In any busy warehouse, your pallet racking is the backbone of your operation. But this essential work equipment is subject to constant wear and tear, and even minor damage from a forklift can severely compromise its structural integrity. Ensuring your racking is safe is not just good practice, it’s a legal responsibility. This guide provides a clear, comprehensive overview of the SEMA inspection process, your legal duties under UK law, and the practical steps you need to take to maintain a safe, compliant, and efficient warehouse.
Your Legal Obligations: Understanding PUWER and HSG76
While SEMA (Storage Equipment Manufacturers’ Association) provides the industry-standard codes of practice, your legal duties are rooted in UK Health and Safety legislation. Two key documents are crucial:
- The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER): This is the actual law. As detailed on the official legislation.gov.uk website, PUWER classifies pallet racking as “work equipment”. This places a legal requirement on you as an employer to ensure it is maintained in a safe condition and inspected regularly to prevent risks. Failure to comply can lead to significant fines and prosecution from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
- HSE Guidance HSG76 – ‘Warehousing and Storage’: This is the official guidance document from the HSE, the UK’s national regulator for workplace safety. While the guidance itself is not law, it is the benchmark used by HSE inspectors and UK courts to determine what constitutes best practice and compliance with PUWER. Following the advice in HSG76 is the most direct way to demonstrate that you are meeting your legal obligations.
The Three-Tiered Inspection System: A Year-Round Approach to Safety
Effective racking safety isn’t a once-a-year event. It’s a continuous process. The HSE, in its HSG76 guidance, and SEMA both recommend a three-tiered approach to inspections.
Tier 1: Daily Visual Checks (By All Staff)
Warehouse staff, especially forklift operators, are your first line of defence. They should be trained to immediately report any damage they cause or discover. Daily checks should include looking for obvious issues like bent uprights, misaligned beams, or missing safety pins.
Tier 2: Regular Internal Inspections (By Your PRRS)
The HSE’s HSG76 guidance recommends that every business appoints a Person Responsible for Racking Safety (PRRS). This individual should be properly trained to conduct and document weekly or monthly visual inspections, depending on the level of activity in your warehouse. Their role is to identify and log any damage that hasn’t been reported and track trends to prevent recurring issues.
Tier 3: The Annual ‘Expert’ Inspection
At least once every 12 months, your racking must be inspected by a “technically competent person”. The HSE and SEMA strongly recommend this is a SEMA Approved Racking Inspector (SARI). A SARI is a highly qualified professional who has passed intensive training and assessment, ensuring the most thorough and reliable inspection possible.
What Does a SEMA Inspector Check For? A Detailed Checklist
A SARI inspection is far more than a quick look. It is a systematic assessment of every component of your racking system. Key areas include:
- Structural Integrity: Checking that uprights are vertical and beams are level, with no leaning or twisting.
- Uprights and Columns: Looking for dents, bends, twists, and signs of rust or corrosion.
- Beams and Connectors: Assessing for any deflection (bending), ensuring connectors are secure in the uprights, and verifying that all safety pins are correctly installed.
- Bracing: Checking for any missing, bent, or damaged horizontal or diagonal braces that are essential for frame stability.
- Floor Fixings: Ensuring all uprights are securely anchored to the floor with the correct bolts and that there is no damage to the base plates.
- Load Notices: Verifying that clear and accurate safe working load notices are present on every run of racking and that they correspond to the actual racking configuration.
- General Warehouse Conditions: Assessing aisle clearances, lighting, and general housekeeping to identify any operational risks that could lead to future damage.
Understanding the Inspection Report: The Traffic Light System
After the inspection, you will receive a detailed written report that classifies any damage using a simple traffic light system. This is designed to help you prioritise action.
- RED RISK: This indicates critical damage that is well beyond SEMA limits. The affected location(s) must be immediately offloaded and isolated from future use until a professional repair is completed.
- AMBER RISK: This is for serious damage that requires remedial action. The location must be offloaded as soon as possible and should not be reloaded until repaired. Crucially, if an Amber Risk is not repaired within four weeks, it is automatically upgraded to a Red Risk.
- GREEN RISK: This identifies damage that is within acceptable SEMA limits but should still be recorded. These areas do not require immediate action but must be monitored in your regular internal inspections to ensure they do not worsen.
The Consequences of Neglect: Why You Can’t Afford to Skip Inspections
Failing to maintain your racking system can have devastating consequences that go far beyond operational inconvenience.
- Legal Penalties: The HSE can issue prohibition notices, substantial fines, and even pursue prosecution for breaches of PUWER regulations, especially if an accident occurs.
- Financial Costs: A rack collapse can lead to catastrophic stock loss, prolonged business downtime, and significantly increased insurance premiums.
- The Human Cost: The most serious consequence is the risk of severe injury or fatality to your employees. A safe warehouse is a productive warehouse.
How Pallet Racking Systems Ltd. Can Help
At Pallet Racking Systems Ltd., we are committed to helping you maintain a safe and compliant warehouse. Our highly trained team offers expert, SEMA-compliant racking inspections to identify any risks in your system. Should your inspection report highlight any necessary repairs, we can provide a fast, competitive quote for SEMA-compliant repair work, using the correct compatible components to restore the full integrity of your system.