SEMA Safety: Being Safe According to SEMA

Safety is important to SEMA, and the organisation has spent countless years developing its own safety protocols

SEMA safety is the safety standard for the storage equipment industry. SEMA stands for the Storage Equipment Manufacturer’s Association, and this self-appointed title is hard-earned. If something is safe according to SEMA, it should be considered safe by everyone using any kind of storage system. Here are some of the key tenants of SEMA safety.

SEMA Safety Tip #1: Read The Codes of Practice

Codes of Practice are the backbone of SEMA safety. In these documents, SEMA codifies the laws of safety as it sees them and some of the documents have even helped to influence both British and European legislation.

Of course, these Codes of Practice aren’t always the law. As such, the best place to start for a guide on safety is HSE’s HSG76. This guide also isn’t the law, but it’s a best practice guide from the British government and following it is usually enough to stay within the law. For certain specific issues, the HSE guide will direct to relevant parts of the SEMA Code of Practice.

SEMA Safety Tip #2: Check Load Notices

One such Code of Practice which influenced European and British legislation is SEMA’s stance on load notices. A big part of SEMA’s influence on storage equipment safety the world over are these load notices which the organisation has been developing since the 1980s. Paying close attention to them is a key part of SEMA safety.

Load notices usually look something like this.

On the left-hand side, warnings are issued in yellow, instructed actions are issued in blue, and prohibited actions are issued in red. This colour coding system falls in line with the EU Directive on safety signs and the corresponding British law on safety signs.

On the right-hand side, the top right-hand corner contains information about the date the system was supplied and the product reference number. Below that, a pictogram of a storage system indicates the maximum storage capacity for the system. Note that this storage capacity will be different for different systems. Below all this on the right-hand side, the supplier is listed.

Checking a load notice is not designed to replace racking inspection training or other safety protocol. Rather, it acts as a handy reminder of some the most important aspects of storage equipment safety.

SEMA Safety Tip #3: Use SEMA Approved Suppliers and Installers

As a standard maker for the whole industry, there is a list of SEMA approved racking suppliers and SEMA approved installers or installation companies. These three kinds of approval can be checked with a variety of badges and cards.

SEMA is an acronym which loves to create acronyms. So, prepare yourself…

Firstly, there are SEMA Distributor Companies (SDCs). These are companies which produce and supply storage equipment systems and have been approved by SEMA to do so. SDCs are part of the SEMA Distributor Group (SDG). As part of the SDG, SDCs have to maintain the highest possible standards in the storage equipment industry.

Secondly, there are SEMA Approved Installation Companies (SAICs). These are companies which have been approved by SEMA to install storage systems. Just likes SDCs, SAICs have to maintain the highest possible standards in the storage equipment industry in order to call themselves SAICs.

Finally, there are members of the Storage Equipment Installers Registration Scheme (SEIRS). These are individuals — rather than companies — who have been approved by SEMA to install storage systems. The same usual high standards are required for members of the SEIRS to remain members.

In summary, in order for end users of racking systems to properly adhere to SEMA safety. They should buy all their storage equipment from SDCs and make sure it is installed by a SAIC or a member of the SEIRS.

SEMA Safety Tip #4: Use SEMA Approved Racking Inspectors

However, in order to really follow SEMA safety, the most important acronym for end users is SEMA Approved Racking Inspectors (SARIs). Both SEMA and HSE recommend that end users book a visit from a SARI at least once every 12 months. SARIs can also perform racking inspection training for your staff so that they are competent, as recommended by the CDM Regulations 2015. What’s more, racking inspection training also helps your staff to perform the regular staff-led racking inspections which HSE recommends.

SARIs have to pass pre-course qualifier, complete a rigorous and intense training course, attend multiple seminars on SEMA safety, and receive continuous assessment in order to become a SARI and to remain a SARI. As SEMA approved schemes, though, the aim of this rigorousness is the upkeep of the highest possible safety standards.

Follow SEMA safety with a visit from a SARI today. Contact Storage Equipment Experts for nationwide coverage of the UK and Ireland!

SEMA safety

Pallet Racking in London

London is home to thousands of businesses. If yours is one of them — and you have pallet racking — contact us for an inspection.

Storage Equipment Experts is based all over the UK and we’re happy to travel across the country — and even Ireland — for inspection or for training. However, our first base was in London. Inside the M25, our London training centre is the best place to go within the capital for racking inspections or racking inspection training.

Pallet Racking in London? We Inspect!

HSE recommends an inspection of pallet racking systems at least once every 12 months. What’s more, HSE recommends that SEMA approved racking inspectors (SARI) perform these inspections because they are experts.

