SEMA launches Stay Racking Safe campaign

WHILE IT might not be immediately obvious to you, there is a very high chance that the work of SEMA has, in some way, impacted the safety of your racking equipment. For over 50 years we’ve been working hard to improve standards within the industry. Whether developing Codes of Practice and technical guidance that informs on the safe design, installation and use of pallet racking, delivering training programmes or developing an association of members who follow our high standards, each step ultimately filters down towards the racking in your warehouse – helping to make it safe.

But here’s the thing, the safety of your racking isn’t something you can only leave to your suppliers. As a warehouse owner, you need to be aware of your responsibilities and the checks you should make at each step to ‘Stay Racking Safe’.

Why is racking safety important?

It may seem obvious, but your racking forms the internal infrastructure and operation of your warehouse. It plays a key role in ensuring goods are stored and easy to locate, creating a seamless flow of stock and helps in the reduction of lost or damaged items. Manage all of this and you can boost company productivity and profitability.

Yet are you also aware of how the structure plays a major role in keeping your warehouse safe? It could be through the design of your structure to provide safe working zones, racking installation that meets the manufacturer’s specification or maintaining it correctly – ticking all these boxes makes your racking safer.

After all, your racking is holding up hundreds of tonnes of stock and there is a fragile line between racking performing its intended role – to safely hold stock – and the potential for a serious accident. If your racking was to fail at any point, there is a high likelihood that the heavy stock it is carrying will come crashing to the floor. A 1.5-tonne pallet falling from any height it will weigh the same as an average car. That pallet will be doing approximately 30mph by the time it hits the floor. The impact of a pallet hitting an employee can easily result in a fatality, suddenly the need to ensure the safety of your structure becomes absolutely critical. Is that really a risk you’re willing to take?

Make sure you’re following racking regulations and standards

The logistics industry is a busy environment and one that consistently falls within the top ten most dangerous workplaces. As you would expect there are numerous Health & Safety Executive (HSE) documents which relate to the running of a safe warehouse. From the Health and Safety at Work Act to Work at Height Regulations and Manual Handling Operations Regulations, although they were not directly written for warehouses, they all play their part in keeping your business safe.

For health and safety guidance that covers your racking, you should reference the following:

• HSG76 Warehousing and Storage: A Guide to Health and Safety emphasises warehouse owners’ responsibilities to ensure best practices. It provides advice on safe warehouse management including managing the workforce, electrical safety, accidents, manual and mechanical handling, working at height and site transport. There are sections directly relating to storage equipment which references SEMA’s work.
• SEMA Publications have been developed by SEMA’s Technical Committee to ensure storage equipment is designed, installed, maintained, and repaired to conform to quality standards and safety requirements. These publications include technical bulletins, Codes of Practice and guidance documents. These should not only be used by suppliers, installers and inspectors of racking equipment but they are also of importance to warehouse owners.

It is not a legal requirement to follow these documents. However, if there was an accident within your warehouse and the HSE were to take enforcement action they can use the HSG76 and SEMA Design Codes frameworks to enforce action against your business.

Check your suppliers’ credentials

It may feel that you can leave the safe design and installation in the hands of your racking to your supplier but be aware you are still responsible for checking they work to the correct standards. That means you need to check they are working to either the SEMA Code or the European Code EN 15512, that the racking is new and meets British Standards and they use properly trained and qualified installers. While checking these credentials may seem like a lot of legwork, they are important for meeting HSE requirements and keeping your employees safe.

One way to save a lot of time and effort is to work with an accredited supplier such as a SEMA member. SEMA is made up of Approved manufacturing and supplier members. Membership with SEMA is no automatic and easy pass, before they join they must undergo an independent audit. Through the process, we check the quality of their work by ensuring they meet SEMA and industry standards, and conform to over 40 regulations, health and safety requirements, industry standards and legislative requirements. The audit also checks each supplier has the correct legal and insurance documentation in place. It’s a process we repeat every five years and any company failing to meet our standards is asked to leave.

