Check it out

AS A warehouse owner, you understand the consequences of a racking failure – lost revenue, disrupted operations and reputational damage if the HSE gets involved. However, your biggest concern should be employee safety. Racking-related accidents can and do happen, leading to anything ranging from minor injuries to fatalities.

Risks are preventable if you implement a three-step inspection regime. The first two steps start with your employees with the circle completing with the Expert Inspection. This should be undertaken at least once a year by a qualified professional. But here’s the thing, not all Expert Inspections are equal.

The industry standard “Damage-only” inspections list damaged items and possibly their location. However, an inspection by a SEMA Approved Racking Inspector (SARI) offers far more insight. A SARI doesn’t just note what’s broken – they identify racking type, equipment compatibility, damage, floor fixing suitability and minor issues. Significantly for warehouse owners, their report adopts a traffic-light system, outlining damage levels and timescales for repairs.

Warehouse owners see the benefit of SARI inspectors, which is why the qualification is highly sought after but this has caused problem. Within the industry there is a growing issue with inspectors falsely claiming they are SARI qualified.

This could be putting your warehouse at risk. Our SARIs deliver a high level of engineering and technical knowledge to the job – a fact they demonstrate when passing our rigorous training course and examination. Unqualified inspectors may not deliver the same standard of work as a SARI. It’s for this reason that you should always check your SARIs credentials.

So, before you get a SARI in for the Expert Inspection, protect your warehouse:

• Ask to see their SARI qualification
• Contact SEMA and ask to check the inspector’s validity

For more information, visit www.sema.org.uk

01543 278489