Why You Need To Have Your Pallet Racking Inspected
Owners and operators of warehouses who use pallet racking need to ensure the safety of everyone who enters their warehouse, and the best way to achieve this is to have an annual safety inspection as recommended by SEMA – the Storage Equipment Manufacturers Association.
Is it a legal requirement to have an annual inspection? No, it is not. However, if you fail to have an annual inspection, or at the very least a bi-annual inspection, you will be going against the advice of the Health and Safety Executive and you could be in serious trouble if someone suffered injury in your warehouse as a result.
As with many government documents, the terminology used can lead to confusion since the word “recommend” is used often. The HSE provides a primary guide to warehouse safety and at the beginning of the guide states the following:
“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. Health and safety inspectors seek to secure compliance with the law and may refer to this guidance as illustrating good practice.”
HSE also states this:
“Ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of yourself and others who may be affected by what you do or do not do.”
As a warehouse owner or operator what this means is that you need to ensure that anybody who enters your warehouse – and that means anybody, not just your employees – is safe as far as is “reasonably practicable”. That means using your common sense, and as far as pallet racking is concerned it means that you SHOULD have – not MUST have – your racking inspected on an annual basis as recommended by SEMA.
You should also have your racking inspected on a weekly basis by what HSE describes as a “technically competent” member of your staff. This will mean that any damage as a result of accidents will be noted and the appropriate course of action can be taken. It will also flag up any minor repairs which might need to be done such as tightening of fixings that have become loose.
Colour Coding System
An annual racking inspection will be undertaken while your racking is loaded with pallets. Anything that is damaged or faulty is noted and a report supplied based on the SEMA Code of Practice. SEMA has a colour coding system of green, amber, and red.
Green means that an item is damaged but is within the SEMA code. The item can continue to be used but should be monitored. Amber means that it is outside the SEMA code, but the rack does not have to be immediately off-loaded. However, when it is off-loaded it should not be used again until the problem has been attended to. Red indicates that the rack is well outside the limits of the SEMA code and it should be off-loaded immediately and not used again until it has been repaired.
An annual inspection can also indicate areas where improvements might be made such as installation of barriers in high traffic areas and where safety notices might be added.
So, in short it is not a legal requirement to have an annual inspection of your pallet racking, but you could be in trouble if there was an accident, since it could be argued that you did not take reasonable steps to ensure someone’s safety “so far as is reasonably practical”.
An annual inspection will usually take less than half a day, and as with many things in life, it is better to be safe than sorry.
Click here to book a safety inspection.
Pallet racking inspections, repairs and spare parts in Yorkshire
Pallet racking inspections, repairs and spare parts in Yorkshire
Not sure your pallet racking safe and up to standard? We offer a full pallet racking safety inspection starting from £250.00 plus VAT and a wide range of new and used spares with a full repair and installation package.
We can inspect all types and manufactures of pallet racking, APR, Drive in, etc. from LINK 51, Dexion, HiLo, PSS, Apex, Stow, RediRack, Polypal, etc.
Our fully trained and experienced pallet racking inspectors work to the SEMA standards and all hold the latest NVQ in pallet racking safety inspection. This allows you to show you have engaged a competent person as advised by HSE guidance HSG76 Warehousing and Storage as well as the Provision & Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 commonly referred to as PUWER, that state that all work equipment provided to employees must be maintained and be safe to do the job for which it is intended.
We also offer a full repair, design, supply and installation package, we can carry out your inspection at a time that suits your business requirements with out of hours options. Your report is comprehensive and we guarantee to have it in your inbox in 48hrs of completing the report.
Our Pallet Racking Safety Inspectors will point out any hazardous issues on site and advise on the most cost effective solutions to bring your pallet racking back to a safe standard. With an increasing number of HSE prosecutions for pallet racking related accidents the cost of a Pallet Racking Safety Inspection could be the best investment you make in your business.
We also offer a free advice service so if you have any questions about what is and is not safely acceptable why not call our Pallet Racking Safety Team here in Yorkshire today on 01937 585057.
Warehouse safety barriers and rack end safety barriers
Are you looking for warehouse safety barriers and rack end safety barriers? Here at 2h Storage we design, supply and install a wide range of safety and rack barriers? We have a full range of simple tubular barriers, rack end arco, tube barriers and bollards through to mesh and solid partitions to separate fork lift truck and pedestrian areas. Do you need high grade high visibility fork lift barriers or barriers to protect pallet racking? We provide a full survey and design service for vehicle barriers, modular barriers, rack barriers and office protection barriers.
Pedestrian barriers keep your site and team safe and help keep areas tidy and clearly defined. Vehicle barriers help keep staff, valuable stock, machinery and equipment safe from vehicle impact. Our modular barrier range can be made and designed to fit your site and work areas keeping your staff and site safe and providing a quality and professional appearance to you facility. Our pallet racking rack end and upright protectors can help you avoid thousands of pounds of damage to racking and avoid the disruption caused by pallet racking repairs. So whatever type of warehouse barrier, pedestrian barrier, modular or vehicle barriers you need call our team here in Yorkshire on 01765 640 160.
Rack end Load Notices and Pallet racking safety inspections
Do you need rack end load notices and pallet racking safety inspections? Or perhaps you need a pallet racking safety inspection to make sure your racking is safe and free of potentially hazardous damage or defects.