Our London-based SARI has years of experience inspecting pallet racking in London. It’s because of this that Storage Equipment Experts has great testimonials from small London businesses like Belvedere Carpets and world-famous London institutions like the Tate Modern.

Come to London to Learn How to Inspect Pallet Racking…

Inspecting pallet racking in London is what we do, but it’s not all we do. We also offer racking inspection training from our base in London. We do this because we recognise the need for London businesses to have staff competent enough to perform regular pallet racking inspections themselves. This is something recommended by HSE, but it’s also backed up by the CDM Regulations 2015.

Of course, it’s not just London businesses who need staff competent enough to perform regular pallet racking inspections. Every British and Irish business needs it. That’s also why our training centre is based in London; London is an incredibly accessible city.

You can get to London from Cardiff in just over two hours. You can get to London from Glasgow in less than four a half hours and for less than £40. Even from Dublin, London is a short flight away. Getting to London is easy, but we also understand that it’s not easy enough for everyone..

Can’t Make It to London? No Worries. We’ll Come to You!

If you can’t make it to London, that’s not an issue. We’re happy to travel anywhere in the UK or Ireland to deliver racking inspections or racking inspection training.

HSA — the Irish government’s health and safety authority — approve of HSE’s recommendations regarding racking inspections by SEMA Approved inspectors and regular inspections by staff. What’s more, EU standard EN 15635 also recommends inspections from an expert once every 12 months. It’s because of this that we also work with Irish businesses in order to deliver our racking inspection services.

Why Are Our Pallet Racking Services London-Based?

Even with Brexit looming, London still has over a million world businesses headquartered there. As such, it is a magnet for would-be entrepreneurs from all over the UK. Many of these London businesses have pallet racking systems, and our business is based there in order to help inspect them.

However, our base in London is about more than pallet racking in London. The city is an unrivalled transport hub for the rest of the UK and to Europe. It’s why people can travel to us, but it’s also because of our base in London that we are able to travel to you.

We offer our service to the whole of the UK and Ireland. The fact that we also have SEMA Approved Racking Inspectors (SARIs) best in the Midlands, the North, Wales, and Scotland also helps with our UK and Ireland coverage.

For pallet racking services in London and for complete coverage of the UK and Ireland, contact Storage Equipment Experts today. Call us now for a FREE consultation on your warehouse safety needs.

What Is SEMA (Storage Equipment Manufacturers Association)?

Health and safety is full of acronyms as SEMA, so let’s explain what one of those acronyms means.

So, What is SEMA?

SEMA (Storage Equipment Manufacturers Association) is a private organisation which helps to advise HSE, the EU, and the general public about storage equipment safety. It does this through training courses and Code of Practice documents on the installation, use, inspection and disassembly of storage equipment. Some of this advice has become legal practice, but most of the advice remains best practice.

And What is SEMA’s role?

SEMA is the voice of the storage equipment industry in the sense that it talks to the British government on the behalf of the whole industry. When the government makes laws which affect the storage equipment industry, they turn to SEMA to get the industry’s opinion. Equally, if the industry feels that the government can do something for the industry, it is SEMA’s aim and its duty to talk to the government on behalf of the industry in order to do this.

What is SEMA’s History?

Since its formation, SEMA has been providing advice on best practice for people in the storage equipment industry. Since then, it’s reached many milestones on the way. One of these is th SEMA Code of Practice: a series of documents which has been helping the industry since the 1980s. This series of documents — which has been updated throughout the years — explains what end users of racking systems should do in a whole variety of situations.

Another milestone for SEMA was when the SEMA Code of Practice’s stance on load notices helped to shape European and British law in 2004. How this happened all started back in the ‘90s. After EC Directive 92/58/EEC was announced by the EU in June 1992, the UK introduced the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations in 1996. These regulations meant that there was now a legal requirement for how load notices should be.

SEMA modified its Code of Practice in accordance with this legislation. It then updated its stance on load notices again in 2004 with the SEMA Load Notices Code 2004. In 2008, EN 15635 was developed by the EU and it was based on the SEMA Load Notices Code 2004. EN 15635 is a standard which has influenced not just British law, but law across the EU. All of this shows how powerful SEMA’s influence can be.

What is a SEMA Approved Installation Company?

Another milestone in SEMA’s history is the development of training and registration schemes for the storage equipment industry in order to improve standards. There is the Storage Equipment Installers Registration Scheme (SEIRS), which helps end users to make sure that person installing their storage equipment is qualified.

There are also SEMA Approved Installation Companies (SAICs), which help end users to make sure that the company installing their storage equipment is qualified. Their are even SEMA Distribution Companies (SDCs), which help end users to make that the company they are buying their racking system from is qualified.