Only use trained racking installers

When ordering racking, it’s very easy to use installers who are recommended by your supplier. But, be cautious with this approach because it’s not uncommon for suppliers to subcontract the installation work. This leaves you potentially exposed and vulnerable and with the problem of not knowing the quality of their work.

While a lot of racking installers do meet a high standard, there are still those who learn ‘on the job’ without being correctly trained and qualified. This could mean an installer who doesn’t fully understand how to follow the manufacturer’s specifications or misses crucial steps such as correct fixing methods. Not meeting the exact installation requirements for your racking could weaken the integrity of the structure.

To ensure you have verification on the safety and quality of your racking installer you need to check what training they have undertaken. Courses such as SEMA’s SEIRS initiative which trains on safe warehouse pallet racking installation methods. An installer who holds one of our SEIRS Diploma cards will have been trained on health and safety installation requirements, practical instruction on correct installation methods and passed a practical assessment to earn their qualification.

Follow the racking load notice

When you order your pallet racking system, the supplier will ensure the design works for the type and weight of stock you hold. Every racking structure has a maximum weight it can hold and once installed, your supplier is responsible for providing instructions and a load notice showing the safe loading capacity of your structure.

That load notice is a key safety sign within the warehouse. It plays a significant role in acting as a daily reminder for employees working in areas with racking. It shows the number of pallets and weight limits that can be placed on beams, how to avoid uneven weight distribution and also offers key safety messages. Even more importantly, having that load notice is the easiest way for you to comply with HSE recommendations and meet your legal obligation to supply information on the safe operation of the racking. 

Be aware that the load notice does not give every last piece of safety information and should never replace formal training.

Provide training for your employees

Your racking can only stay safe if every stage is supported by training. It is for this reason that SEMA has set up training programmes aimed at the installation, use and regular inspection of warehouse pallet racking systems.

To increase warehouse employee’s safety, we run our Rack Safety Awareness training. As referenced in HSG76, this one-day course instructs on how to categorise signs of damage on racking, the responsibilities of users, understanding load notices, weight limits and legislation. It also prepares a nominated member of your team for the role of PPRS (Person Responsible for Racking Safety) who will conduct your regular inspections.

Meet your racking inspection requirements

Your racking is a significant investment and to help you maximise your return on investment and keep your employees safe, you need to ensure it remains in good working order. It’s for this reason that SEMA and the HSE recommend a continuous approach to racking inspections.

You should train your employees so they can recognise racking damage when they see it. You should then put processes in place that enable them to immediately report to the Person Responsible for Racking Safety (PRRS). The PRRS is a nominated member of your team who will be responsible for conducting regular, visual inspections which should be undertaken at least once a week. These inspections will identify structural damage, and any signs of wear and tear on the storage racks and check that correct loading procedures are being followed.

To meet your HSE requirements, the PRRS will make a formal report of their findings with required actions which then form part of your official maintenance documentation. To prepare a member of your team for the role of PRRS they will need training such as our Rack Safety Awareness course.

Follow your Expert Inspection

The final step in the inspection circle is through your Expert Inspection. This should be conducted at least once a year and can be undertaken by a qualified professional such as a SEMA Approved Racking Inspector (SARI).

When looking for a professional to conduct your Expert Inspection be aware that they are not all equal. The industry standard “Damage-only” inspections list damaged items and possibly their location. However, an inspection undertaken by a SARI offers far more insight by identifying 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 also need to be aware of their responsibility towards rectifying issues with your racking. If your SARI inspection report identifies damage, it is your responsibility to undertake the repair work. If you fail to repair the racking within the timescale and an accident should occur it could result in a severe penalty by the HSE because you’ve not met your legal requirements.

If you’re a warehouse owner and would like more information on ensuring that your Racking Stays Safe, why not get in touch by visiting www.sema.org.uk or emailing [email protected].