Skip to main content
Pallet Racking Wales logoStart a project

Pallet racking safety. The duty sits with the operator.

Racking is work equipment. Whoever uses it must keep it in safe condition, check it, have it inspected and keep vehicles and people apart around it. Most of that is cheap. All of it has to be written down.

Protection, containment and segregation are the physical part of the duty.

Wide aisle pallet racking with yellow end of aisle barrier protection
Racking is
Work equipmentPUWER 1998
Expert inspection
12 monthsAt least, HSG76
Recorded checks
RegularOften weekly
Risk categories
Red · amber · green

Protection, containment and segregation.

Four ways of keeping vehicles, stock and people where they belong. Each page covers what it is, where it goes and when it is the wrong answer.

The duty holder overview.

Three pieces of law and guidance, read together. None of them sets a millimetre figure for you. They set the duty, and your inspector applies the manufacturer's data to your racking.

What each regulation or guidance document asks of a warehouse operator, in plain terms.
SourceWhat it requiresWhat it means on your floor
PUWER 1998Work equipment is suitable, maintained in safe condition and inspected at suitable intervals by a competent personRacking is work equipment. Damage is repaired, inspections are recorded, and use stays within the load notice
Workplace Regulations 1992Traffic routes are organised so pedestrians and vehicles circulate safely, and people are protected from falling objectsSegregated walkways, barriers at crossings, and rear containment where runs back onto routes
HSG76, Warehousing and storageHSE guidance on how warehouses meet those duties, including the person responsible for racking safety and the three levels of checkAppoint a person, run recorded visual checks, report damage at once, and book an expert inspection at least every 12 months
EN 15635Use and maintenance of steel static storage systems, including inspection and red, amber and green damage categoriesThe framework your inspector grades findings against, using limits from the manufacturer's data
EN 15512, EN 15620, EN 15629Design of racking, tolerances and clearances, and specificationWhat the racking was designed to carry, and the gaps it needs to stay safe in use

What each regulation or guidance document asks of a warehouse operator, in plain terms.

PUWER 1998
Work equipment is suitable, maintained in safe condition and inspected at suitable intervals by a competent person
Workplace Regulations 1992
Traffic routes are organised so pedestrians and vehicles circulate safely, and people are protected from falling objects
HSG76, Warehousing and storage
HSE guidance on how warehouses meet those duties, including the person responsible for racking safety and the three levels of check
EN 15635
Use and maintenance of steel static storage systems, including inspection and red, amber and green damage categories
EN 15512, EN 15620, EN 15629
Design of racking, tolerances and clearances, and specification

The three levels of check are covered in full on the racking inspections page. The awareness course that makes in-house reporting reliable is on the rack safety training page.

Where racking gets hurt.

Most damage is predictable. It happens in the same few places on almost every site, which is why protection goes there first.

Aisle ends

Statistically the highest strike location. Exposed end frames on every turn.

Behind the run

Stock pushed through the back of a bay onto a walkway.

The yard

Heavy vehicles against gas cages, tanks, charge points and corners.

Overloaded levels

Beams bowed by loads heavier than the notice allows. Repair and re-rate.

Protection is one stage of a loop.

Each stage produces the next. Repeated damage in the same location is a symptom, and the cause is usually layout, systematic overloading or truck and aisle geometry.

  1. Step 1InspectAnnual expert inspection, plus the recorded visual checks your appointed person runs.
  2. Step 2RepairDamaged components replaced like for like across brands, never straightened.
  3. Step 3Protect (this page)Rack protection inside, Armco barriers in the yard, fitted where the strikes actually happen.
  4. Step 4TrainAwareness course so the people who see damage first can classify and report it.
  5. Step 5Re-inspectAnnual date set at handover, so nothing lapses quietly.

Racking regulations, answered.

Racking is work equipment under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, so it must be suitable, maintained in safe condition and inspected at suitable intervals. The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 cover traffic routes and the separation of people and vehicles. HSE guidance HSG76 sets out how warehouses are expected to meet those duties, and the EN 15635 standard covers the use, maintenance and inspection of storage equipment.

HSG76 and EN 15635 describe three levels: immediate reporting of any damage, regular recorded visual checks by your appointed person, often weekly, and an expert inspection at least every 12 months. The expert inspection produces a written report grading every finding red, amber or green with an action and timescale.

The operator, meaning the employer using the racking, whether it is owned or leased. HSG76 expects the operator to appoint a person responsible for racking safety, who runs the recorded visual checks and acts on reports. Installers and inspectors have their own duties, but the duty to keep racking in safe condition stays with the operator.

No regulation names a specific protector, but you must keep racking in safe condition and protect it where it is exposed to impact, which HSG76 and EN 15635 point to at aisle ends and gangways. An inspector will record unprotected high risk positions as findings.

Yes. Every run should display a load notice showing the safe working loads for its configuration, and the notice must be updated whenever beam levels or the configuration change. Missing or inaccurate load notices are one of the most common inspection findings.

Book the expert inspection. It gives you a graded list of what needs repairing, where protection is needed and what your in-house checks should cover, and it sets the date for the next one. Everything else on this page follows from that report.

Annual inspections booked 12 months ahead

Start with the report.

An expert inspection gives you the graded findings, the repair quotation and the protection positions from one visit, with your next inspection date set at the same time.

Book an inspectionCall 07814 627770