The History of Racking Inspection Training

The history of racking inspection training is much more than meets the eye. It is the story of the Industrial Revolution, workplace safety reforms, and the birth of safety training. It’s well established that racking inspection training is important for business.

However, the reason for this is not just because of increased productivity, safety, and profits, but because it is the product of a long progression towards a safer workplace, perhaps even a zero accident workplace. Those who stand in the way of decent safety training are standing in the way of progress and standing in the way of history.

The 19th Century: When Safety Standards Didn’t Exist

People like to get misty-eyed about the “good old days”, but nowhere is the feeling more misplaced than with racking inspection training and workplace safety standards. During the Industrial Revolution in the UK, working conditions were truly abysmal.

Workplace accidents were so commonplace in factories that up to forty percent of all accidents cases in Manchester infirmary were a direct result of factories. The idea of introducing racking inspection training, or safety training of any kind, at this point would have been utterly laughable. All things considered, it is amazing how far we have come.

Progress Begins: The First Pieces of Workplace Safety Legislation

From 1802 to 1878, parliament began to introduce several different pieces of workplace safety legislation. These pieces of legislation varied in terms of successful implementation and the amount of legislation was far from enough.

In 1819, 1833, and 1878, three different Factory Acts were introduced. The first two were failures, but the third made some steps in the right direction by making sure that no child under the age of ten was allowed to work. However, it was not until the Factory Act of 1961 that we ended up with the factory and warehouse standards that we have today. Health and safety is a long process of trial and error, but we get there eventually.

HSE is Born: A New ERA for Racking Safety and Racking Inspection Training

In 1974, an explosion at a warehouse in Flixborough killed twenty-eight people and many more were severely injured. This tragedy was evidently a sobering wakeup call for the British government and so, in the same year, the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 was introduced. This act of parliament laid the framework for what we now know of as the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). HSE got to work quickly and, not matter what statistic you look at,

their influence on the safety of the British workplace has been overwhelmingly positive. Fatal injuries, non-fatal injuries, self-reported accidents, and workplace illnesses have all fallen sharply since HSE’s inception. Racking safety standards and Racking inspection training standards have since been revised. And continue to be made better as a result of HSE’s work.

“Elf and Safety Gone Mad!”: The backlash to HSE and HSE’s Response

Despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, some commentators believe that HSE is too far reaching and overprotective. Yet even a cursory look at the data will tell you that this is without basis. Most of what is published against HSE is either misinterpretation or entirely false. In response, HSE published a series of articles in the name of “myth busting”.

The fact that we now live in a country where some people think we are “too safe” is an extremely positive thing when you stop to consider how unsafe warehouses and factories were in the past.

Racking inspection training and racking safety are two cogs in a much larger machine that has helped to shape the UK into a country where the lives of workers are preserved, not endangered.

Racking Inspections by SEMA Approved Inspectors From Storage Equipment Experts

We too are part of this history. For years, we have been providing racking inspection training and racking inspections from a SEMA-approved inspector. We are proud to be the product of a long history of workplace safety reforms. We plan to be a big part in the future of racking safety too.

Contact the SEMA-approved racking inspectors who know everything there is to know about the past, present and future.

Top Benefits of Racking Inspection Training for SMEs

Benefits of Racking Inspection Training for SMEs UK

Racking Inspection Training – When your business is small, costs can be tight and so no spending should be taken lightly. Every small business owner wants to follow the law, but going the extra mile for safety training is the difference between being a mid-sized company and being a national or international brand.

This is because safety training is always a worthwhile investment; a business can never be too safe. If you own a warehouse, your SMEs will always benefit from racking inspection training.

Racking Inspection Training Makes Good Money Sense

Your racking inspection training course will start to save you money almost immediately after it has been delivered. According to OSHA, the government body for occupational health and safety in the United States, “a good safety and health program can save $4 to $6 for every $1 invested”.

