Pallet Racking Services 

Pallet Racking Services Statutory Requirements

The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007 S.I. No. 299 of 2007 stipulates that each employer has a responsibility to ensure a safe place of work for their employees. This includes ensuring that racking and storage systems are in a safe condition at all times. Pallet Racking and Storage Systems are classified as installations under the Regulations which states that “work equipment means any machinery, appliance, apparatus, tool or installation for use at work”.

As such Section 30 “Inspection of work equipment” applies, which states that:

An employer shall ensure that—

1. where the safety of work equipment depends on the installation conditions—
2. An initial inspection is carried out after installation is completed and before it is first put into the Pallet Racking Services
3. an inspection is carried out after assembly at any new site or in any new location, and that the work equipment is installed correctly and is operating properly,
4. in the case of work equipment which is exposed to conditions causing deterioration liable to result in a danger to safety or health—
5. periodic inspections and, where appropriate, testing is carried out,
6. special inspections are carried out when exceptional circumstances arise which are liable to make the work equipment unsafe, including modification work, accidents, natural phenomena or prolonged inactivity, and
7. deterioration is detected and remedied in good time,
8. inspections carried out under paragraphs (a) and (b) are carried out by a competent person and are appropriate to the nature, locationanduse of the work equipment,
9. the results of inspections carried out under paragraphs (a) and (b) are recorded and kept available for 5 years from the date of inspection, for inspection by an inspector, and access to these records is made available to users of the work equipment upon request, and
10. when work equipment is used in another place of work, it is accompanied by evidence of the last inspection carried out under paragraphs (a) and (b).

Inspection of Racking

Pat O’Brien Safety offers a complete and comprehensive Pallet Storage & Racking Systems Safety Inspection Service, which will ensure that you meet all of your obligations under the Statutory Regulations. All our surveyors are by “competent persons” as defined in the Statutory Regulations and have extensive experience in the inspection and certification industry. A full set of reports are provided following the inspection, which highlights all risks identified using our proven risk assessment methodology.

Pallet Racking & Storage Systems are load-bearing structures, and as such their stability will be affected in the event of:

• Damage caused by fork trucks and other machinery
• Damaged caused by overloading
• Change in load capacity following alternation
• Incorrect design or installation

·         Do I need an annual rack inspection? 
– Yes. European standard EN 15635 Steel Static Storage Systems – Application and Maintenance of Storage Equipment provides instruction regarding the inspection of racking structures. Section 9.4.2.3 Expert Inspections, states “A technically competent person shall carry out inspections at intervals no more than 12 months. A written report shall be submitted to the PRSES with observations and proposals for any action necessary.”

·         Do I need to inspect my racking as well?
– Yes you need to make visual inspections. EN15635 section 9.4.2.2 Visual Inspections states that “the PRSES (Person responsible for storage equipment safety) shall ensure that inspections are made at weekly or other regular intervals based on a risk assessment. A formal written record shall be maintained.”

·         Are they the same?
– No. It perfectly fine for your team to carry out your weekly visual inspections but we recommend that this is carried out by a competent person. If you need some help training your team to do the visual inspections we can help. The annual inspections should be carried out by a technically competent person, so leave it to the experts and contact us now.

POBS can help you to:

• Identify and report problems before they become more serious
• Confirm the safety, integrity and reliability of your pallet racking and storages systems
• Minimize the risk of workplace accidents or collapses
• Ensure worker safety and prevent injury, loss of life, fines, compensation claims and legal actions etc.
• Maintain high safety standard and comply with all Statutory Regulations
• Enable allpersonalto conduct their work in a safe working environment