Pallet Racking Inspection UK FAQs
Do you have any questions about pallet racking inspection requirements? We’ve answered some of the most common questions below.
For anything else, please contact us directly so that our pallet racking inspectors can provide you with expert advice.
Are Pallet Racking Inspections A Legal Requirement In The UK?
The legal obligation to inspect and maintain racking arises from a combination of overlapping duties under UK health and safety law. This includes The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER), The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992.
In practical terms, a business that cannot produce documented evidence of a regular inspection regime, including both routine in-house checks and periodic formal inspections by an approved racking inspector, is likely to be found in breach of its legal duties if a racking-related incident results in injury.
How Often Do Racking Inspections Need To Be Carried Out?
In-house visual checks should be carried out at least once a week by the nominated Person Responsible for Racking Safety, with the results documented in a formal inspection log. In high-throughput environments where forklift activity is intensive and the risk of impact damage is correspondingly greater, more frequent checks may be necessary to satisfy the general duty of care imposed by the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER).
At the formal level, SEMA guidance specifies that a full inspection by a qualified expert should be conducted at least once every twelve months as a minimum.
However, there are a number of circumstances in which an additional out-of-cycle expert inspection should be commissioned without waiting for the next scheduled visit. These include any significant forklift impact, a racking collapse or near miss, a change in the loads being stored, a reconfiguration or extension of the racking system, a change of use for the facility, or the identification of damage during a routine visual check that requires expert assessment before the section can be safely returned to service.
Businesses operating in particularly demanding environments, including cold stores, where temperature cycling can accelerate metal fatigue or facilities handling unusually heavy or irregularly shaped loads, should increase the frequency of formal inspections beyond the annual minimum as a matter of prudent risk management.
What Happens If We Don’t Inspect Our Racking?
Failing to inspect pallet racking puts lives at risk and exposes businesses to severe legal, financial and reputational consequences. Undetected damage can lead to a catastrophic collapse without warning, with the potential to cause fatal or life-changing injuries to warehouse staff.
Do We Need Documented Proof Of Inspections For Audits?
Yes, all pallet racking inspections, whether routine or formal inspections, should be documented.
In the event of a racking collapse or serious injury, the absence of inspection records is likely to be treated by the HSE as evidence of systemic failure in safety management, significantly increasing the exposure of the business and its directors to enforcement action, improvement notices or prosecution.
Insurers may also decline to meet claims where no documented inspection regime can be evidenced. Businesses should therefore treat racking inspection records with the same diligence as any other critical safety documentation, retaining them for a minimum of three years and ideally for the operational lifetime of the installation.
What Does A Pallet Racking Inspection Involve?
A pallet racking inspection is a systematic assessment of the entire storage system, carried out to establish whether the racking is structurally sound, correctly loaded and compliant with current safety standards.
At the routine level, a visual check by the in-house PRRS will involve a methodical walk of all racking aisles, examining each bay for signs of physical damage, displaced components, missing safety clips or locking pins and any evidence of overloading or incorrectly positioned pallets. The inspector will also check that load notices are present, legible and positioned at the end of each run, as these must accurately reflect the maximum permissible load for each bay configuration.
A formal pallet racking inspection is far more involved, as it begins with a review of the original installation documentation, load calculations and any previous inspection reports to establish a baseline against which the current condition of the system can be assessed.
The inspector will then conduct a thorough physical examination of every element of the racking structure. This includes the uprights, baseplates, floor fixings, beam connectors, locking mechanisms, bracing and ties. Also, any ancillary components, such as column guards or row spacers.
Every aspect will be checked for deformation, corrosion, weld failure, and any deviation from the manufacturer's specification. Measurements may be taken to assess the extent of upright deflection, as SEMA tolerance guidelines specify the maximum acceptable bow or lean before a component must be taken out of service.
On completion, our pallet racking inspectors will produce a written report classifying all defects found, along with prioritised recommendations. Where relevant, we will also provide guidance on load notice amendments or system modifications.
Who Is Qualified To Carry Out An Inspection?
The requirements for pallet racking inspections can vary depending on your location.
Here in the UK, routine in-house checks are carried out by a designated Person Responsible for Racking Safety (PRRS), while formal inspections should be carried out by a SEMA-approved racking inspector (SARI).
Additionally, formal inspections should be undertaken by inspectors who comply with the guidelines set out in BS EN 15635.
What Is The Difference Between A Visual Check And An Expert Inspection?
A visual check of pallet racking is conducted by the in-house Person Responsible for Racking Safety (PRRS). This individual will have completed a recognised training course, making them competent to walk the racking aisles on a regular basis. They will look for obvious signs of damage such as bent or buckled uprights, dislodged beam connectors, missing locking pins, damaged baseplates or overloaded bays.
The PRRS check is essentially a first line of defence, in that it is designed to catch deterioration or impact damage before it becomes a serious hazard. These visual checks help ensure that damaged sections are taken out of service promptly.
