As many of you already know it is a legal requirement to have an annual ‘Expert Inspection’ of your storage equipment inspections such as racking, shelving, mezzanine floors and cantilever racking by an independent qualified inspector known as a ‘SARI’.

The ‘Storage Equipment Manufacturers Association’ (SEMA) and ‘Health Safety Executive’ (HSE) recommend a three-pronged approach to maintaining best practices in racking safety. This involves operators reporting damage as they find it, with the business being responsible for carrying out regular monthly inspections by a trained supervisor known as a ‘Person Responsible Storage Equipment Safety’ (PRSES).

To promote awareness of storage equipment safety, SEMA holds a popular fortnightly training course to provide individuals with the skills to assess and document the condition of storage equipment on a monthly basis. To identify damage, SEMA introduced a traffic light system to the course to help delegates categorise damage in order of severity. It’s a great initiative and one we believe can be successfully applied in a live environment. Here are the key points of our equipment inspections:

RED – Damage is twice SEMA tolerances and requires immediate offloading and isolation. Repairs must be made using genuine components in line with SEMA’s Code of Practice.

AMBER– Damage greater than SEMA tolerances, loads should not be replaced once unloaded. Repairs must be made using genuine components in line with SEMA’s Code of Practice.  Should repairs have not been carried out within 4 – weeks of notification of damage, this will become a red risk and require immediate offloading and isolation.

GREEN– Falls within SEMA tolerances and should be documented for consideration during your next inspection.

By introducing a damage classification system to your routine monthly inspections, not only do you help ensure the safety of your team, you reduce long term maintenance costs and promote safety within the working environment.

Time for your annual inspection? Call us to arrange with a SEMA accredited inspector on 01384 256969