Racking inspection training is a perfect example of this. After receiving racking from Storage Equipment Experts, Martin Vellenoweth from Haydens Bakery said that racking inspections training gave his staff the “confidence, knowledge and competence to carry out their own internal racking inspections.”

Confident and knowledgeable staff are more motivated and fast-working staff that are less likely to injure themselves or to injure your profits.

Racking Inspection Training is Cheaper Than You Might Think

At £175+VAT, our rack inspection training course is well worth the investment. For much less than what it would cost to pay an employee minimum wage for four days work, you can instead pay for a racking inspection training course that will make them a better employee for the rest of their time at your company.

Safety training, especially racking inspection training, never costs as much as you might think. Especially when you consider that training has the potential to motivate your staff much more a few days of work, and can end up costing just the same.

For Small Businesses, Racking Inspection Training is a Chance to Become a Tighter Unit

If you employ ten people or fewer, then all of them can attend one of our racking.

inspection training courses at the same time. It is a chance to bond and to remind all of your employees that you value them and care about their long term future at the company. As business writer Dianne M. Durkin puts it, “continuous learning is one of the best employee motivators”.

The science also bears this theory out. During the Robber’s Cave Experiment in 1961, one psychologist wanted to see what it would take for two small factions of people to overcome animosity towards each other. The participants in the experiment were children at summer camp and, after forcing the two groups to compete for a while, tensions between the two groups inevitably increased.

The researchers then wanted to see what would happen if the two groups were then mixed together and given tasks that required them to work together in order to achieve shared goals. The result? The children began to get along as one big group rather than two small ones.

Your staff may get along well enough, and they are definitely not children at a summer camp, but the same rules apply. Racking inspections training is a great way to allow your staff to work together towards a common goal: that goal being a better understanding of racking safety.

Take your SME to the next level with racking inspection training from the only SEMA-approved racking inspector based in London!

Top Benefits of Racking Inspection Training for Big Businesses

Becoming a big business and maintaining your position as a big business of racking inspection training is a matter of making the right choices at the right time, and it is always the right time to invest in safety. Racking inspection training offers countless benefits for large businesses, but here are just a few.

Racking Inspection Training Can Help With Brand Identity

When a business gets to a certain size, it begins to learn that not all press is good press. Sometimes businesses learn this the hard way, but by paying attention to recent history, businesses can instead learn from others’ mistakes.

Volkswagen paid the price for a lax attitude towards safety and sustainability and the scandal that followed has led to a huge crisis for both the brand and the business as a whole. Amazon recently fought back against accusations that they mistreat their warehouse employees.

Still, this goes to show that even if accusations of unsafe working conditions for warehouse staff are unfounded, they can still be damaging. Whether or not Amazon mistreat their staff is beside the point. The point is that the public, millions of potential customers, are very angry at the possibility of mistreated staff.

The takeaway from this is that consumers care whether or not a company is fulfilling its moral duty. The general consensus is that, if a business is successful, then it can afford to invest in the safety of its staff and the safety of the planet. Ensuring that your warehouse staff receive racking inspection training is the right thing to do and your brand’s identity will improve as a result.

Racking Inspection Training Can Help With Staff Identity

In 2012, petrol tanker drivers representing some of the UK’s biggest petrol companies threatened to go on strike. There were many motives for their decision, but the biggest was a lack of safety training. When money is tight, some big businesses’ knee-jerk reaction is to punish employees.

However, as Sir Richard Branson points out, “if you look after your staff, they’ll look after your customers”. Branson is definitely a voice to listen to when it comes to big business, and his stance on training is that employers should “train people well enough so

they can leave, treat people well enough so they don’t want to”. Giving your warehouse employees

racking inspection training is a practical way to act out Branson’s advice and to avoid mistakes made by British petroleum companies in the past.

Far too often, warehouse employees can feel neglected. There is more than one instance when big businesses have been accused of mistreating their staff through forcing them to work long hours, for little pay and with little respect. Central to all of this is the issue of safety.