However, an expert inspection carried out by our highly qualified pallet racking inspectors goes considerably further. At Logical Storage Solutions, our inspectors assess the racking system against the original design specification and current load notices. We also check for damage that may not be visible to an untrained eye, including subtle deformation of uprights, compromised weld integrity and cumulative wear to connectors and footplates.
Our inspectors will then produce a formal written report classifying any defects found using the SEMA green, amber and red risk categorisation system.
Will Inspections Disrupt Warehouse Operations?
At Logical Storage Solutions, we work on behalf of warehouses across the UK. As such, we acutely understand the importance of keeping your operations up and running. When you enlist our expertise to carry out pallet racking inspections, we’ll collaborate closely with your team to carry out our inspections to the required standards, but in a way that minimises disruption as much as is feasible.
Can Our Own Staff Carry Out Pallet Racking Inspections Or Do We Need An External Expert?
Racking inspections require both in-house expertise and external expertise.
A trained Person Responsible for Racking Safety (PRRS) should carry out documented visual inspections on at least a weekly basis. However, a PRRS is trained to identify visible damage and flag concerns, but they are not qualified to make structural assessments or sign off on the safety of damaged components.
That is where the external inspection comes in, and SEMA recommends that this is carried out no less than once every twelve months, or following any significant impact, modification or change of use.
Businesses operating in high-throughput environments with frequent forklift activity may well benefit from more frequent external inspections. Ultimately, relying solely on internal checks is not sufficient to demonstrate due diligence, and in the event of a racking related incident, the absence of formal SARI inspection records is likely to represent a significant liability.
What Should We Do After A Forklift Hits Racking?
In the immediate aftermath of a forklift striking pallet racking, the priority is the safety of everyone in the vicinity. The affected bay and surrounding area should be cordoned offwithout delay, and no attempt should be made to remove or redistribute loads until a competent person has assessed the situation.
Once the area is secured, the incident should be reported to the site supervisor or health and safety manager, and the damaged section should be taken out of service and clearly tagged or labelled to prevent further use.
As pallet racking inspectors, we can assess the severity of the damage to your pallet racking systems and suggest the next course of action, such as a pallet repair or replacement. The incident should be documented in full, including photographs of the damage, details of the load at the time of impact and a record of the forklift operator involved. This information will be required both for insurance purposes and to satisfy the requirements of RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations) if the incident meets the reportable threshold.
In addition to pallet inspections, we can also help prevent future forklift collisions in your warehouse through our warehouse refurbishment services. This includes assessing traffic management arrangements within your warehouse. Areas to consider include the aisle widths, speed restrictions and floor markings. Also, whether additional racking protection, such as column guards, end-of-aisle barriers or upright protectors, should be installed to reduce the risk of repeat incidents.Please contact us to find out more.
Can Damaged Racking Be Repaired, Or Must It Be Replaced?
A professional inspection of your pallet racking will be needed to determine whether a repair will suffice or whether a replacement is necessary.
Generally speaking, minor cosmetic damage, such as superficial scuffs or paint loss, often doesn’t warrant replacement. However, structural damage to uprights, baseplates, beams or connectors is when a replacement becomes far more probable. Signs of significant damage include bowing, twisting or cracking of components.
Ultimately, damaged racking components should be taken out of service immediately and assessed by a competent person before any decision is made. In some cases, it is possible to replace individual racking components without having to undertake a full system removal. But where there is any doubt, we would always recommend replacement rather than repair as the correct course of action, especially if the structural integrity of the component cannot be reliably restored.
What Are Common Causes Of Racking Failure?
Lots of factors can result in racking failure.From our experience as pallet racking installers and inspectors, impact damage from forklifts or other machinery is a major cause. Even seemingly minor collision impacts can weaken structural components, leading to unsafe conditions and ultimately, complete failure of the structure.
Additionally, overloading or uneven weight distribution beyond the system’s designed capacity can cause racking to fail.This can be a problem when second hand racking has been used, or if the racking has been subject to poor installation or unauthorised modifications that compromise stability.
In serious cases, missing or damaged safety features like beam locks or load signage are the culprit of racking failure.
If pallet racking isn’t regularly inspected and maintained, then such failures are more likely to occur. For this reason, every facility which uses pallet racking (i.e. warehouses and storage units) needs to ensure the proper inspections are not only taking place, but that they happen at all of the required intervals.
Pallet Racking Inspections - Which Areas Do You Cover?
Pallet racking inspections from Logical Storage Solutions are available UK nationwide.
Some of our key locations include Birmingham, Bristol, Coventry, Daventry, Doncaster, Edinburgh, Felixstowe, Hull, Immingham, Liverpool, London, Lutterworth, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Rugby, Sheffield, Southampton, Telford and Tilbury.
Is your warehouse located outside of these areas? Please give us a call on 0845 689 1300 as we may still cover your area.
