Our first question this month asks about Column Guards and our second enquires about compliance with the installation of racking.
Column Guards
Q. Can you tell me if any guidance exists from SEMA that sets out dimensions for column guards? We have a lot of guards to install and have been asked what the standards are.
A. In short, each manufacturer offers different recommendations relating to their column guards so there is no standard guidance. The purpose of the guard is to absorb kinetic energy from a moving truck and stop it before it hits a rack upright. This is generally done by the steel in the guard distorting and absorbing the energy in the process. As a rule of thumb the amount of steel being used and the distance away from the upright are taken as the governing factors in design, if the effect of floor fixings is ignored. A cheap column guard may therefore be made out of thin, low tensile steel and will perform adequately if it is located a substantial distance from the upright while a more robust thicker design of high tensile steel can be located closer to the upright. Unfortunately, only the supplier, who should have carried out performance tests, will be able to confirm the effectiveness of his particular guard, and inform you of what the recommended clearance should be for a particular design. Usually from a practical point of view we would expect to find this figure to be about 20 to 25mm, as anything much larger than this takes up too much aisle width and ends up creating more problems than it solves. Anything less than this tends not to be as effective as the guard is distorted and will hit the upright anyway.
A SEMA Code of Practice for the Design and Use of Racking Protection (2014) is available covering this subject which is available through the publications area of the SEMA website.
Compliance with Installation of Racking
Q. We are looking to install some racking in a storage area but prior to this would like to ensure that we are compliant with all legislation relevant to the installation and use of this equipment.
A. You have outlined a very large area and without knowing your precise situation it is difficult to provide specific advice. We would suggest that you approach a SEMA member for the supply of your racking as they will normally be prepared to offer some degree of consultancy and ‘hand holding’ advice as to what you should be doing in your particular circumstances.
In addition, as a good starting point, we suggest you obtain a copy of the SEMA Code of Practice for the Use of Static Pallet Racking (available from SEMA) which provides some good common sense guidance for the user of such products. If you feel that you are getting out of your depth on the issues involved there are a number of consultancies that operate in this field and while it is not SEMA’s role to recommend any of these, they would be able to provide you with some names which might be a help if you needed to go down this route.
The 2019 SEMA Annual Safety Conference will be on Thursday 31st October; at the National Motorcycle Museum, Solihull. SEMA runs a one-day safety course on Rack Safety Awareness and Inspection. These courses are aimed at end users, giving an indepth look at the need for inspections, how to conduct an assessment and what actions to take when this is completed.
SEMA Approved Rack Inspectors
Qualification is aimed at professionals who conduct rack surveys as an integral and significant part of their duties. It involves delegates in undertaking an in-depth SEMA Course, together with an examination and practical assessment. CPD will be an important part of the qualification, demonstrating to end users that SEMA Approved Inspectors maintain a high professional standard.
SEMA has 26 publications in stock – Codes of Practice, ‘Guides’ and European documents. SEMA USERS Club is designed to be of benefit to purchasers and users of storage equipment. Members receive newsletters, access to specialised events and discounted rates on publications and codes of practice.
SEMA
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