How Often Should Racking Be Inspected?

At Oakway Storage, we are fully equipped to carry out a variety of Storage Equipment Manufacturers Association (SEMA) approved racking inspections, such as pallet racking inspections and cantilever racking inspections. How often your racking should be inspected can vary on different factors such as the volume of use your racking gets and the size of your warehouse aisles, and that is why we have put together a complete guide.

Factors Affecting Your Warehouse Racking

As mentioned above, racking inspections should be carried out at least once a year, but following guidelines set out by the Rack Manufacturers Institute (RMI), there are a number of factors that could affect how often this needs to be done.

• Environment – having racking in a cold or hot warehouse can affect the structure’s density and stability
• Previous damage – if your racking has been damaged in the past, there is a higher likelihood of future damage
• High usage – large volumes of vehicles and workers can increase the chance of accidental damage
• Size of aisles – not having your aisles sized to your warehouse’s equipment can lead to damage in those areas

How Often Should My Racking Be Inspected?

If you’re looking for a quick answer, it should be a minimum of once a year. Legally, it is the warehouse owner’s responsibility to ensure the safety of their staff at all times and that is where a racking inspection comes in handy. These can be done through your staff and outsourced experts (staff should carry out basic visual inspections weekly and experts should do this a minimum of once every 12 months).

A Person Responsible for Racking Safety (PRRS) job is to ensure that the racking is used, inspected and maintained in accordance with the appropriate regulations and guidelines – this person should arrange your annual racking inspection.

Our experts carry out SEMA approved racking inspections in a range of cities in the UK including; Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds and Northampton. Once we complete an inspection, we will give you a full breakdown as to what state your racking is in and provide any actions that need to be done – these repairs can also be performed by our highly trained team of professionals. For more information, speak to one of our racking inspection experts.

Do I Need A Racking Inspection?

The short answer to this question is yes. If you are an owner or user of a racking system, you will need a SEMA approved racking inspection a minimum of once a year (recommended by The Health and Safety Executive – HSE) and regular visual inspections from competent staff. Having your racking inspected following The HSE guidelines will ensure that your racking and employees are safe from any danger that it presents. Learn more about your legal requirements in our complete guide.

Not having your racking inspected frequently, could lead to:

• Fines for not complying with SEMA standards
• A higher risk for injuries in the workplace
• Expensive repairs due to damage that could have been prevented
• Potential downtime for your warehouse

Book a Racking Inspection