Without regular racking inspections, warehouses are not safe. There are different kinds of racking inspections for different kinds of racking systems. However, some racking inspections are different in the eyes of HSE and the EU because of who performs them.
There are also various kinds of racking inspection training. Some are intended for people who want to pursue a career in racking inspections and some are intended for staff to perform staff-led racking inspections. Racking inspections for people intending to become racking inspection experts also vary. This depends on which private or public body delivers this racking inspection training and what kind of racking systems the person taking the training wants to be qualified to inspect.
Why Do Businesses Need Rack Safety Inspections? A Historical Picture
The need for rack safety inspections is part of a long history of industrial safety inspections and workplace safety inspections. The first industrial inspections started in 1833. The Factory Act 1833 helped to form Her Majesty’s Factory Inspectorate. The job of these four inspectors was to assess the safety of 4,000 safety mills.
The Evolution of Industrial Safety Inspections
The need for industrial safety inspection quickly became apparent. After all, sky-high workplace death rates and child labour were standard in Victorian Britain. As such, the four inspectors jumped to 35 inspectors and sub-inspectors by 1868.
Progress was steady, but slow. By 1903, industrial safety inspections had already ensured many important workers’ rights. The minimum age for workers was raised from nine to twelve. Before 1833, though, there was no such law whatsoever.
The Birth of HSE and Racking Inspection Guidelines
After the Flixborough disaster in 1974 where a warehouse explosion killed 28 people, HSE was formed. The aim of HSE was to make sure that nothing like the Flixborough disaster would ever happen again. The plan worked. Since HSE’s inception, workplace fatalities have fallen by 85% and workplace injuries have fallen by 77%.
Racking inspection guidelines are part of that tradition. By providing guidance on how rack safety inspection should be performed, how often rack safety inspections should be performed, and who they should be performed by, racking inspection guidelines help to make warehouses a lot safer.