This month we have three questions for you, our first looks at the skills needed to carry out a racking inspection and then we have a question on standards and finally a question on guidelines.

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Q. On our site we have some electrically operated mobile racking and some matching fixed racks with a safe total load per rack of about 180 tonnes.

Could you please advise what inspection should be carried out on such a construction and who might have the required skills to carry out such an inspection?

A. SEMA and the HSE recommend a hierarchical approach using several levels of inspection carried out by different people with different levels of experience.

There are 3 recommended levels of inspection as follows:-

1. Operators reporting any damage

2. A regular visual (weekly) inspection

3. An annual inspection by a competent inspector.

1. Operators reporting any damage

Employees should receive training, information and instruction on the safe operation of the racking system, including the parts affecting their safety and the safety of others.

2. Visual inspections

The person responsible for racking safety should ensure that the racking is inspected at weekly or other regular intervals based on risk assessment. A formal written record should be maintained.

A programme of Rack Safety Awareness Training is run regularly by SEMA to address the issue of visual inspection. Although this course is geared up to the training of standard adjustable pallet racking, SEMA do not run a Rack Safety Awareness Courses specifically For Mobile Racking. It may be possible to ask the company who supplied the mobile racking or a suitable independent consultant if they can assist in specific training.

3. An annual inspection by a competent ‘Expert’ inspector.

A technically competent person should carry out inspections at intervals of not more than 12 months. A written report should be submitted with observations and proposals for any action necessary. A technically competent person might be a trained specialist within an organisation, a specialist from the rack supplier, or an independent qualified rack inspector.

Note that this inspection will only cover the integrity of the racking itself and the damage that might have occurred to racking members it since the previous inspection. Power operated mobiles will also need the electrical controls and wiring checked at intervals by a competent electrician familiar with the wiring and operation of such equipment. It is unlikely that the skills needed to check the electrical parts of the equipment will also be present in the person who inspects the racking itself so two separate inspections are likely to be required covering both these aspects.

A programme of inspection training is run regularly by SEMA to qualify expert inspectors under the SARI (SEMA approved rack inspector) scheme. Again this is for general rack inspections. However, it should be possible to determine which SARI inspectors have the necessary experience to be able to undertake an annual inspection of the mobile racking.

Normally, mobile rack inspections will be carried out from ground level unless there are indications of problems at high level that need investigation.

SEMA or EN Standards?

Q SEMA guidelines could be generally described as reflecting good practice but how do they fit alongside the application of the EN standards

A We agree that SEMA guidelines do reflect good practice and exist alongside other standards such as the European ones you mention. For the record SEMA had a large input in the creation of EN 15095, 15512, 15620, 15629 and 15635 which were based in part on previous SEMA documents.

An EN code is applicable across Europe and for instance DIN EN 15635 is identical to BS EN 15635 except that it is expressed in German. This makes it easier for multi-national companies to impose the same levels of safety on various sites across Europe where individuals may not be so impressed in having foreign standards imposed upon them no matter how sensible they might be.

Drive in Guidelines

Q. Could you let me know the SEMA code of practice that deals with the design of drive-In / through pallet racking and the various formulas for side loading etc. that should be specified in this code

A. The SEMA guidance relating to the design of Drive-In and Drive-Through racking are given in the SEMA Code of Practice for the design of static racking (1980) and are mostly in clauses 4 and 6 and Annex E. These should be used in conjunction with the installation and tolerance information given in Guideline No.2.

The revised SEMA design code (2008) does not cover Drive-In racking.

A more recent publication that you may wish to consider is FEM10.2.07 which gives rather more detailed requirements for Drive-In.

www.sema.org.uk

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