What Is a SEMA Approved Racking Inspector?

Finally, when your racking is installed and you are using it day to day, you will need to make sure that a qualified person can inspect your system at least once every 12 months — as recommended by HSE. This is why SEMA developed its SEMA Approved Racking Inspector (SARI) scheme.

In order to become a SARI, you need to have enough of a background in engineering or health and safety to complete a pre-course qualifier. After that, you need to complete an intense training course, pass a final exam and continue to attend top-up sessions and seminars to make sure that your knowledge of the storage equipment industry is up to date.

The failure rate for SARI examinations is high and it’s also high for another one of SEMA’s training courses: the SEMA Cantilever Rack Safety Awareness course. Cantilever racking is a specialist type of racking system. As such, only 42 SARIs in the world are also qualified by SEMA’s to inspect cantilever racking. Our SARI at Storage Equipment Experts is part of this exclusive club.

For rack inspection training or a rack inspection from a SARI who is qualified by SEMA to inspect both pallet racking and cantilever racking, contact Storage Equipment Experts today.

SEMA Approved

What Are HSE Guidelines?

The term “HSE guidelines” is thrown around a lot. However, this is a problem, because the term is actually quite misleading.

HSE guidelines are leaflets and documents issued by the Health & Safety Executive which offer best practice guidance on a variety of public safety issues. These guidelines — much like HSE itself — are often misunderstood. Most of the time, this is through negative stories about “health and safety gone mad”. However, on occasion, HSE is misunderstood by people who respect HSE immensely.

Defining HSE Guidelines

By “HSE guidelines”, most people mean guides like INDG45 on the safe use of ladders and step ladders. This leaflet offers helpful and practical insight into how someone can manage ladders and step ladders in their workplace. The leaflets are a great example of best practice and you know that it’s advice you can trust, because it’s from the government.

However, these leaflets are not legally binding.

HSE Guidelines Are Not The Law

This might not seem correct, but it is. The idea that HSE’s guidelines are the law is a common overestimation made by people who respect HSE’s advice.

The confusion stems from the fact that HSE is the government organisation responsible for public health and safety. As such, it would make sense that its guidelines are the law. This logic is sound, but it’s not correct.

It can also be confusing because HSE does write laws. The decisions the organisation makes on public safety can affect some pieces of legislation and HSE can help to create other pieces of legislation from scratch. So, if this organisation has the power to make laws, why aren’t its guidelines the law?

HSE Offers Practical Advice And Legal Advice

At the start of many HSE guidelines, you’ll often see this caveat:

“This guidance is issued by the Health and Safety Executive. Following the guidance is not compulsory and you are free to take other action. But if you do follow the guidance you will normally be doing enough to comply with the law.”

HSE guidelines aren’t the law itself because its guidelines are designed to be read by employees and employers with no legal expertise. Legal documents are often dense things written in legalese. Legislation is written this way so that it can’t be bent in some way to mean something else — as much as lawyers might try. The downside to this, though, is that this language can be hard to interpret. As such, HSE ‘translates’ this language into its guidelines.

A legal document is not designed to advise. It’s designed to outline bare minimum requirements. By contrast, HSE guidelines offer helpful advice which is designed to be read by employers in order for them to exercise best practice.

When HSE Offers Legal Advice, It’s Explicit

HSE guidelines aren’t the law, but they do sometimes refer to the law. When HSE guidelines do this, though, it is explicit. HSE’s INDG225 on slips, trips and falls makes clear reference to what three different laws say at the beginning guide. It unambiguously tells you what the law is and what the law says. However, the guideline is not the law itself. Rather, the actual legislation can be found here, here, and here.

When you to try to read the actual legislation, you quickly understand why INDG225 breaks down the relevant pieces of this legislation with regards to slips, trips and falls. To give just one example, Section 5 of The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 contains sage advice like this:

“Every employer shall make and give effect to such arrangements as are appropriate having regard to the nature of his activities and the size of his undertaking, for the effective planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of the preventive and protective measures.”

If you fell asleep trying to read that sentence, take pity on the hard-working people at HSE who had to go through legislation like this in order to find the practical pieces of advice most relevant in certain situations. Distraction is the enemy of safety, and HSE knows that it’s easy to get distracted when reading pages of impenetrable legal jargon. It’s because of this reason that HSE guidelines exist.

In HSG76, one HSE guideline is that warehouses should be inspected by a SEMA approved racking inspector at least once every 12 months. This advice isn’t the law, but it is consistent with the law.

So, for racking inspections by SEMA Approved inspectors that consistent with HSE guidelines, contact Storage Equipment Experts today.

SEMA Safety: Being Safe According to SEMA