Having supplied the Timber industry for over 55 years, Stakapal advise merchants to implement an onsite Racking Inspection programme and have their systems maintained annually.
What’s a PRRS?
Any company with storage equipment on site should have a PRRS (Person Responsible for Racking Safety) who has received the appropriate training enabling them to identify and classify any damage to their racking structures. In addition, they also need to be able to implement the necessary course of action that’s required to ensure their operation continues to run as smoothly as possible.
PUWER (Provisions and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998) categorises storage equipment as workequipment that must undergo regular monitoring which is why companies should have a PRRS.
Stakapal are Full Manufacturing members of SEMA (Storage Equipment Manufacturers Association) who play a proactive role in the development of standards for the storage industry. They therefore strongly recommend that any PRRS attends a course such as the Cantilever Racking or Pallet Racking Awareness courses run by SEMA at their Staffordshire based training facility.
Why have an annual racking inspection?
The HSG76 Health and safety guidance document (Warehousing and storage) recommends that expert racking inspections are undertaken as follows:
- 646 A technically competent person should carry out inspections at intervals of not more than 12 months. A written report should be submitted to your PRRS (Person Responsible for Racking Safety) with observations and proposals for any required action.
- 647 A technically competent person might be a trained individual within the organisation, a specialist from your racking supplier or an independent qualified Rack Inspector.
SARI Racking Inspections from Stakapal
Once their Racking has been installed at your site, Stakapal offer all of their customers the opportunity to have it inspected by one of their in-house SARI’s (SEMA Approved Racking Inspectors) on an annual basis. Their SARI’s meet the HSE’s criteria for a technically competent person to carry out an annual racking inspection as per current HSG76 guidance.
SARI’s use a traffic light reporting system and will supply a comprehensive report with all racking inspections indicating the action that needs to be taken, and costings for any repairs or replacements that may be required.
Ongoing maintenance programme Investing in the upkeep of any Racking plays a crucial part in maintaining the service levels that any merchant is able to provide to their customer base. Great care should also be taken when selecting installers to perform any repair work making sure they have the appropriate qualifications. It is worth noting that incompetent installers using third party spares may ultimately render any original company warranty as invalid.
Original article was featured in the spring edition of the Timber Trader publication
