Racking Safety : What to do should things come tumbling down

A guide as to what you should do in the event of serious incidents within your workplace. Including : Rack Collapse, Reportable Accidents, Dangerous Occurrences, or Incidents whereupon a Reportable Injury is caused.


What is a Reportable Accident? 
A Reportable Accident is an accident that firstly involves the collapse of over 5000kgs of material. In addition to the collapse, an incident is definable as a Reportable Accident if the person/persons injured in the collapse of the material are off work / unable to perform their normal range of duties for more than three days (including weekends & holidays.) The injury obtained within the accident would therefore be defined as a Reportable Injury.


What is a Dangerous Occurrence?
A Dangerous Occurrence is the occurring of an incident where less than 5000kgs of material comes down, but thankfully, no one is hurt. However, despite the avoidance of injury this time, the collapse would still be classed as a Dangerous Occurrence if there was a clear risk that someone could have, in fact, been injured.


Serious Incidents are thankfully a rare occurrence, especially if all Health and Safety procedures are followed, kept up to date and regular checks made. However, in the unfortunate event of a Serious Incident occurring within the workplace, the following action is immediately required:

• Ensure that anyone who has been injured by or trapped in the rack collapse, receives trained medical care immediately.
• Work to clear and secure the affected  area immediately and without delay. If possible, obtain specialist advice before the moving of anything. 
• Directly follow your company standing procedures regarding injury and consult the Factory Inspector, Health & Safety Executive, etc, for advice.
• Immediately report the incident to the appropriate notifying authority without any delay. 
• Make sure to take as many photographs as possible, capturing all details as soon after the event as possible. 
• In the event that a caution under PACE ensues it would be advisable to consider appointing an expert witness.
• Thoroughly review the likely causes of the incident to ensure that there are no similar situations waiting to occur.

If you and your company have any concerns about Racking Safety, Stakapal can offer many services that may assist you. With a full range of safety checks, ranging from missing Load Labels and Beam Locking Pins, through to full SEMA Approved Inspections, Stakapal can work alongside you and your company to ensure complete rack safety and eradicate any potential risks.