Ensure Your Racking Is Safe & Compliant!
UK workplace-safety legislation places duties on employers, while HSE guidance explains recognised good practice for managing warehouse racking safely. Your racking needs to be inspected by a SEMA approved racking inspector but also regularly by a “technically competent” employee within your company.
In order to make sure that your employee has the skills needed to inspect your racking, Storage Equipment Experts offer racking inspection services delivered by our SEMA approved racking inspectors. Moreover, HSE requires that appropriate action is taken when any damage or defects to the racking are detected.
Maintaining best practices in your warehouse is crucial for the safety of employees and achieving legal compliance. It also assists the smooth running of warehouses and ultimately improves business.
However, it is not just HSE’s Warehousing and Storage: A Guide to Health and Safety that recommends regular racking inspections by a SEMA approved racking inspector. Pallet racking is classed as “work equipment” and is therefore subject to a regular pallet racking inspection under current Health and Safety Legislation.
Work equipment also needs to be inspected “at suitable intervals” and any time that “exceptional circumstances” mean that the equipment could be damaged.
For racking, HSE recommend SEMA approved racking inspectors for the installation, repair, and maintenance of your racking. An inspection from a SEMA approved racking inspector is the safest and best option for your warehouse, so contact Storage Equipment Experts for a quote or information on our training courses and inspection services delivered by SEMA Approved Inspectors.
FAQs
UK law does not simply state that every warehouse must have an racking inspection. However, employers have duties under regulations such as PUWER to ensure work equipment is maintained and inspected at suitable intervals. HSE guidance recommends regular inspections and an expert inspection of storage equipment.
HSE guidance recommends regular checks by competent staff, while SEMA guidance commonly recommends an expert racking inspection at least every 12 months.
Routine checks can be carried out by trained and competent warehouse staff. Expert inspections should be performed by a technically competent specialist, such as a SEMA Approved Rack Inspector (SARI).
An inspection assesses the condition and stability of the racking, including damage, defects, alignment, structural components and other potential safety issues. Findings are recorded and recommendations for corrective action are provided.
The damage should be assessed and appropriate action taken. Depending on the severity, this can include monitoring, repair, replacement or taking the affected section out of use.
PUWER can apply to workplace equipment such as pallet racking. It requires equipment to be maintained and, where necessary, inspected at suitable intervals and after circumstances that could have caused damage.