Drunk On Safety: The Role of Pallet Racking in the Whisky Industry

When you’re sat in the pub enjoying your favourite whisky, with or without ice, take a moment and consider how exactly it got into your glass. The pub probably will have bought your small tipple in bulk, from a distributor, who probably bought their crates in bulk from a supplier. Both the supplier and the distributor will have stored their whisky in warehouses and those warehouses, depending on how the whisky was stored, will have used different kinds of pallet racking.

This is true for many products. However, whisky is unique in that it is a single consumable product that can fill entire warehouses, for many years, and has the potential to boost the British economy. Whisky requires care because it can spoil, but it also needs space and stringent pallet racking safety standards. With whisky, there is much more than meets the taste buds.

Production and storage of whisky needs pallet racking inspections and pallet racking inspection training to ensure racking safety

With Scotch whisky accounting for about a quarter of the UK’s total food and drink export, British whisky producers are under immense pressure to adhere to the right standards. Whisky requires time and immense care, and so the safety and security of a distillery’s storage system needs to be absolute.

Of course, whisky producers want a zero accident workplace. However, with the production of Scotch whisky, zero accident takes on a whole new meaning. Scotch can be stored for over twenty years, but if just one racking shelf has an issue during that time then thousands of pounds worth of whisky can be lost in the blink of an eye. Even if there are absolutely no human casualties, the damage a pallet racking system failure can do to a small Scotch whisky producer is catastrophic.

To prevent this, distilleries require pallet racking inspections and pallet racking inspection training for their staff. Twenty years is a long time, and some whisky’s can mature for upwards of fifty years, but in all that time the safety and security of the racking needs to be paramount. The world changes, nation states are create and destroy, a human being may be born, raise a family, become a grandfather, and pass away: whiskies can outlast all of that… but only if the racking is well maintained.

Some whiskies are older than HSE itself, which means they are older than the legal requirement for pallet racking inspections and pallet racking inspection training. Still, though they may be beyond the birth of government regulations for racking, they are not beyond the universal laws that govern racking safety.

As of 2016, HSE recommends that a SEMA-approved rack inspector perform a pallet racking inspection at least once a year. For obvious reasons, when distilleries are storing whisky that is older than your dad, the frequency of these racking inspections should be much higher. Moreover, HSE recommends that a “technically competent” member of staff perform pallet racking inspections on a more regular basis. And the best way to ensure that staff are “technically competent” is to invest in pallet racking inspection training.

In the future, HSE may change. Whisky can be store for a long time and who’s to say what racking safety will look like fifty years from now. Still, what is certain is that pallet racking inspection training from Storage Equipment Experts is something that stands the test of time. Allowing your staff to attend our pallet racking inspection training course will give them knowledge which will still be relevant many, many years from now.

Give your staff the pallet racking inspection training course that remains relevant through the years. Contact Storage Equipment Experts today!

A lot of things come down to luck (a coin toss, Blackjack, Snakes and Ladders) but racking safety is not one of these things. Racking safety requires skills beyond crossing your fingers, and though many people already know this, there are evidently still some who do not. As a result, there are still too many tragedies that occur from a lack of racking safety. To avoid this, businesses need to invest in racking safety with rack inspection training. So here are four reasons why racking safety does not depend on luck.

1. Racking Safety Requires Facts

Dice have no memory… but warehouses do. If a flipped coin lands heads up a thousand times in a row, the coin does not “owe us” a tails. The odds of it landing on heads again are 50/50, same as they always were. The belief otherwise is known as the Gambler’s Fallacy and it is responsible for the “one more roll of the dice” ideology that leaves so many gamblers bankrupt.

By contrast, when we say that warehouses do have memories, what we are saying is that warehouse safety is based on past mistakes and past successes. A safety system works or does not for good reason. Our rack inspection training course is not the result of guesswork. It is the result of research, hard statistics, and experience. It is the result of the collective learning accumulated from hundreds of years of warehouse and racking safety.

2. Racking Safety Requires Constant Diligence

Racking safety is not a one off. It is a constant process that requires consistent adherence to the highest standards of safety. SEMA approved racking inspectors (SARIs), for example, have to stay up to date with all of the latest racking safety news, conferences, and changes in order to keep their prestigious title. They are also expected to attend any extra courses they might need and pass on their knowledge to other people. That last point is why we at Storage Equipment Experts have written articles for British, American, and South African publications.

