Racking inspection, defined: the documented check of pallet racking for damage and misuse, at three levels set out in HSE guidance HSG76, with each defect classified green, amber or red.
A racking inspection is a documented check of pallet racking and other storage equipment for damage, overloading, missing components and misuse. In the UK it follows HSE guidance HSG76 (Warehousing and storage: a guide to health and safety), which sets out a three-level regime: immediate reporting of damage by anyone who works near the racking, a regular visual inspection by a trained person, and an expert inspection at least once a year.
The definition matters because racking is work equipment under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER), so the employer has a duty to keep it in a safe condition and to inspect it where deterioration can lead to danger. The inspection record is how that duty is shown to have been met, and it is what an inspector or insurer asks for after a collapse.
How a racking inspection works: the three levels in HSG76
- Immediate reporting. Forklift drivers, pickers and anyone else in the aisles are trained to recognise damage and report it as soon as it happens, usually a truck impact. It fails most often, because the person who hit the upright is also the person expected to report it.
- Regular visual inspection. A trained member of staff, typically the person responsible for racking safety (PRRS) or someone reporting to them, walks the racking on a set frequency and records what they find. HSG76 leaves the frequency to the site's risk assessment; weekly is the common interpretation for a busy warehouse.
- Expert inspection. At least once a year, a technically competent person inspects the whole installation. In practice this usually means a SEMA approved racking inspector (SARI), who works to the classification method in EN 15635 and issues a formal report.
The PRRS is the person HSG76 recommends nominating to own all of this: making sure the checks happen, keeping the records and getting repairs done. It is a role, not a qualification.
What the weekly racking check covers
The visual inspection looks for what a truck impact or overloading leaves behind:
- Bent, twisted or dented uprights and bracing, measured against a straight edge where damage looks close to the limit.
- Beams deflecting under load, beam connectors not fully engaged, missing or damaged safety locks.
- Missing, bent or loose floor fixings and base plates.
- Load notices missing or not matching what is on the beams; pallets overhanging, broken or badly placed.
Damage classification: green, amber and red
Every defect found is rated against the deformation limits in EN 15635, and the rating decides the action. This defect classification is what makes the inspection useful:
- Green: damage within the limits. Record it, keep the bay in use, watch it at the next inspection.
- Amber: damage beyond the limits but not severe. The bay is unloaded as soon as practicable, marked as not to be reloaded, and repaired within a set period (EN 15635 gives four weeks). If the repair is not done in time, it becomes red.
- Red: severe damage. The bay is unloaded immediately, isolated so nobody can put stock back, and not used until repaired or replaced.
A photo of each amber and red defect, with the bay location, is the core of the record. Without it, the next inspection cannot tell an old amber upright from a new hit in the same place.
Racking inspection example: a repeat hit on the same upright
The PRRS at a chilled distribution centre finds a front upright in aisle 4 bent at roughly knee height, the classic reach-truck impact. Measured against a straight edge, it is over the amber limit. The bay is emptied that shift, tagged, and the repair booked. The photo, location and amber rating go in the log.
At the annual expert inspection five months later, the SEMA approved inspector finds the replacement upright in the same bay bent again, plus a column guard bolted down with two of four fixings missing. The two records side by side show a traffic problem at that aisle end, not a component problem. The inspection report recommends a barrier and a new turning route, cheaper than a third upright.
What a racking inspection does not do, and the mistakes teams make
The weekly check does not replace the expert inspection. A trained employee can find and rate obvious damage; the annual inspection assesses the installation as a whole, including load capacity and configuration changes.
It does not certify the racking. The expert report states what was found and what needs doing. The duty to act on it stays with the employer.
The recurring mistakes: no named PRRS, so nobody owns the log; weekly checks recorded as a tick with no photo or location; amber bays reloaded before the repair because the tag fell off; repairs made with parts from a different manufacturer; and the annual report filed without anyone closing the actions in it.
Where the racking inspection record goes
The weekly log, the expert reports and the repair records are kept together, usually for at least the life of the installation, as part of the site's health and safety inspection file. They should show the inspection frequency the risk assessment set, who inspected, what was found, how it was rated, and when the repair was done. The same log is what a loss adjuster asks for after a collapse.
The weekly check is a photo task, and the person doing it is already in the aisle. With Venta Capture, a product of VentaVid, the PRRS opens a secure, personal capture link and follows the check as guided steps in the mobile browser, with no app: each bay, each defect photographed with its location, the green, amber or red rating chosen from a list. The submission arrives timestamped and sealed, so the log can be compared week on week. See the Venta Capture pages.
In practice: see how field service teams use Venta Capture.