inspections help to improve the supply chain of international business by making it safer and therefore more ethical. That is why we support World Fair Trade Day.

The Link Between Racking Inspections and Ethical Business

We’ve spoken at length about the connection between safe business and sustainable business, and the link between safe business and ethical business is very similar. The continuing crisis in Indonesia related to the production of palm oil is a perfect example of how safe business, sustainable business, and ethical business are linked. After all, some of the main issues with palm oil are that its production is unsafe, unsustainable, and therefore unethical.

Ethical palm oil production is an issue that affects everybody and that everybody can affect. That’s why being an agent for change is so important. To give just one example, after a lot of petitions and a lot of boycotts, coffee chain Starbucks finally caved and adopted a sustainable palm oil policy. A big part of this, we hope, will be a safer supply chain. And you can’t have a safe supply chain with racking inspections and racking inspection training.

You may not think that where you choose to buy your coffee matters, but it does. Just as racking inspections matter to the global supply chain.

How can Racking Inspections and Racking Inspection Training Make the Global Supply Chain Safer?

The global statistics for workplace accidents makes for staggering reading: 2.3 million deaths a year, 6,300 deaths a day, or one death every 15 seconds. No matter which way you spin it, it’s a lot of people needlessly dying. It’s easy to become desensitised to enormous numbers like that, and so another way to think of it is like this: if the whole world had a population of 71 million (only six and a half million more than the current population of the UK) 63 people would be dying every day as a direct result of workplace accidents.

More stringent racking inspection legislation would help to change that. True, it wouldn’t solve the problem overnight, but warehouses are a huge part of the global supply chain and so unsafe warehouses are a global issue.

We tend to hear about global warehouse safety issues in the news when something dramatic happens. The two warehouse explosions in Tianjin, China were caused by unsafe warehouse practice and led to big protests and international media attention. In much the same way, the Flixborough warehouse disaster 1974 led almost directly to the creation of HSE in the UK. It’s great that we choose to react to tragedies like these with calls for more warehouse safety, but we shouldn’t have to wait until a huge tragedy happens to take action.

The sad truth is that many warehouse workers in the global supply chain don’t die in attention-grabbing disasters such as the tragedies that occurred in Flixborough and Tianjin. For many people, the tragedy is a day-to-day work environment where profits are put before safety and where workers are underpaid, undertrained, and unsafe. Sadly, this is the case in the US where a large percentage of warehouse staff are working with no health insurance for less than the living wage.

This need not be the case, as racking inspection training, safety protocol, and ethical business practices can help to increase profits. The attitude that the global supply chain needs to shake off is that ethical and safe business is the enemy of their wallet. In the long term, this just isn’t true.

At Storage Equipment Experts, we support World Fair Trade Day because we believe that fair, safe, and ethical trade benefits everybody. We are proud to be a company whose racking inspection training and SEMA-approved rack inspections help to make British workplaces safer. Our role in the global supply chain may be small, but we are certain that it’s positive. Racking inspection training is the cornerstone of safer, more sustainable, and more ethical global supply chain.

Contact Storage Equipment Experts for SEMA-approved racking inspections from the UK’s foremost experts in racking inspections and rack inspection training.

Is It Worth Exhibiting at the Business Show?

Business Show Exhibit

This year’s Business Show promises to be a big event for small British businesses, but is it really worth all the hassle?

Being the owner of a small business can be extremely rewarding, but it’s never simple or easy. Important decisions need to be made every day and as 2016’s Business Show draws nearer, many businesses might be wondering what’s in it for them.

What is the Business Show?

It’s a simple concept with a huge following: the business show is a two-day event where small business owners and influencers gather to network with each other. Some “networkers” are looking for investors, contributors, customers, or maybe even future employees. Others are looking for advice and inspiration, or perhaps they want to give advice and inspiration to others.

With about 25,000 business people in attendance, the possibilities for business owners at the Business Show are almost endless, but is it right for you?

