Weekly PRRS Training
On-site training for your nominated Person Responsible for Racking Safety, covering damage recognition, BS EN 15635 classification, load notices, record-keeping and escalation — so your weekly inspection regime is competent and defensible.
Included as standard
- Delivered on site, on your own racking
- Damage recognition and measurement
- Red / amber / green classification
- Reading and checking load notices
- Defensible record-keeping and escalation
- Written certification for each delegate
Why your site needs a trained PRRS
BS EN 15635 asks the operator of a storage installation to nominate a person responsible for the safety of that equipment — the PRRS, sometimes called a Rack Safety Officer. HSE guidance HSG76 describes the same arrangement: regular visual inspection by trained site staff, with a periodic expert inspection on top. PUWER 1998 regulation 9 then requires that people using and supervising work equipment have received adequate training.
The reason the role matters is arithmetic. Expert inspections happen annually; damage happens continuously. Without a competent weekly inspection, a frame struck in February can carry load until the following winter. With one, the exposure window is days.
An untrained inspector produces a record of looking rather than a record of inspecting — pages of 'all clear' on a site with visible damage, which is worse than no record at all because it documents that nobody noticed.
What the training covers
The legal framework first: PUWER 1998 regulations 5, 6, 8 and 9, the general duty under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and the role of HSG76, BS EN 15635 and the SEMA codes of practice. Delegates who understand why they are inspecting inspect properly.
Damage recognition, which is the practical core. Bowed and kinked uprights, front and rear-face impact damage, torn connector holes, sheared bolts, permanently deflected beams, pulled or distorted beam end connectors, missing safety clips, bracing removed for access, loose and missing floor anchors, cracked slab around fixings, and corrosion assessed as section loss rather than surface rust.
Classification and measurement: how to check out-of-straightness against a straight edge in both planes, why a sharp kink matters more than a smooth bow of the same size, how the green, amber and red thresholds are applied, and where site judgement ends and an expert referral begins. The classification is set out in red, amber and green damage explained.
Load and configuration: reading a load notice, unit load versus bay load, how beam pitch changes capacity, why components from different systems are not interchangeable, and why reconfiguration invalidates existing signage — see load notices and racking signage.
Records and escalation: what a defensible weekly log contains, consistent bay referencing, useful photography, escalating amber items with an owner and a date, acting immediately on red items, and the written after-impact procedure covered in after-impact inspections.
How it is delivered
Training is delivered on your site, on your own racking, so delegates learn on the installation they will be inspecting — their layout, their racking types, their load notices, their pinch points. It typically runs as a half-day and finishes with a practical walk of a live run, building the inspection route the PRRS will follow each week.
Each delegate receives written certification recording who was trained and when, which is the evidence PUWER regulation 9 expects. The site also leaves with an agreed inspection route and a record format that fits how it already works, rather than a generic form.
Suitable delegates are warehouse supervisors, shift managers, team leaders and health and safety coordinators — people on the floor regularly who have the authority to take a bay out of service on the spot. Multi-shift sites generally train one per shift, because impacts on quieter shifts are the least likely to be reported.
What good looks like afterwards
A named PRRS with trained cover for absence. A fixed weekly route covering every run. Bay references physically marked on the racking so findings are described consistently. A written log with date, inspector, area, findings, classifications and actions. Amber items closed out against dates, red bays offloaded and isolated the moment they are found.
Those records also make your annual expert inspection far more useful: an inspector who can see what has been happening between visits reports on trends rather than a single day's snapshot.
Further reading for your PRRS: the PRRS training guide and the racking inspection checklist.
Weekly PRRS Training FAQs
Is PRRS training legally required?
The term itself is not in legislation, but the duties are. BS EN 15635 asks the operator to nominate a person responsible for racking safety, and PUWER 1998 regulation 9 requires adequate training for those using and supervising work equipment. Training is how you evidence that the person inspecting is competent.
How long does the training take?
Typically a half-day on site, including a practical walk of a live run to build the weekly inspection route. Longer sessions can be arranged where multiple delegates or several racking types are involved.
How many people should we train?
At least one nominated PRRS plus trained cover for absence. Multi-shift operations usually train one per shift so that impacts on every shift are reported to someone trained and present.
Can a trained PRRS carry out our annual inspection?
No. The annual expert inspection must be carried out by a technically competent person independent of the day-to-day operation — in practice a SARI accredited inspector. The PRRS covers the regular visual inspections in between.
Do delegates get a certificate?
Yes. Each delegate receives written certification recording who was trained and when, which forms part of your evidence under PUWER regulation 9.
How often should PRRS training be refreshed?
Periodically, to keep recognition sharp, and whenever something changes materially — a significant reconfiguration, a new racking type, a change of MHE fleet, or a change of the nominated person.