What I’ve Learnt After Writing Over 100,000 Words on Racking Inspections

I’ve written a lot about racking inspections over the past couple years, but I’ve still got a lot more to say!

If I had wanted to write a book about racking inspections, I could have. Between providing insight for The Telegraph, EHS Today, e27 and countless other national and international publications, I have written a lot about racking inspections and workplace safety. Add all that to the writing I’ve done for this blog and that’s over 100,000 words.

Pride and Prejudice, Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone and Paper Towns: all of those books are less than 100,000 words. So when I say “I could have written a book”, I mean it.

I write because it helps to inform past customers (and potential future customers) about what my work is and why it’s important. In the most basic sense, I do it because it helps to build relationships. I’m not alone in thinking this and many business leaders have long extolled the benefits of writing for their company.

So at this particular milestone, I think it would be good to reflect on what I’ve learned after writing 100,000 words on racking inspections.

1. Racking Inspections Are Important

Some people might say that their industry is too niche to write about, but that’s rarely true. There is a reason that you sell your product or service. There is a reason that your product or service is important.

For me, the reason is simple: every business with a warehouse or a storage system needs regular racking inspections. That’s not just my opinion; it’s the opinion of HSE, the EU and the SEMA Racking Code of Practice as well. Without inspections, warehouses safety goes unchecked and — unfortunately — that’s often when tragedy happens.

Not all workplace accidents are the result of a lack of racking inspections. However, by combining racking safety with other forms of workplace safety, HSE and small businesses like SEE have helped to contribute to an 85% reduction in workplace fatality and a 77% reduction in workplace injury since 1974. There’s still a lot more work to be done, but it’s good to look at the historical picture every now and again and consider how far we’ve come.

2. The Future of Racking Inspections

It’s hard to predict the future. Even after writing over 100,000 words on racking inspections, I still couldn’t say for sure what the industry will look like in 10 or 20 years time. However, that doesn’t mean that I’m not willing to speculate.

The biggest challenge to health and safety’s future is lack of government spending. In the UK, HSE budget cuts (which started in 2010 and are set to continue well into the future) have forced the industry to innovate. Whether or not you agree with these cuts is beside the point. The fact is that they are happening and that the industry needs to react.

Not all of this reaction has been met with praise. Some have criticised HSE’s increasing focus on fines in order to raise money. It’s a bold step, but it might be the best one in the long-term.

Other approaches have had a much more positive response. When HSE introduced the new CDM Regulations in 2015, some praised the changes and even linked them with a huge confidence boost for British builders.

In short, the new CDM regulations claimed that a “client” was anyone in charge of almost anything that could be considered a construction site. This new definition included warehouses, film sets and even temporary structures for events.

What’s more, it is now the client’s responsibility, not the government’s, to ensure the safety of their construction site by being the final arbiter of what is safe and what is not. Should the client need to defend their definitions of “safe” or “technically competent” in a court of law, they will need to refer to existing legislation. However, the CDM regulations mean that it is no longer the government’s job to keep tabs on the safety of projects.

By making the responsibility and definition of the “client” clearer, the new regulations mean racking inspections by SEMA approved inspectors are more important than ever. Without the government to step in and make sure that sites are safe, businesses further realised the importance of HSE’s recommendation that they need a racking inspection from a SEMA approved racking inspector at least once a year.

3. Dispelling Health & Safety Myths Is Vital

Despite the tremendous progress that HSE and the health and safety industry has made in making sure the UK has the second lowest workplace fatality rate in the EU, many are still willing to mock HSE’s efforts. They do so by spreading stories about “health and safety gone mad”. Most of these stories are either complete myths or have nothing to do with HSE whatsoever. However, by the time HSE bust these myths, the damage to its reputation has already been done.

By writing about the important work that workplace safety and racking inspections can do for businesses, my aim is to put the work that the health and safety industry does in a positive light. We should be proud that the UK is a safe country; I know I am.

For racking inspection training and racking inspections from a SEMA approved racking inspector and passionate writer on the topic of health and safety, contact Storage Equipment Experts today!

HSE racking regulations have remained largely the same since 2007, but this new fine system could shake things up a bit

A lot of new changes in the way HSE operates has meant that the organisation now fines companies a lot more than it has done in the past. So what will this mean for HSE racking regulations? To understand this, it’s important to understand the two major factors behind the new way HSE fines businesses.

2012: HSE’s Fee-For-Intervention Cost Recovery Scheme

Since 2012, HSE has been operating under a “fee-for-intervention” scheme, aimed at reducing HSE spending by fining people relative to the amount of time and resources HSE needs to spend. In other words, as a reaction to the government’s continued reduced spending since 2010, HSE has been trying to turn a profit.

