What you should know about racking legislation

MANY FACTORS contribute towards making factories and warehouses dangerous places to work. The environment is busy with vehicles and employees constantly moving around. There are risks from trips and falls alongside incorrect manual handling. On top of that, with racking rising above workers’ heads, there is the potential of falls from height.

For company directors, there is a lot to be aware of and you need to ensure you meet health and safety across the whole warehouse. However, head out to the internet and the advice can be confusing, especially when the advice is driven by a business looking to sell their products. 

As a leading voice in the storage equipment industry, the Storage Equipment Manufacturers Association (SEMA), takes an impartial viewpoint on the guidance covering your racking. We advise warehouse owners on the best steps towards racking safety and what legislation they should follow to ensure they meet their obligations.

What regulations cover racking?

As a multi-faceted environment, there are several HSE documents that directors should be aware of apply to racking. These include guidance such as the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 and Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) which cover taking the correct steps to ensure work equipment like racking is maintained appropriately with information and instructions on safe use. While these guidelines offer general advice on looking after your equipment, they don’t go into detail on how to apply safety measures to racking equipment. 

Anyone who has racking at their site should also reference, in conjunction with the above, HSG76 Warehousing and Storage: A Guide to Health and Safety. This HSE guidance document specifically relates to racking structures and covers the lifespan of the equipment, from the initial design, supply and installation through to looking after the racking. The document also covers manual and mechanical handling, site transport, working at height and emphasises warehouse owners’ responsibilities to ensure best practice and general prevention to avoid risks and hazards.

The second important guidance documents are SEMA codes which are critical to ensuring products are designed, installed, maintained and repaired in line with quality standards and safety requirements. These codes are specialist, but the purpose is simple, to make sure racking users can have a reasonable level of confidence the equipment will meet its intended purpose. 

What health and safety steps should I consider for my racking?

It is not a legal requirement for owners of storage equipment to follow HSG76 guidance and SEMA Design Codes. However, if the HSE were to take enforcement action they could reference these documents, in conjunction with the legislation detailed above, as a framework to bring action against your business. To adopt a safe culture, you need to be aware that racking follows a circular lifespan.

These are the key areas covered by HSG76 and SEMA advice:

1 – Racking Design

As an engineered structure, the design of your racking must fulfil set criteria to ensure the structure is suitable for its intended purpose. HSG76 expects that ‘Racking systems should be of good mechanical construction, of sound material, adequate strength and installed and maintained in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.’

To ensure racking meets these conditions, racking suppliers should work to design codes. These guide suppliers on how to do the structural analysis, the types of loads you must consider, how to test components and what factors of safety you require. In the UK suppliers work to nationally recognised design codes such as the various SEMA codes or BSEN codes. 

2 – Racking Installation

HSG76 very clearly stipulates key considerations for the installation of your racking and states that ‘Racking should be erected on sound, level floors, capable of withstanding the point loading at each base plate. Aisles should also be wide enough to ensure that mechanical handling equipment can easily manoeuvre.’ It also asks that ‘The racking should only be installed by competent people in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.’

To help business owners meet HSG76 and CDM2015 requirements, SEMA developed the Storage Equipment Installers Registration Scheme (SEIRS). The training programme is designed to raise standards at the point of installation and instruct installers on the correct methods in line with SEMA standards. SEIRS is also referenced in HSG76. 

To improve standards, site managers of main and principal contractors may also require contractors to hold a CSCS card. Being a cardholder is a quick way of checking the qualifications of contractors on their site. Racking installation is a skilled trade and, to meet requirements, racking installers should only hold a SEIRS CSCS card which is available only through SEIRS.

3 – Racking Usage

Once in place, you are responsible for ensuring you check your racking and shelving and damage is recorded and actioned. HSG76 recommends nominating a ‘person responsible for racking safety’ (PRRS)’ who will ensure a visual inspection is conducted regularly and maintain a written record of the findings. The PRRS will also ensure a Load Notice is fixed to the racking and that the maximum load is never exceeded.

To ensure the racking remains serviceable and safe, HSG76 follows SEMA guidance by recommending regular inspections. The inspection process starts with employees who work in areas with racking immediately reporting any issue with the structure. They should receive training on how to identify damage to the equipment and the correct steps to report the issues. This is followed up every week with a Visual Inspection undertaken by a member of your team which, in HSG76 is known as a ‘Person Responsible for Racking Safety (PRRS)’. They will check the use of the racking and that maximum loads are never exceeded. They will also identify and report any damage for action. 

As referenced in HSG76, a rack safety awareness course is available through SEMA which not only trains for the role of PRRS but ensures anyone working in areas with racking can identify and report damage.

4 – Inspection

The inspection process, in accordance with PUWER, must be completed via an Expert Inspection which is conducted at least once a year. HSG76 states the inspection must be ‘carried out by a technically competent person.’ Their written report should be submitted to the PRRS with observations and proposals for any necessary remedial work.

To assist the industry SEMA runs the SEMA Approved Racking Inspector (SARI) initiative. To achieve their qualification, attendees must pass an intensive three-day training course, written exam, and practical assessment. 

If repairs are identified in your Expert Inspection, take a cautious approach when choosing a company to undertake the work. Check your supplier works to SEMA guidance and manufacturer’s specifications otherwise, it could impact heavily on your equipment’s safety and result in expensive remedial costs.

How to find a racking supplier?

With so many areas to cover, it can be hard to know which racking supplier will ensure you are meeting your requirements, especially in an industry where there are few barriers to entry. A lot of the regulation now expects the owner of the racking to check the credentials of the company they work for – a time-consuming process. 

Yet, in a crowded market, how do you know which supplier to trust? To provide a clear benchmark within the industry, SEMA set out to rigorously check the credentials of their manufacturing and supplier members. Membership with SEMA isn’t bought—it’s earned. To join, each member must pass an independent audit that checks the quality of their work, that legal and insurance documentation is in place, and that their work meets the highest industry standards.

We take the quality of our members very seriously, which is why they must retake the audit every three years. Any company failing to maintain our high standards is asked to leave.

If you’d like more advice about working with a SEMA member, contact us by emailing [email protected] or visiting sema.org.uk.