Racking Inspections, Racking Inspection Training, and Small Business

At Storage Equipment Experts, we spend a lot of time networking with small businesses. Our day-to-day work means delivering racking inspection training to small business staff and SEMA-approved racking inspections to warehouses across the UK. We like to help small businesses by making them safer. Often, when small businesses meet, it’s a mutually beneficial relationship.

This, in essence, is what the Business Show is all about. It pushes businesses beyond the idea that capitalism is all about competition. Sometimes, a lot of the time actually, business is about working together.

However, it’s important to know what you want to get out of B2B conversation. We deliver top-quality racking inspection training and expert racking inspections in accordance with HSE standards. Though, for some businesses, networking is less clear cut. When business people are unclear about what they want in a business-to-business exchange, the results can be ugly.

Not being prepared is a big mistake for many small businesses at networking events. Sure, you want to talk to people, but why? And what do you want to say? This is where the elevator pitch comes into play. In other words, if you can’t explain who you are and what you want in the space of an elevator ride, then you’re not sufficiently prepared for a networking event.

Suppose you bump shoulders with a big leader or influencer in your industry. What would you say to them? How would saying that benefit your business? If you don’t know the answer to those questions, then you need to think of one before you run the risk of seeing them at a networking event and having nothing to say.

The Business Show 2016 will not be the Perfect Opportunity for Everyone

Not every single small business in the UK is attending the Business Show 2016. Some of that might be a lack of awareness, budget constraints, time constraints, or maybe just bad organisation. However, there are many small businesses that will have made a conscious decision not to attend the business show even though they could have done.

The reason for this is that the Business Show is not some magic event that will suddenly make your company successful. It is a networking event, like many other networking events, which businesses need to be clear and realistic about if they plan on benefiting from it. If you can’t think of any way that networking at the Business Show will help your business, then perhaps you need to put more thought into what will help your business.

Sometimes it helps when events are specific. At Storage Equipment Experts, we are always sure to attend the big health and safety events. We are also clear about our aims at these events; we want to learn about the latest developments in the world of warehouse safety.

Networking is about knowing what you want. We believe that interactions between small businesses can be very fruitful. That’s why our business model is based on ensuring other companies receive the UK’s best racking inspection training and best racking inspections.

Whatever you’ve decided to do with regards to the Business Show, contact Storage Equipment Experts to network with the small business which delivers the best racking inspection training and pallet rack inspections in the UK.

5 Sciences that a SEMA Approved Inspector Needs to Understand

SEMA Approved Inspectors UK

At Storage Equipment Experts, we have spoken at length about the high standards involved in becoming a SARI (SEMA approved racking inspector) as well as the high the standards involved in remaining a SARI. Recently, SEMA themselves have announced that they now expect even more from SEMA approved inspectors. To put it in their own words, “safety legislation just got tougher!”

SEMA were referring to the new CDM regulations that were announced in April 2015 and came into force in February 2016. More than ever, these new regulations mean that SEMA approved inspectors are vital to your warehouse’s safety.

Being a knowledgeable SARI involves a lot more than most people realise. It’s not just a matter of metal and measurements, racking inspections involve using a lot of knowledge from a lot of different fields. Mathematics, physics, environmental science, philosophy, and psychology are all things that a SARI needs to understand in order to do their job properly. So let’s run through these five sciences and explain why a SEMA approved inspector needs to understand them all…

Euclid in Your Warehouse: Why do SEMA Approved Inspectors Need to Understand Mathematics?

“Wait, is maths even a science?” might be the first question you will ask upon reading this. The best answer to that question is “maybe”, but it’s not the sort of philosophical quandary which affects the day to day life of a SARI. Rather, what a SARI is concerned with is whether the measurements of a piece of racking equipment match up with what SEMA and HSE deem as safe.