At the time, some criticised HSE’s new approach to fines, but the system has stayed in place for the last five years regardless. While the new system meant the potential for ever greater fines, no massive changes in the average fine were recorded. That is, of course, until now.

2016: HSE Updates the Way It Sentences Corporations

From 1st February 2016, HSE updated the way it fines corporations for breaking HSE law. In short, it gave courts the ability to fine corporations for a lot more money than they were previously able to. As such, the average HSE fine has risen from £69,500 to £211,000.

What Does This Mean for HSE Racking Regulations?

Increased fines mean increased incentives to make your workplace as safe as possible. In turn, these new fines should mean that more people follow HSE racking regulations than before and that businesses take them more seriously.

On the one hand, this is a great thing. With greater importance placed on the need for warehouse safety, HSE racking regulations will be followed more intently and employees will be safer as a result. On the other hand, heavier fines shouldn’t be the reason that businesses want to make their workplaces safer. If people had a negative attitude towards HSE racking regulations and HSE before, they’re unlikely to feel better about those things because of the threat of increased fines.

The facts will determine whether or not this new system will help decrease workplace injuries and fatalities. If it does, then it will be extremely hard to argue that this is a bad thing.

The Current State of HSE Racking Regulations

Since 2007, HSE has recommended racking inspections from a SEMA approved racking inspector at least once a year for all warehouses and storage systems in the UK. HSE also recommends regular internal racking inspections from staff who are “technically competent”.

In 2015, the new CDM regulations meant it was ultimately up to the “client” (the person in charge of the storage system in this case) to decide whether or not someone was “technically competent” enough to perform a given task. This didn’t change HSE racking regulations, but it has meant a heavier emphasis on employers’ own initiative and less on “card schemes”. Before the CDM regulations, a person could claim that they were “technically competent” because they had a card. Now, it is the client’s decision.

In other words, it’s up to the owner of the racking equipment to decide if someone is “technically competent” enough to inspect their racking. With regards to expert racking inspections, this is pretty black and white; HSE recommends SEMA approved racking inspectors. With regards to staff inspections, CDM regulations mean the onus of responsibility is on the client.

Like the CDM regulations, heavier fines won’t change HSE racking regulations. However, they might change businesses’ attitude towards them. Owners of racking systems have a lot more personal responsibility and have a much greater potential to be fined than they did two years ago. As such, racking inspections from a SEMA approved inspector and racking inspection training for staff are more important than ever.

If you are the owner of a warehouse or storage system, contact Storage Equipment Experts for a racking inspection from a SEMA approved inspector or racking inspection training. We cover all of the UK and Ireland!

The aim of the SEMA Code of Practice is to help end users of racking to be safe, so mental health should be a part of this.

The advice from the SEMA Code of Practice advice is echoed and informed by HSE (the official UK government body for health and safety in the UK) and the two organisations have an intimate relationship. However, despite the relationship between the two, mental health is an issue where the two organisations differ by some margin.

For HSE, mental health considerations in its legislation and recommendations are an important part of delivering on the government’s promise of a “parity of esteem” between mental and physical health. This is why HSE offers advice on dealing with mental stress at work in HSE INDG424, alongside advice on warehouse safety in HSE HSG76. Both guides are available for free from the HSE website. To HSE, the two kinds of safety are just as important.

By contrast, on the SEMA website, there are no free resources on mental health. The SEMA Code of Practice is available for download for a price, but none of the free technical bulletins contain any advice on mental health. To understand why this is, it’s important to understand how the idea of a parity of esteem between mental and physical health came about.

Parity of Esteem

Since the British government announced a parity of esteem between mental and physical health in its 2011 report, No Health Without Mental Health, scrutiny for living up to this idea has fallen on private organisations as well as government ones. In 2012, the term was even enshrined into law; the Health and Social Care Act 2012 emphasised a legal requirement for a parity of esteem between mental and physical care.

For British people, the phrase parity of esteem has become an expression which means more than just the government’s efforts to achieve an equal treatment of mental and physical health. Rather, parity of esteem refers to the larger goal of making sure that mental and physical health are treated equally within society.

What began as internal government vocabulary for tackling a specific issue has become an expression which, to the general public, is about changing ideas as well as policy.

HSG76 Features Mental Health More Than the SEMA Code of Practice

Because parity of esteem began as a government idea, it’s unsurprising to discover that mental health considerations are a big part of HSE HSG76. It’s less prevalent in the SEMA Code of Practice, but there is reason for this.

