Don’t Stay Silent about Warehouse and Racking Safety!

Warehouse and racking safety requires carefulness, regular rack inspections, and workers who are free to speak up about potential problems.

Warehouse and racking safety is not a dogma; it is a dialogue between employees, employers, customers, safety experts, and the government. Everyone should have a say in how our warehouses can be made safer because warehouse and racking safety affects everyone.

However, while this is something which we at Storage Equipment Experts believe in, it is evidently not an idea shared by everyone. Workers at a supermarket distribution company were recently fired because they raised concerns over health and safety. Silencing whistleblowers does not help to make warehouses safer. The fear that employees are not allowed to talk about warehouse or racking safety leads to a culture of danger and worker exploitation.

The recent trial over the conditions at Sports Directs’ main distribution warehouse shows what happens when employees are not free to express their concerns over safety. Workers were pushed to the limit in extremely unsafe conditions and, as a result, the centre was forced to make 83 ambulance calls over the course of two years.

The Law Requires Safety Inspections: Warehouse Racking Inspections, Forklift Inspections, and Many Other Safety Inspections

Employers are legally obliged to ensure that their warehouse is being operated in accordance with HSE standards. These regulations are in place because they save lives and they should not be ignored. Employees should be encouraged — not punished — for raising health and safety issues, especially when those issues concern the law.

With regards to warehouse and racking safety, employers are legally required to make sure their racking is inspected by a safety expert — a SEMA approved rack inspector — at least once a year. Should an employee notice a problem, they should mention this to their employer. In fact, HSE encourages employers to conduct rack safety inspections of their own on a regular basis.

Employers should not be quiet about warehouse and racking safety. Rather it is both a legal requirement — and good business — to make sure that they are actively involved in a frank and open discussion about warehouse and racking safety. This is why we provide racking inspection training from a SEMA approved inspector.

Safe, Smart, and Confident Employees are Better for Business

Businesses with employees who are educated on safety issues are better for several reasons. For a start, safety training of any kind helps to motivate employees as they feel more invested in and a bigger part of the team.

Both warehouse racking inspection training for small businesses and warehouse racking inspection training for big businesses have the psychological benefits that come from spending money on human capital. However, the other reason safer and smarter employees are better for business is cold hard cash.

Rack Safety Inspections Now Mean Bigger Profits Later

OSHA calculate that businesses who spend more on safety save money in the long run. Specifically, for every dollar a business spends on safety, they can save up to six dollars. This makes perfect sense. Rack safety inspections are a small expense, but the potential returns on this investment are huge.

After failing to adhere to warehouse safety standards, the international beer-giant Anheuser-Busch had to pay a jaw-dropping $162,000 fine.

A racking expert’s inspection could’ve prevented this expense. Ignoring warehouse safety may cost more than fines.

Casualties and — in some tragic cases — fatalities are the very real result of failing to invest in racking safety.

Businesses and their staff have no reason to stay silent about warehouse and racking safety.

Open dialogue on safety benefits the warehousing, logistics, and supply chain sector, fostering improved operations for all.

Don’t be silent and don’t ignore racking safety! Contact Storage Equipment Experts for a quote on your next warehouse racking inspection.

At Storage Equipment Experts, we instruct businesses on pallet racking safety. Fully-fledged racking inspection training and comprehensive racking inspection checklists are not the only things that we do. One of our most useful services is a basic introduction to racking inspections.

Our infographic should serve as a starting point for businesses who want their staff to learn more about racking inspections and how racking inspection checklists work. It’s a great graphic to print out and put around your workplace. And it’s yours for free! Of course, that’s not the only free thing we offer at Storage Equipment Experts…

Our Racking Inspection Checklist is Free and Easy-to-Use

If you want to carry out your own regular internal racking inspections (as recommended by HSE), you can download our free and easy-to-use racking inspection checklist right here. Before using it though, we would strongly recommend also undergoing racking inspection training.

Our infographic is a great introduction, but for a detailed course on how racking inspections are performed look no further than our racking inspection training course. This course will give your staff the confidence and knowledge to carry out regular internal racking inspections in accordance with HSE’s recommended “traffic light” racking safety system. For this, you can use our racking inspection checklist.

Our Infographic, Our Racking Inspection Checklist, and Our Racking Inspection Course: The Perfect Trilogy

Great things come in threes, and that’s why we recommend using our infographic alongside our checklist and racking inspection training for the perfect three-pronged approach to racking safety. However, racking safety still has one more important element: expert rack safety inspections.

Rack Safety Inspections from Racking Inspection Experts

These safety inspections are required by law — and for good reason. Though our infographic, checklist, and training will help you with the day-to-day upkeep and inspection of your racking, a certified expert is required by HSE to visit your warehouse at least once a year. HSE recommends SEMA approved inspectors for this job. After all, damage is not always obvious. There are some things which require a racking inspection expert to spot.

For the non-experts though, this infographic serves as a great place to start. Understanding the basics is simple when you break it down, and so that’s just what we’ve done with our infographic.

Rack safety inspections are all about knowledge and discipline. That’s why we are keen to share that knowledge as much as possible. At Storage Equipment Experts, we are here to teach you everything you need to know to perform your own regular internal racking inspections. And we are also here when you need an expert racking inspector — a SEMA approved rack inspector — to spot something you might have missed and to give you the advice you need to keep your racking, your warehouse, and your business safe. Our job is to help to you do your job better and safer. Whatever your business, contact us for your next rack safety inspection.

Now that you know the basics, it’s time to call in the experts. Contact us for your next SEMA-approved racking inspection.

Sustainable business and safe business are two things that go hand in hand more often than people realise. A practice introduced to increase safety usually has the added bonus of making a company more sustainable and vice versa. The inverse is also true, and examples of this are everywhere.

Short-Term Thinking: Lack of Safety and Lack of Sustainability in Business

In the United States, the four most dangerous states to work in, as measured by workplace fatalities per 100,000 workers, are North Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming, and Alaska. As a result, it’s not surprising to learn that the four biggest polluting states, as measured by carbon emissions per capita, are North Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming, and Alaska.

Around the world, there are far too many other examples of unsafe working conditions being linked with unsustainable business practices. In China, poor warehouse safety caused two chemical explosions. This was devastating for both the local people and the local environment. In Indonesia, appalling working conditions are being coupled with one of the deadliest environmental catastrophes of the last two centuries.

Short-term thinking in business is what leads to both danger and environmental problems. Due to unsafe working conditions during stadium building for the 2022 World Cup, Qatari businesses are responsible for thousands of deaths. This same shortsightedness in business explains why Qatar is also the largest producer of carbon emissions per capita in the world.

Long-Term Thinking: How Racking Safety Leads to More Sustainable Business

Journalist Aishwarya Nair looks back on when government safety guidelines first introduced, noting that “businesses eventually realised that health and safety benefited their bottom line”. She then goes on to argue that businesses now “need to recognise sustainability does the same”. The idea is a sound one. After all, if your business is safe and sustainable, then it will most likely be more efficient and therefore more economical too.

Racking safety is a prime example of this. Unsafe racking is harder to use, more likely to lead to spillages, and requires time. All of these things can harm the workers, the environment, and profits respectively. This is why it is good for businesses to have regular pallet racking inspections and racking inspection training from a SEMA approved racking inspector: it is smart decision that will benefit them long term.

In order to be safe and sustainable, businesses need to look to the future. Investing in decisions that help to achieve long-term goals requires patience and foresight. More than that, long-term thinking is the key to making a business a good thing for workers and a good thing for the planet.

Invest in your business’ long-term future with racking inspection training for you and your staff from the UK’s best SEMA approved racking inspector.