Planning the industrial safety calendar

Planning the industrial safety calendar | Technical Racking Inspection in Madrid

Guaranteeing that a warehouse is a safe and efficient working environment is by no means about making a one-off or isolated effort once a year. Industrial metal storage structures co-exist daily with heavy moving loads, critical forklift maneuvers, and intense operational paces. All of this translates into continuous, imperceptible wear and tear.

The effective prevention of severe logistical accidents requires designing a structured strategy across different time levels of control. This phased approach is what we at ITE call the first line of defense for logistics facilities.

The first line of defense, internal preventive control

Before reaching the mandatory annual audit by external expert technicians, the warehouse’s own internal maintenance plan must include regular checking frequencies. Planning a weekly check, coordinated with in-depth monthly or quarterly reviews, constitutes the core of the best occupational risk prevention in the storage sector.

What should be checked in a quarterly inspection?

Every quarter, the Person Responsible for Storage Equipment Safety (PRSES) must carry out a methodical and documented sweep of the facility’s condition. The 5 unavoidable critical points investigated in this phase are:

1. Presence of safety locking pins. Ensuring that each beam has its respective safety pins fitted to prevent accidental disengagement during loading.
2. Condition of protectors. Assessing damage and impact absorption on upright protectors, corner guards, and aisle defenses.
3. Subsidence or cracks in the floor. Examining the concrete slab to detect cracks or unevenness that could compromise the verticality and settlement of the racking.
4. Visibility of load warning notices. Checking that the load signage boards are perfectly visible, legible, and updated according to the manufacturer’s design.
5. Maintenance of general tidiness and cleanliness. Removing damaged pallets, packaging debris, or obstacles that interfere with traffic aisles and safety clearances.

And in a mandatory external Annual Inspection?

The UNE-EN 15635 standard requires a competent and totally independent technician to perform an official inspection at least every 12 months. This technical examination completely differs from routine ones, as it applies specialized instruments and advanced engineering expertise focused on 4 structural pillars:

• Millimeter-precise measurement of out-of-plumbness. Rigorous verification using optical or laser precision instruments of the vertical deviations of the uprights relative to their design axes.
• Exact quantification of deformations. Meticulous and individualized calibration of the deflections and dents suffered in beams and uprights to determine their actual risk level (Green, Amber, or Red).
• Condition and tightening torque of anchors. Empirical check on the ground that the fixing bolts maintain the ideal tightening tension prescribed by structural calculation regulations.
• Audit of welds and steel fatigue. Advanced visual analysis to rule out micro-tears in critical welded joints and material fatigue due to constant tension.

Summary of the regulatory safety calendar

Establishing the chronological responsibilities of the warehouse clearly helps ensure no stage of the protocol is neglected: