Category Archives: Racking Inspections

5 Ways to prolong the life of your racking

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5 Ways To Prolong The Life Of Your Racking

How to prolong the life of your racking

Let’s face it, storage equipment doesn’t come cheap. Racking plays an essential role in keeping your warehouse operational, yet can also be the reason why you encounter disruptions and down time. This article delves into some of the ways you can get the most out of your racking, ensuring it lasts for years to come.

Racking has a very important job to do. Storage equipment is designed to hold tremendous amounts of warehouse stock. This stock is precious, as are your people who work in and around it. It’s also a huge investment for your business. Whether you choose to buy brand new, or source some quality second-hand systems, you’ll want to prolong the life of your racking for as long as possible to get a good ROI.

If well maintained, industrial storage equipment can last for years and years. This of course depends on how busy your warehouse is, the types of products you are storing, and the environment your racking is stored. It also depends on how well you treat it.

This brings us to our first tip on how to prolong the life of your racking:

1. Make sure your warehouse operators are fully (and regularly) trained

This may sound obvious but the main source of damage to racking is due to impact from Material Handling Equipment such as forklift trucks. This seems like a sensible place to start when looking at ways to prolong the life of your storage equipment. Ensure your teams are not only trained when they join your company, but have regular refresher training to keep their skills sharp.

It’s also important to ensure your team is confident working with the racking itself. One example could be with the weight load limits on your particular type of pallet racking. Displaying weight load notices at the end of every aisle of racking enables your team to quickly check limits and ensure they are followed. Overloading racking, or storing pallets with uneven distribution of weights is one way storage systems can be weakened, potentially leading to racking collapse.

So, you’ve had your racking installed by a top-notch team of qualified installers, your MHE drivers are fully trained and your stock is safely loaded. It’s now time to talk about protecting that lovely new racking installation of yours. As the classic saying goes, prevention is cheaper than the cure. Which brings us to tip number two:

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Rack Armour Racking Protection

2. Protect racking uprights before damage occurs with guards

Whether you prefer metal guards, or hard-wearing polymer guards, choosing to protect your racking uprights will save you money in the long-run. Guards can cost as little as £10 each, protecting the most vulnerable part of the upright. In comparison, a full upright replacement can cost up to £500.

Racking upright guards can perform for many years, being replaced only when repeated or major impact has occurred, making them a cost-effective option. Not only do they protect the upright from most types of impact damage, they also act as a visual deterrent to MHE operators. Usually sold in bright yellow colours, the upright guards signal a hazard to drivers whilst they move around the warehouse.

There are also other types of protection systems you can utilise to prolong the life of your racking, which brings us to tip number three:

3. Install racking protection barriers in high-risk zones

The end of racking aisles can be particularly vulnerable areas for racking damage. Warehouse vehicles will often turn tightly down aisles, causing impact to occur. Our next tip to prolong your racking involves installing impact protection barriers in these high-risk zones.

End of aisle barriers absorb and deflect impact, and come in all sorts of styles and materials. Choose the best option for your warehouse depending on the type of vehicles in operation and the type of racking you have. You should also factor in the amount of maintenance that might be required for certain types of barriers. If contact occurs with painted metal barriers, for example, the barriers will require frequent re-painting to ensure they remain highly visible and keeps your warehouse looking clean and tidy.

With your barriers and guards in place, it’s now time for tip number four:

Rack End Barrier Rack Group
Inspections Rack Group

4. Regularly inspect your racking for signs of damage or safety issues

UK guidelines recommend employers conduct regular and annual racking safety inspections. By checking over racking regularly, and reporting damage straightaway, you’re not only meeting these guidelines, but you’re also helping to prolong the life of your racking.

In busy warehouses, frequent little knocks to racking can go unnoticed. Large pallets of stock can also obscure some areas of damage. Ensuring your team routinely checks over your racking for defects means any potential issues can be flagged and action can be taken. This might be to unload the racking bay and carry out urgent repair work, which leads us into our final tip:

5. Repair damage to racking quickly to reduce serious consequences

The level of damage to racking uprights, bracing or beams is often categorised as a traffic light system by SEMA. Green signals that the damage should be monitored but no immediate action is required. Amber risk signals a hazard that requires action as soon as possible. Damaged categorised as a red risk requires immediate action as the damage is considered very serious.

The level of damage will prioritise which repair work needs to be carried out first. Staying on top of repair and maintenance work will help reduce repair bills long-term as some green or amber hazards may develop into red risk hazards, which are more costly than smaller repairs. Ignoring repair work won’t make the damage go away. Make sure you’re taking all the steps to prevent catastrophic accidents involving collapsed racking, and prolong your racking for as long as possible.

Racking Repairs & Maintenance Rack Group

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UK legislation: Racking and Storage Equipment Inspections

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The UK has numerous safety standards regarding racking and storage equipment inspections. Due to the complexity of statutory law and guidance, companies often get confused by what the legal requirements actually are.