One of the many things that racking inspectors are looking for when they perform a racking inspection is how bent a piece of racking is. If the bend is obvious, then that spells trouble. However, less obvious bends require measurement and an understanding of mathematics is need to figure out whether or not the bend is a serious one or not.

Einstein in Your Warehouse: Why do SEMA Approved Inspectors Need to Understand Physics?

The way metals interact with each other in a warehouse, the way one racking beam interacts with the whole storage system and the way loads interact with each other on a pallet racking system are all examples of times where an understanding of physics can be helpful. Your average SARI is not going to be helping you to travel through time anytime soon, but they do need to understand some of the main rules. Weight is potential energy, and if a SARI does not respect that fact then that potential energy could cause an actual disaster.

Al Gore in Your Warehouse: Why do SEMA Approved Inspectors Need to Understand Environmental Science?

There is a strong correlation between how safe a business is and how sustainable a business is. For this reason, understanding environmental science can be extremely helpful for improving business safety. With regards to staff, safety and sustainability in the workplace both mean respect for your environment. In other words, being a safe employee means respecting the warehouse environment.

And if they respect the warehouse environment, then they are more likely to respect the wider environment. With regards to management, sustainability and safety both require long-term planning, attention to detail, and diligence. All of this equates to less accidents, less needless waste, and a safer, more sustainable, more profitable business.

Long-term planning is key here. Both safety enthusiasts and environmental enthusiasts know that results can take a long time to manifest themselves. Sometimes it is as much about raising awareness and creating a culture of safety and sustainability as it is about implementing protocols.

Safety expert Aishwarya Nair agrees and also argues that sustainability should be a core value in all businesses alongside safety. The two work well together, and so any knowledge of environmental science can be extremely helpful to SEMA approved inspectors.

Socrates in Your Warehouse: Why do SEMA Approved Inspectors Need to Understand Philosophy?

Philosophy is about asking big questions, and the biggest question in warehouse safety is one which requires a bit of philosophical pondering: is a zero-accident workplace possible?

We believe that it is, but we didn’t arrive at that conclusion on a whim. We have considered the question of the “zero-accident workplace” before and not everyone feels the same way. So while Matt Grierson, SEMA’s president, argues that zero accident workplaces should be the main goal, the EU see it as “more of a way of thinking than a numerical goal”. This is definitely philosophical territory, and so it is worth explaining why we believe that SEMA approved inspectors should be aiming for zero accidents as a numerical goal.

We rid the world of smallpox deaths in 1979, we rid the whole of the Americas of rubella in 2015, and we are close to eradicating malaria from the whole of Europe. It would have been easy to think that, “some people are bound to die of smallpox”.

However, the facts bear it out; nobody dies of smallpox anymore. The zero accident workplace is a big philosophical commitment, but this value theory affects the way we do business at Storage Equipment Experts. We believe in a zero accident workplace and it moves us forward.

Freud in Your Warehouse: Why do SEMA Approved Inspectors Need to Understand Psychology?

As we mentioned before in a previous blog post, the British government are currently looking into how psychology can affect workplace safety. The Health and Safety Laboratory’s argument, essentially, is that employees with the wrong kind of mental state are more likely to involve themselves in accidents. This theory makes sense. If you have no respect for your employer and have little regard for yourself, why would you care about safety?

Under the right supervision, employees can develop a positive work ethic which will help to make them safer employees. Understanding workplace psychology means understanding the value of respecting your employees.

There are ways to show your staff that they are respected and valued, but one of the best ways is through pallet racking inspection training. Training of any kind helps employees to feel like they are being invested in, but our rack inspection training course has the added benefit of teaching employees about racking and warehouse safety as well.

Science and safety are complex disciplines that come in many different forms. At Storage Equipment Experts, we know that our knowledge of racking inspections is informed by, and helps to inform, the body of science around it. With our services, we aim to improve both racking inspection safety and the science of racking inspection safety as well.

It’s not rocket science! Contact Storage Equipment Experts today for expert racking inspections and rack inspection training from the smartest SARI around