The SEMA Code of Practice does not focus on injury, illness, or health (mental or physical). It focuses specifically on storage systems. In other words, the SEMA Code of Practice is not concerned with people; it is concerned with racking.

This is because it isn’t a document for the general public. It’s a document which offers advice on the technical aspects of racking use specifically for warehouse owners, racking system end users, or anyone else who the CDM Regulations would consider a “client”. The SEMA Code of Practice is also a document which SEMA approved racking inspectors are expected to understand and apply to their own work where possible.

HSE HSG76, by contrast, is a document for the general public. It’s for employers, employees and anyone interested in HSE’s stance on warehouse safety. Consequently, it is concerned with the wellbeing of people more than it is with helping people to understand the intricacies of racking equipment use.

Because warehouse owners are expected to read the two documents together, the SEMA Code of Practice mentions mental health a lot less than HSE HSG76. The latter is expected to be used as a reference for warehouse safety in general while the former focuses specifically on racking use.

As a final point, while HSE HSG76 makes several useful observations about mental health and workplace stress, it directs readers to HSE INDG424. This latter guide goes into workplace mental health in more detail. Health and safety guides are about directing readers to the best experts. SEMA is not an expert resource on mental health and it doesn’t pretend to be, so its mental advice is sparse. For a comprehensive guide to workplace mental health, HSE INDG424 is the best place to go.

For racking inspection services which adhere to the SEMA Code of Practice and HSE recommendations, contact Storage Equipment Experts today.

SEMA approved inspectors can offer many different services vital to warehouse safety across the UK and Ireland

A SEMA approved inspector is anyone who has received an approved inspector qualification from SEMA. In HSE’s eyes, SEMA approved inspectors are racking safety experts. HSA in Ireland also references the same HSE guide which labels SEMA approved inspectors as racking safety experts in its guide to warehouse safety. As such, there are many things that SEMA approved inspectors, as racking safety experts, can do in the UK and Ireland.

1. Racking Inspection by a SEMA Approved Inspector

First and foremost, the most important service that a SEMA approved inspector can provide is a racking inspection by a SEMA approved inspector. HSE recommends racking inspections from SEMA approved inspectors at least once a year and, as previously mentioned, HSA Ireland references this HSE guide in its advice on warehouse safety.

Both countries are also, as of 2017, subject to EU law, which also recommends annual inspections from an outside expert at least once a year. SEMA approved inspectors definitely qualify as experts.

2. Racking Inspection Training from a SEMA Approved Inspector

Alongside annual inspections from an outside expert, the EU also recommends regular inspections from a technically competent staff member. This same sort of recommendation is echoed in Canada and Australia, too.

Precisely how you can make sure your staff are competent enough to inspect your racking on a regular basis is left up to the employer. In the UK, the CDM Regulations spell out that this decision is entirely the “client’s” (the employer, warehouse owner, or racking system user).

SEMA approved inspectors can offer a vital service here. By providing staff with racking inspection training, you can be confident that they are technically competent enough to perform this sort of regular racking inspection.

3. Write a Racking Inspection Checklist

For your staff to perform these inspections, they will need some sort of checklist alongside their training to make sure that they don’t miss anything out in their inspections.

At Storage Equipment Experts, we offer racking inspection checklists for FREE! You can download them from our website for no charge whatsoever. Our guide was written by a SEMA approved inspector, so that’s one more important service which SEMA approved inspectors are able to provide.

4. Write a Blog On Racking Safety

This blog is a kind of free service, too. Written by a SEMA approved inspector, the Storage Equipment Experts blog features free advice on warehouse safety in general and racking inspection safety specifically. From a business perspective, there are many benefits of blog writing. However, we also write this blog because we are proud to provide a racking safety resource to anyone on the internet who might need it.

5. Travel to Anywhere in the UK or Ireland

Being a SEMA approved inspector is seen as a mark of safety expertise the world over. That’s why there are safety inspectors in Poland, the UAE and even Singapore. The title is not easily earned and the ability to know a safe racking system from an unsafe one requires immense attention to detail.

SEMA approved inspectors are able to teach this skill to an extent but, because of the multitude of factors involved, SEMA approved inspectors are also willing to travel to sites all over to make sure that a racking inspection is done right.

At Storage Equipment Experts, we are willing to inspect any business in the UK or Ireland. We are one of the few businesses in the UK or Ireland which offers this level of coverage and we are proud to do it in the name of safety.

For a racking inspection or racking inspection training anywhere in the UK or Ireland from a SEMA approved inspector, contact Storage Equipment Experts today!