If you have pallet racking in your warehouse, you’ll need to know how to inspect and maintain it properly. Without regular inspections and sufficient repairs, you could suffer product damage, and even put your employees at risk of serious injury. There are also benefits to pallet racking inspections – holding them often could help to reduce your insurance premiums, saving you money in the long-term.
The legislation
There are many rules and regulations in place to ensure that racking inspections are carried out in a certain way. Under the PUWER (Provision and Use of Work Equipment) Regulations 1998, pallet racking is classed as Work Equipment, and must be inspected regularly by a competent person.
This person must be an inspector approved by SEMA (Storage Equipment Manufacturers Association), ideally at intervals of no more than twelve months.
Can I inspect my own equipment?
Not in any official terms – you must still bring in a SEMA-approved inspector each year to assess your pallet racking. But you can train someone within your warehouse to conduct internal inspections, which could flag up issues before they are picked up by an inspector. Here are some tips on what you should do, and what you should be looking for:
- Inspect the frames of your pallet racks. You should inspect the post, the footplate, the fixings and the shims, looking for any kind of damage or movement at all. Damage to the frames can be caused by wayward pallet trucks or forklifts, and it can cause real problems if it compromises the structure of a frame.
- Take a look at the front and rear beams of your racking. Damage to beams is very common, and bending beams can also occur if your staff have been overloading the racks. You should also have beam locks on all of your beams – if you can’t see one, order a replacement immediately.
- Focus on the accessories which surround and support your pallet racks. You should have column guards mounted to the floor to secure your racking – if you notice that the guards are damaged, there’s a chance the post behind it could be in need of repair, too. You should also look at the load notices which surround the racking. Are they accurate? Are they being adhered to? Do they need to be placed in a more visible position? This information should come from the original supplier, so if you need more signage, get in touch with them.
- Other things you should be inspecting include: adequate lighting, disposal of waste and rubbish and the condition of your warehouse floor.
If you can carry out a regular inspection of all of these elements, and address any problems that you find, you should breeze your annual SEMA inspection with no problems at all.
VPM Racking’s services
Here are VPM, we offer a full inspection service for your racking system, as well as carrying out on-site repairs if they are necessary. Get in touch with our team today for more information about our options: http://vpm-racking.co.uk
