Focus on storage safety
November 26th 2009

Safety is fundamental in the storage industry. SEMA holds this subject in high regard and has a number of initiatives in place to help end users in their quest to acquire, install, maintain and operate safe storage systems.

Racking Maintenance

One particular area end users often enquire about is that of rack maintenance. Questions arise such as ‘what is rack maintenance’ and ‘what resources do I need to keep my intsallation in good order’ and are typical of the range of queries raised by users of storage equipment.

Often the terms ‘rack maintenance’ and ‘rack repair’ are used interchangeably but the implications of so doing can be quite alarming and mis-understandings in this area can lead to potentially dangerous situations.

For example, it would appear that the word ‘repair’ implies the inclusion of processes such as cutting and welding of racking components by end user maintenance teams. This is strictly ‘off limits’ and SEMA would strongly advise against this type of activity by the user as these processes can significantly weaken the structure if performed incorrectly.

For these reasons SEMA prefers the term ‘maintenance’ as this process essentially relates to the replacement of damaged components.

SEMA offers a one-day Rack Maintenance course aimed primarily at end users who can learn about the maintenance process. The course covers the subject of ‘maintenance versus repair’ and highlights the do’s and dont’s in these areas. It also covers the maintenance and component replacement processes in some detail with special emphasis on site specific risk assessments and method statements.

To address the resources issue the course also covers the requirements of maintenance teams which is an area of interest to more and more end users these days, ie the number of people required, their particular skill sets and the most efficient ways of carrying out their duties.

Publications

SEMA’s publications are many and varied. They include codes of practice for the design and use of racking, shelving, mezzanines and other storage products and a series of guidelines covering subjects such as tolerances, surveys and terms and descriptions. SEMA has produced a storage industry guide to the CDM Regulations (currently being updated) and has launched a publication called “Guide to Method Statements for the Installation of Storage Equipment” which is also being reviewed and updated. In addition, SEMA is the National Committee which administers European codes and standards in the UK and is currently working on a number of new documents in conjunction with FEM and CEN. Recent additions to the European publications now available include “Guidelines for Specifiers of Static Steel Racking and Shelving” and “Guidelines for the Safe Use of Static Steel Racking and Shelving”.

Literature

Literature available from SEMA includes a Mission Statement, Approved Inspection information, SEIRS literature and a number of brochures such as a newly published Standards brochure featured in this newsletter. These are available free of charge. In addition, SEMA is a full Member of the British Materials Handling Federation and features in the Federation’s annual directory.

Annual SEMA Safety Conference: Safety in the storage industry The annual SEMA Safety Conference, ‘Safety in the Storage Industry’ is also a valuable learning tool for end users. Attendees to this event, normally held in November, can benefit from a number of short papers affecting all aspects of the storage equipment industry.

Safety and quality aspects from the design of the equipment through supply and installation through operation and end use are covered including legislative requirements, Codes of Practice and Standards and best practice.

The theme of the 2009 Safety Conference is “Safer By Design” and will feature a presentation on SEMA’s new Code of practice for the Design of Adjustable Pallet Racking. This paper will outline the reasons for the development of this remodelled industry code and illustrate the implications for end users and manufacturers alike.

For more information on the SEMA Safety Conference or the SEMA Rack maintenance courses please contact the the Storage Equipment Manufacturers Association on 0121-601-6350.

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