Rack Safety – Are You Protecting Your Employees?
Most business owners today understand the importance of employee welfare. You know the importance of performing risk assessments in the workplace, providing guidance and training on health and safety requirements and communicating with staff. But have you considered the importance of rack safety when protecting your employees at work?
The key to increasing racking safety levels is in an area that is easy to forget - the important links between safety, racking and training.
Rack Safety
Although the frame of your racking may appear straightforward, ensuring it safely holds up tonnes of stock without any issues requires a high level of technical expertise. To start with, it must be designed, manufactured and installed precisely for its intended role to meet industry and quality standards.
Once in place, your racking requires daily attention to keep it in good working order. Any small knocks and bumps, if not addressed, can very quickly turn into big problems.
Imagine the consequences if your racking collapses, bringing down with it tonnes of stock. The best-case scenario can result in lost production time and material costs but at worst your staff could receive life-changing injuries or even suffer a fatality.
Catching problems early starts with your staff. After all, they use the equipment regularly and are in the best position to catch problems early. Training will show your staff how to safely work around the racking, although its main role should be to provide them with the knowledge they need to spot issues.
Racking Responsibilities
You should be aware that racking falls under the category of work equipment. Under PUWER (Provisions and Use of Work Regulations 1998) you are responsible for maintaining it correctly. If you’re found to be negligent in your duties, the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) will come down hard. Fines can range anywhere from tens of thousands to even millions of pounds.
To help guide companies through the process, the HSE has developed a best practice document in HSG76 Warehousing and Storage: A Guide to Health and Safety. Adhering to the guidance is not a legal requirement but following the advice is usually enough to comply with legislation.
The guidance advises businesses to adopt a three-tiered approach to inspecting your racking. This includes daily and weekly inspections by your employees supported by training. A qualified inspector, such as our SEMA Approved Rack Inspectors (SARI), must undertake the expert inspection.
Rack Safety Awareness Training
Do you need training for your employees? Our Rack Safety Awareness (RSA) course, which is referenced in HSG76, is specific to end users’ sites. The training instructs employees on how to undertake daily checks. It covers the safe operation of racking systems, load notices, industry guidance and examples of damage. It also offers guidance on how to categorise and prevent damage happening.
The course then goes on to provide information on weekly inspections, as recommended in HSG76, and the tools your Person Responsible for Racking Safety (PRRS) will need. The course covers in-house rack inspections, how to conduct risk assessments, reporting and recording damage levels and action points.
If you’d like to book one of our training courses get in touch with the SEMA office. You can find a list of our SARI inspectors on our website.