We aim to make things simple by breaking down what you need to know.

Firstly, companies have a general duty for the health and safety of their employees.

“It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees.”
(Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, section 2)

Rack Training Damage Inspection
Rack Group Racking Safety Inspection Training

Secondly, racking, or any storage system, is considered work equipment and therefore needs to be well maintained.

“Every employer shall ensure that work equipment is maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair.”

(Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) 1998, regulation 5)

To ensure your racking is well maintained, regular inspections are recommended to identify any damage quickly so that repairs can be carried out.

“Every employer shall ensure that work equipment exposed to conditions causing deterioration which is liable to result in dangerous situations is inspected”

  • At suitable intervals; and
  • Each time that exceptional circumstances which are liable to jeopardise the safety of the work equipment have occurred
  • To ensure that health and safety conditions are maintained, and that any deterioration can be detected and remedied in good time.” (PUWER 1998, regulation 6)

Environments where forklift trucks and other MHE (Material Handling Equipment) operate can pose a risk to racking when impact occurs. Damaged uprights can cause total collapse of racking systems and often leads to serious injury.

“A technically competent person shall carry out inspections at intervals of not more that 12 months. A written report shall be submitted to the PRSES [Person Responsible for Storage Equipment Safety] with observations and proposals for any action necessary.” (BS EN15635, 9.4.2.3 Expert inspections)

Regular inspections should therefore be carried out to identify any damage as early as possible to prevent accidents. You should also have your racking inspected by an expert at least once a year.

Warehouse Training Rack Group

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Are annual racking inspections mandatory?

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We often get asked by employers if they need to have an annual racking inspection conducted by a third party expert.

The short answer?

Yes (if you want to comply with the regulation).

The long answer?

Buckle up! This is where we get technical.

Below we have highlighted some key extracts from UK guidelines and legislation. It is by no means exhaustive, and as with all legal guidance, we always recommend employers seek a legal professional for any concerns or advice.

Rack Group racking inspections UK wide

The legal requirement for work equipment inspection (including storage equipment) is established primarily under The Provision and Use of Work Equipment (PUWER) 1998.

Regulation 6 - Inspection

(1) Every employer shall ensure that, where the safety of work equipment depends on the installation conditions, it is inspected –

(a) after installation and before being put into service for the first time; or

(b) after assembly at a new site or in a new location, to ensure that it has been installed correctly and is safe to operate.

(2) Every employer shall ensure that work equipment exposed to conditions causing deterioration which is liable to result in dangerous situations is inspected –

(a) at suitable intervals; and

(b) each time that exceptional circumstances which are liable to jeopardise the safety of the work equipment have occurred, to ensure that health and safety conditions are maintained and that any deterioration can be detected and remedied in good time.

But wait, there's more

"I asked about annual inspections" we hear you cry.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE 76) gives the following guidance: 

‘Expert’ inspections

646 A technically competent person should carry out inspections at intervals of not more than 12 months. A written report should be submitted to the PRRS (person responsible for racking safety) with observations and proposals for any action necessary.

647 A technically competent person might be a trained specialist within an organisation, a specialist from the rack supplier, or an independent qualified rack inspector.
(Source: HSG (76) Warehousing and Storage, A Guide to Health and Safety, Second Edition 2007)

Note: a trained specialist within an organisation would be someone with an appropriate qualification. Typically, a one or two day rack safety awareness course may not give the level of competence to define an individual as a 'trained specialist'.

Inspection Training Rack Group
Rack Inspection Safety Training

To summarise

If you skimmed over that (no judgement!), the key things to know is that racking should be inspected:

  • When you install it
  • If you move it
  • At regular intervals
  • Every time something jeopardises it's safety (e.g. a forklift truck reversing into it)
  • At least once a year by a technically competent person

Regularly inspecting your racking not only ensures you stay legally compliant, but also ensures any safety risks are picked up pronto. Identifying (and rectifying) damage as it happens means you reduce the risk of racking collapse, damage to your property, and serious injury to your staff.

There's also a financial risk. The HSE could fine an employer if it is evident they have not taken the necessary steps to adhere to these guidelines.

The Rack Group difference

All Rack Group inspections are carried out by competent inspectors. Either by a SARI (SEMA Approved Racking Inspector) or someone with a nationally recognised qualification.

We also have:

  • Ongoing in-house training for our inspectors
  • Reporting software that ensures all areas that are required (i.e. not just a damage inspection) are commented on as required in EN15635 (and SEMA)
  • An in-house Quality Assurance engineer who audits a selection of reports
  • Easy to understand reports that are tailored to each client

We conduct inspections across the UK and Ireland, offering a range of inspections to suit all requirements at competitive rates.

Speak to a member of the team today.