Racking Safety

Racking safety is an important element of a successful warehouse. All racking is prone to be damaged in the normal course of business and protection measures can prevent the majority of damage.

There is a legal requirement to inspect, or have your racking inspected, under the Health and Safety at Work act 1974. The inspection also fulfils your requirements under the Provisionand Use of Work Equipment 1998 (PUWER) and the Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

However, it is a requirement of PUWER and HSG76 that racking is managed to achieve safety in its operation, and this should be at no more than 12 month intervals.

Damage can occur at any interval and most modern and safety conscious businesses are having weekly inspections by their own staff and then annually by an external inspector. The training of those in-house inspectors can be carried out by our own SARI (SEMA Approved Racking Inspector) or other similarly trained individuals.

Racking Protection and Management offer training for your own staff in how to detect damaged racking, and can carry your Annual Inspection in accordance with the SEMA (Storage Equipment Manufacturers’ Association) guidelines.

Many organisations are now having Racking Damage Awareness training courses immediately followed by an annual inspection so that the new trainees can see, first hand, how the assessments for “in-specification” are made. Repairs to damaged racking should always be carried out by SEIRS qualified organisation to ensure the highest standards of compliance.

Additionally, there are racking management systems available to provide for recorded compliance and reporting, the largest of which is RackCare.

Racking Protection and Management are an approved Audit and Inspection Company (AIC) for the RackCare system.