Here at 2h Storage we can supply all your pallet racking requirements from pallet racking design, supply and installation of both new and used pallet racking. We can inspect your pallet racking and provide you with an easy to understand and comprehensive pallet racking safety report. This will detail any missing rack end load notices and meet the standards of the most stringent health and safety professionals.
We provide a full risk and method statement for our pallet racking safety inspections and provide an easy to follow but comprehensive electronic report within 48hrs of attending site.
Health and Safety in the work place is of paramount importance to your business. An Annual Rack Safety Inspection will help you ensure your warehouse is a safe place in which to work.
Under the current Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 5 & 6 1998 ALL
Racks and Shelving are required by law to have regular inspections.
Regular Rack Inspections help your business:
- Comply with Health & Safety Regulations
- Investigate the causes of damage and improved operating methods
- Identify essential repairs
- Reduce damage and maintenance costs in the future.
- Documented inspections and maintenance of your ‘Work Equipment’
- Improve internal inspection and reporting procedures
So for all your pallet racking safety and pallet racking inspection requirements call our warehouse safety team here in Yorkshire on 01937 585 057.
Pallet racking safety experts
Pallet racking safety advice is essential to warehouse managers and those who manage and work in warehouse, distribution, production and manufacturing facilities that use or are buying and designing warehouse pallet racking.
Here at 2h Storage we are pallet racking safety experts and we can save you time and money while helping protect your team, products and pallet racking through warehouse racking safety inspections, pallet racking protection, and team pallet racking safety advice and training.
- We offer bespoke FREE initial advice on the Health and safety requirements and provide:
- Warehouse pallet racking safety inspections
- Rack safety training programmes and courses
- Rack protection, rack end barriers, upright guards, pedestrian barriers
- Anti collapse mesh and netting, mesh protected pedestrian walkways
- Safety focused warehouse pallet racking designs and layouts
Safe repair and installation teams with risk and method statements for pallet racking repairs and installations
If you need pallet racking safety advice from our pallet racking safety team in Yorkshire call 01765 640 160.
Pallet racking safety netting and anti collapse mesh
Those who work in the warehouse industry are aware of the dangers of falling pallets or items falling from stored pallets. This is why all single racks that are not protected by being positioned against a wall must be fitted with pallet racking safety netting and anti collapse mesh The purpose of this mesh is purely to project those working or passing below from being struck by a falling object in the form of a pallet or stock.
There are two main types of pallet racking anti collapse mesh the first is in made to measure steel mesh pallets fitted with stand off brackets that is bolted to the rear of the pallet racking. The second type is a nylon mesh that is fitted in larger panels with a wire rope and stand off brackets.
The reason for the stand off brackets is to allow for pallet overhang or stock overhang if the mesh is fitted directly to the pallet racking beams it will be used as a back stop by those loading the pallets into the pallet positions on the pallet racking. This simply increases the danger as you may now be faced with not only falling pallets and stock but with falling mesh panels. This is why the standoff brackets are used it is also a reason why some warehouse managers prefer the nylon mesh. Here at 2h Storage we have years of experience in providing the most cost effective and safe solutions for pallet racking so call our design team on 01765 640 160.
SEMA Rack Safety Inspections
Looking for SEMA Rack Safety Inspections? SEMA is the Storage Equipment Manufacturers Association which set the guidelines for what degree of damage is acceptable in warehouse pallet racking and other associated products. Here at 2h Storage we carefully follow their safety guidelines when carrying out or warehouse safety rack inspections. Our team of trained pallet racking safety inspectors can carry out your annual pallet racing safety inspection making sure that you keep your team and working environment safe as well as keeping on the right side of health and safety guidelines and legislation. Our inspectors carry our warehouse racking safety inspections throughout the UK with the majority in the North of England in major cities such as Leeds, Bradford, York, Harrogate, Middlesborough, Sunderland, and Newcastle and regions such as across Yorkshire and Teesside.
If you need a warehouse pallet racking safety inspection call our expert team here at 2h Storage on 01765 640 160.
Pallet Racking Safety Tips
Pallet Racking Safety Tips
Although failure of pallet racking and accidents are rare when they do happen the results can be devastating from both a human and business perspective.
The main causes for failure are impact from forklift trucks, with overloading and abuse the second largest cause of failure arguably the third being the culture of the business and its employees to racking and rack safety.
Two on the most key points are the correct initial design and specification and the correct experience and training of those who are to use the racking. A good tip is to create a file on the racking that contains all the relevant data on design, inspections and training. Make sure that a copy is kept in the racking and all those operating in and around the racking have familiarised themselves with its content. This will also help you enforce capacity and loading within the pallet racking’s safe operational limits.
For further tips and advice on pallet racking and racking safety call our rack safety team on 01765 640 160
Warehouse pallet racking safety inspections Milton Keynes Buckinghamshire
Here at 2h Storage we have customers nationwide and with an increasing number of customers asking us to help them in the south of England in and around London and areas like Milton Keynes Buckinghamshire. We are providing more and more warehouse pallet racking safety inspections and advice to these areas using our highly skilled warehouse pallet racking team to inspect and provide items like rack end safety load notices. These rack end safety load notices are a legal requirement and inform on the safe working load of the warehouse pallet racking. This allows the forklift truck drivers to know what weights of pallets can be safety loaded on to the warehouse pallet racking. We can also advise on new warehouse racking layouts and designs and provide drawings and specifications. Or we can look to reduce warehouse pallet racking damage by advising on the best type and positions of upright protectors, rack end barriers and bollards.