HSE Guidelines for Pallet Racking — HSG76 Explained
HSG76 ‘Warehousing and storage: A guide to health and safety’ is the HSE's flagship document for the warehousing sector. Although it isn't law itself, courts and HSE inspectors treat it as the benchmark for ‘reasonably practicable’ — fail to follow it and you'll need a very good reason why.
What HSG76 says about racking inspections
HSG76 paragraphs 313–325 set out the three-tier inspection regime: immediate, weekly and annual expert.
It explicitly references SEMA's Code of Practice and the SARI scheme as the recognised route to ‘competent person’ status.
Damage categorisation should follow the EN 15635 traffic-light system — green / amber / red.
Common HSE inspector questions on a site visit
Where is the most recent annual SEMA inspection report?
Who is your nominated PRRS and where are the weekly inspection records?
Where are the load notices, and do they match the current beam configuration?
What is your written procedure for post-impact inspections?
Need a SEMA inspection?
Rackstor UK Ltd carries out SEMA approved, SARI accredited racking inspections nationwide — same-day quotations.