If an employee has no respect for their company, then they are more likely to take risks through not caring. HSE understand that this is a genuine problem, which is why they offer courses on workplace attitude towards safety that analyse the behaviour and mental state associated with unsafe workers. Big businesses can also do their bit here too by offering more safety training.

Staff who feel that they are being respected will treat a big employer with more respect. Moreover, if the public feels that a business is doing the right thing, then they are more likely to spend their money.

A warehouse is the cornerstone of product storage, but it doesn’t run by magic. Big corporations sometimes is called “faceless”. Racking inspection training shows the public, and your employees, that your business has a face which is concerned about safety.

Be the big business that your employees, and the public, want you to be with racking inspection training from the best SEMA-approved racking inspector there is.

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Top 5 Different Kinds of Racking Inspection Training

Racking inspection training is integral to all businesses with storage systems, and so finding the course that’s right for your business is vital. If you don’t, you could wind up paying for it in the long run with accidents, damages, and smaller profits. So here is our guide to the five different kinds of racking inspections training.

1. HSE Guides to Racking Safety

HSE offers plenty of information for those who want to learn more about racking safety, but does this qualify as racking inspection training? Only in the vaguest sense. The information that OSHA and HSE offer is authoritative, but it is only meant to serve as an introduction to the topic. HSE offer tips on racking inspection, detailing a traffic light system for checks, but this is only training at its most basic.

2. Online Videos on Racking Safety

There are some great videos on safety training out there, such as this one on respiratory protection training, but racking inspection requires too much knowledge to be covered in a single video. We at Storage Equipment Experts have offered a brief video introduction to the topic, but no one video can fully prepare a member of staff to sufficiently inspect your storage systems.

3. Mandatory in Work Training

Employees are bound by law to offer a certain level of training to employees working in certain professions. However, this bare minimum amount of training rarely covers things as detailed as how to perform a racking inspection. Even if it did, it would not be enough to prepare employees properly for that task. Rather, for employees who work with racking, HSE recommends training that specifically explains what safe and unsafe racking is.

To stay within the law, employees need to be prepare to give more training for those who need it. The person responsible for racking safety (PRRS) should be “technically competent”. All of this is to say that giving your employees a thirty-minute one-off lecture on safety in general does not qualify as racking inspection training. Racking inspection training requires expertise, detail and time. At Storage Equipment Experts, we are proud to offer all three.

4. The Storage Equipment Experts Blog

For experts who want to brush up on their racking safety knowledge, for those interested in the topic, or for those who want a brief introduction to racking safety, our blog is a great source of information. Updated five times a month, the Storage Equipment Experts blog covers many of the things that affect racking inspection training and racking safety. Yet, as authoritative and as detailed as this information can be, it is still not quite enough to get your employees past HSE’s threshold of “technically competent”.

5. Face-to-Face Racking Inspection Training

It should really come as no surprise to discover that the best kind of racking inspections training happens face-to-face. In an intimate seminar setting, a proper full day course offers plenty of opportunities to go into detail. At Storage Equipment Experts, we have been praise for the level of detail that our course goes into. Upon using our service, a representative from Dunlop said that the course was “thorough and concise, ensuring all key points [were] covered”.

The time and space to explain racking inspection in depth is something that can only be offer by racking inspections training that occurs at a face-to-face course.

Supplementary videos and online guides serve as good introductions to the topic, but nothing can replicate the confidence generate in your staff by racking inspections training from a SEMA-approved racking inspector.

At Storage Equipment Experts, our passion for the industry helps us to deliver the best racking inspections training course in the UK.

Take your racking inspection knowledge to the next level with racking inspection training from the UK’s foremost SEMA approved racking inspector.

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What is it like to Work in a Warehouse?

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.

Warehouse Safety warehouse work

3 Reasons Why the Tate Modern Uses Storage Equipment Experts

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

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.

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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.

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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!

Racking Inspection Training

The History of Racking Inspection Training