3. Racking Safety Requires Certainty

The very nature of luck is that it is uncertain; the very nature of safety is that it is certain. For this reason, the two concepts make terrible bedfellows. And yet, there are still many businesses who leave safety down to luck.

A far too common feeling among businesses that own warehouses is that pre racking inspection nerves are natural. They aren’t. If you are feeling nervous before a racking inspection, it is because you are uncertain about the quality of your racking safety. In other words, it means you have left it to luck. If you take chances on safety as part of the day-to-day running of your business, it should come as no surprise that an otherwise routine SEMA approved rack inspection would make you nervous.

4. Racking Safety Requires Rack Inspection Training

Our rack inspection training course leaves nothing to chance. This is a full-day course that goes through as many of the elements of racking inspection that can be covered in the time allowed. The end result is that those who attend our course walk away feeling confident about racking safety. Not the kind of confidence that relies on a misplaced self-belief and philosophy of luck. Rather, the confidence gained from our course comes from the acquisition of solid knowledge: practical, relevant, and succinct.

More than that, our course teaches humility. We do not pretend to cover every element of racking inspection in a single day. There are limits to the amount of knowledge we can impart, which is why HSE recommend a visit from a SEMA approved rack inspector at least once a year. Our course teaches employees everything that they need to know about racking safety. More than that, it teaches them that what they don’t know doesn’t need to be left to chance. Instead, what they don’t know should be left to a rack inspection from a SEMA approved rack inspector.

In the world of rack safety, there is no such thing as luck. So make sure that your staff have rack inspection training from Storage Equipment Experts and leave luck to the cowboys!

Storage Equipment Experts, we are passionate about current developments in the racking safety industry and we are well acquainted with the industry’s past. The future, however, is especially fascinating. New technologies and a new generation of internet users mean that many businesses will be subject to change. Racking inspection training is no different and we will welcome the future like an old friend when it comes.

Racking Inspection Training and Blogging

We are proud of our blogging. Our site currently has a blog that is update five times a month so our readers can read all the latest information on racking safety and racking inspection training issues. As the internet becomes accessible to more and more people, our online writing will continue to be a big part of what we do. For racking inspection training, this means that we will be able to complement our face-to-face training with more great information and updates in the future.

Racking Inspection Training and the Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) is an idea that has been around for a while. A good definition of the idea comes from Nicole Kobie: “it’s about connecting devices over the internet, letting them talk to us, applications, and each other”.

In other words, rather than the internet simply consisting of computers talking to each other, the internet will become a system where every electronic gadget can communicate. To return to Kobie, “the popular, if silly, example is the smart fridge: what if your fridge could tell you it was out of milk, texting you if its internal cameras saw there was none left, or that the carton was passed its use-by date?”

How will this affect racking inspection training? It’s hard to say, but it’s a question worth asking because the IoT is already making an impact on the taxi industry (with Uber having been recently value at $70 billion) and has the potential to revolutionise the food service industry (with apps like Push for Pizza). To point out the obvious, taxis, pizza, and racking inspection training are three radically different products.

Racking Inspection Training and Information Overload

The IoT is part of a larger trend; people now have quicker access to more information more often. Finding out whether your milk has gone funny is one thing, but the fact that the majority of internet access now occurs through mobile is a fact worth considering. Information about anything, from the latest laws on racking safety to the air pollution levels in China, can be retrieved almost instantly through either an app, a browser extension, or a Google search. With so much information available, can’t people just learn about racking inspection training through an app?

The short answer is no. The long answer is that as the IoT and mobile internet becomes more prevalent, quality of information will matter more. An app can translate words for you, and it can even read signs in foreign languages, but an app cannot teach you a language. For that, you need a teacher, lessons, practice, and other sources of quality information. Racking inspection training is the same.

We at Storage Equipment Experts will continue to write articles and blog posts about racking safety in the future. However, for a thorough understanding of pallet racking inspections, racking safety, and warehouse safety in general, our racking inspection training is the course that stands the test of time.

Contact Storage Equipment Experts for a racking inspection training course from the SEMA-Approved Racking Inspector who understands the past, present, and future 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.

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!

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.