It is incredibly easy to fall into the pattern of taking your pallet racking for granted and not even bothering to check on its consistency and durability. It is this very negligent attitude that leads to full racking collapse and loss of business and stock.
True, these racks are designed to last for many years before requiring any kind of maintenance – but that certainty only stands for if no collisions occur that jeopardise the structural integrity of the structure.
Rack failure can seriously injure and even kill one too many members of your workforce within seconds – giving no warning. The warning comes from identifying and reporting any faults that could lead to racking collapse early.
Damage to racking can be extremely simple to spot. In the cases of multiple structural components being broken, bent or twisted it can be impossible to ignore. However, some damage is not immediately identifiable, invisible to the naked eye and has a much longer timeframe to weaken other components because it has found been discovered early enough.
When the damage is not noticed, workers can be unknowingly caught in a catastrophe waiting to happen, where the simplest of bumps or scrapes can cause a chain reaction that brings everything down. There may even have been workers who had noticed something and failed to report it to anyone. This is why thorough inspections are required to be conducted regularly, and training is provided to workers so they know to report any size incident.
It would be easy to spot if a rack is skewed or twisted, but even easier to not report it to the relevant person. This is something that plagues many warehouses throughout the year.
New starters to the business may be more inclined to not report a minor collision for fear of ridicule or losing their job, choosing to ignore the potential consequences by not letting their manager know of the incident. Without being notified, it could be a while before another worker notices any crooked-looking sections or dips, or they could believe that it is an incident already under-report and being dealt with, choosing to carry on as normal.
A small amount of impact can suddenly shift the entire pallet racking system and make it give way. Those consequences of negligence suddenly become a lot different in severity.
Should you feel it is time to evaluate and inspect your current pallet racking requirements, contact the team at Monarch Shelving today, the number one call for warehouse storage equipment.
If you know that your warehouse safety is nowhere near the levels it should be and you are choosing to ignore them, you may soon be facing serious and potentially fatal repercussions. Every business and workplace is different and some risks are more hazardous than others, but any warehouse demands a certain level of awareness, training and risk assessment to ensure everybody who occupies that space’s safe. With a huge amount of warehouse hazards to consider, any business that ignores them in ill-advised ways to save money could soon be faced with catastrophic consequences from not tackling them head-on.
People injure themselves in the workplace in the hundreds and thousands every year in the UK, with trips and slips being the most common cause in the warehousing sector.
When it is not tripping or slipping, the risk of something falling from pallet racking and permanently injuring someone is all too real. Falls from height are often deadly, and usually the result of improper stacking, faulty racking or overloading stock.
It could be the result of your older warehouse storage equipment holding stock that was not designed to hold or unreported damage from forklift collision or no regular safety racking check-ups. Either way, it is a shortcut to the disaster that not only hurts your staff but can completely hold up operations of your business – as well as result in hefty fines and compensation.
SEMA-approved inspectors ensure that your warehouse complies with all health and safety requirements by carrying out thorough pallet racking inspections that point out all current or potential risks and advise on the immediate course of action to fix the problem before it happens.
The warehousing sector is the most vulnerable industry for risks and potential accidents, which is why everything should be done to ensure all hazards are taken care of.
One way to avoid any legal proceedings for negligence is to evaluate your racking and storage needs, potentially with a new system or by shifting some stock to commercial shelving units. Not only will this require a shift around in operations, but also more focus on safety training for employees.
By taking this action, you are also sending the right message to your employees that you are investing in their safety within the workplace. Ignoring concerns that staff members have around improper storage and racking damage sends an incredibly negative message that will result in complaints going above your head in regard to safe working conditions.
To avoid warehouse hazards, contact the team at Monarch Shelving today to discuss your current racking requirements and other aspects of warehouse storage equipment.
Carrying out regular warehouse safety audits can seem like a mundane job, but it’s an important one. It’s something you cannot skip, and it should always get done effectively, efficiently and without putting a huge dent in available resources can be challenging. Looking over each element of the warehouse and its current operational standards can be time-consuming, even for smaller facilities and businesses.
No matter how much automation technology you introduce to the warehouse, it is virtually useless without your employees. By ensuring they are as safe as possible is the key ingredient for a successful, productive and efficient warehouse. There are just a few incidents you may come across, and the ways can plan to prevent them in the future!
The warehousing and distribution industry, like many other industries, is prone to inefficiency. But in the warehousing industry, simple errors can lead to costly safety issues that reduce production, cause lengthy delays to the supply chain and can cause major safety problem as well.
While many of these errors can be spotted and quickly addressed, a large number go unnoticed. Spotting them can be done by employing an independent reviewer/efficiency expert or using a specialised WMS. But nothing beats the expert knowledge of the folks on the ground. A recent poll of industry experts turned up over 30 mistakes that they have experienced in the warehouses they manage. Read more…
Supply chain management is a complex task. Despite your best efforts, there will be times when problems occur. As a distribution centre, your business sits right in the middle of the standard supply chain. So, when issues do occur, whether it’s your fault or not, it is usually you, the distribution centre, that gets the blame. Read more…
It’s often difficult to say goodbye to a trusty forklift that has served your warehouse faithfully for years…maybe even decades. For one thing, you can’t help but get at least a bit attached to them, having got to know them and the way they work like the back of your hand. On top of this, there is also the cost factor – it’s not as if new forklifts come particularly cheap. Read more…
These days, environmental awareness is no longer optional. Instead, it is a fundamental prerequisite for every business at every level to fully consider the environmental implications of everything it does. And not only consider them, but work towards building and operating a ‘greener’ business in general.
In terms of warehousing, there’s quite a lot that can be done to contribute to the cause. While it’s true to say that going green has a habit of bringing with it quite a lot of initial expense, it generally also means significant on-going reductions in operational costs. So while you have to fork out in the immediate moment, you’re compensated generously over the long-term. Read more…
Recently, we shared a post detailing just a few of the potential benefits of bringing movable racking into the workplace – particularly those where cold rooms are used. Today, we thought we’d follow this up with a few key health and safety tips, which apply to anyone working in or around a cold room. Read more…
Compliance is important, but is it really enough?
Right now, it’s safe to say that the vast majority of warehouse environments and the managers thereof are aware of basic fire safety regulations. In addition, it’s also likely that these regulations and standards are taken seriously, in order to ensure that the business remains compliant with current law. Read more…
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Monarch Shelving Ltd
Unit F,Daltry Street, Oldham,
Lancashire, United KingdomOL1 4AB
Tel: 0161 627 3444 or 0161 622 0022
| Fax: 01706 880520
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