Our first question this month asks if the SEMA Codes of Practice state any guidelines for Racking Repair and our second queries about the safety of leaving out Bracing Bolts.
Racking Repair
Q. We have asked a new racking repair company to quote for a small repair job and whilst on site, they mentioned that another repair performed by a different company was not up to standard. They stated that an upright must be replaced/spliced above the first beam. Are there any SEMA Codes of Practice or standards that state guidelines on racking repair?
A. Generally this is a rack manufacturer’s recommendation rather than a code of practice requirement.
The reasoning here is that if there is a subsequent impact on an upright spliced below first beam between a truck and the repaired leg in the down aisle direction the upright is likely to bend at the point of impact with the truck, just above the footplate and at the bottom of the first beam connector – the footplate and the beam connectors being ‘strong points’ with the upright in down aisle bending.
If this occurs the repair splice will be within this newly damaged area and the upright above this will also be damaged and also require replacing!
If on the other hand the splice is done above the first beam then it will only be the lower length of upright that is damaged and in need of replacement which is easier to do and less costly therefore most manufacturers make the recommendation to splice above first beam level. Hope you can follow that reasoning.
Bracing bolts
Q. Recently while working on a section of racking we noticed the previous team had left 3 bracing bolts out of the back leg both racking bays were empty apart from stock in 2 lower locations. Both the front and rear legs had been damaged. I am looking for verification that it is or is not safe to leave the racking like this for a week. The bays at either side and behind the 2 empty bays were still fully loaded.
A. It is always difficult to comment on a specific situation without seeing it and without knowing all the circumstances, however will do our best.
In principle it is not a good idea to leave a job half finished, though in some circumstances where more than a day’s work is involved or when the necessary bolts are not available it might be necessary. In such circumstances cordoning off the area concerned is a basic requirement, however it is very easy for the night shift (who always get blamed for such things and rarely get briefed about what is going on), to look at the rack, not notice the missing bolts, conclude that the barriers should be removed as they need storage space for incoming goods during their shift and there is no one to confirm this decision during their shift!!
It looks like as with all near misses that you will have to carry out a detailed investigation, decide what went wrong with procedures and initiate corrections where necessary. As an employer you would be expected to do this and while HSE would likely not be particularly interested in this one, they would be very interested should you have another similar event in the future where someone was injured and effective corrective action had not been carried out on the basis of the first event.
Hope that helps however in our experience such things are never straight forward.
SEMA Annual Safety Conference 2017 – a date for your diary
Scheduled for 2nd November; at the National Motorcycle Museum, Solihull.
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SEMA Approved Rack Inspectors Qualification
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