A company's safety is not focused on the company itself, but on the workers in each company. The safety measures adopted must guarantee minimum health and safety requirements at work with the aim of reducing the risk of a workplace accident occurring as much as possible.
In this article, you will find a guide on Industrial Safety that you can apply to your company to comply with the requirements and provisions of Industrial Safety Regulations, focusing mainly on the minimum requirements for work equipment and its maintenance.
Industrial safety is the set of techniques and measures applied in an industrial setting to prevent accidents.
The Industrial Safety is the basis of all projects and minimum requirements to guarantee the safety of industrial establishments and their equipment and installations.
All industrial installations must be legalised by following various administrative, technical, and mechanical procedures, with their corresponding periodic maintenance and inspections to confirm that operating conditions and safety measures remain adequate.
Outside the realm of professionals dedicated to industrial safety, the term suggests it's something that only affects industrial companies or is associated with the prevention of workplace risks. The complexity of industrial safety necessitates dividing it into different regulatory areas.
The regulatory area concerning safety that affects industry is that which establishes the safety requirements that industrial equipment and installations must meet to be used in industrial activity. The Industry Law and the set of safety regulations stemming from it are what establish the safety requirements that different installations must comply with. At a European level, it is the set of European directives on product safety that establish the safety requirements that equipment must meet.
We also have another regulatory area that revolves around the safety of those who will be part of industrial activity, that is to say, employees. This is the Law on the Prevention of Occupational Risks and the set of provisions that derive from it, which establish the safety measures that must be adopted in companies to protect their workers.
The regulatory boundary between these two corporate safety areas is very blurred due to their interrelationship. Therefore, Industrial Safety can be defined as a system of provisions aimed at the prevention and limitation of risks, as well as protection against accidents capable of causing damage to workers, property or the environment, derived from industrial activity, the use, operation and maintenance of facilities and work equipment, as well as the production, use or consumption of products.
Safety in logistics and industrial machinery
To ensure that the company meets a certain level of security and adequate control, we will need to identify which equipment, apparatus, and facilities must be taken into account.
In particular, we will address safety focused on storage racks and industrial machinery, considered as work equipment that must comply with a series of requirements.
Advice to follow:
- Select a competent and authorised person or entity for this type of work, with the technical capacity to resolve any unforeseen difficulties that may arise.
- Ensure that the project focused on verifying the safety of this work equipment includes some record or similar, with periodic reviews carried out, any deficiencies that may have arisen and certification that they have been resolved, in addition to the standards used to carry out the project.
- Gather the declarations of conformity and/or safety certifications for the shelving, once the work has been completed.
- Carry out periodic reviews. Once the activity has begun, it must be ensured that the installation's operating conditions remain adequate and that the protection and safety measures established for each system are still active.
- In addition to hiring an independent and specialised organisation to handle the maintenance of the work equipment, it is advisable to carry out periodic internal reviews from time to time.
- The choice of the most suitable equipment and facilities is important, as is having a good maintenance programme. This programme should include manufacturer-specified maintenance and periodic maintenance, with any appropriate modifications, in line with current regulations.
- It is advisable to keep all maintenance contracts carried out by other entities, along with records, minutes, and reports, as well as the certification that these entities must issue once maintenance has been completed.
Having facilities in inadequate conservation and maintenance can be considered grounds for a fine, provided it poses a danger to people, flora, fauna, property, or the environment, punishable by fines ranging from €3,005.07 to €90,151.82. In cases where this inadequate conservation and maintenance of facilities is due to poor management by the maintaining body, responsibility lies with them. Thus, contracting other companies to carry out the maintenance of one's own company serves as a form of “insurance” before the law.
Shelving maintenance in logistics environments
In the maintenance of racking in logistics, the inspecting body must carry out an inspection of this work equipment with the aim of verifying the following points:
- There have been no changes to activity or expansions.
- The establishment's typology and equipment remain the same.
- The protection and safety systems remain as required, and maintenance operations are carried out in accordance with the relevant regulations.
For its part, the affected company shall:
- To have a calendar with planned dates for carrying out the corresponding periodic inspections established by the various regulations.
- Contact an authorised, qualified, and competent supervisory body.
- Keep a record of all periodic inspections carried out.
The corrective measures necessary to rectify any deficiencies found during inspections can be adopted by the body responsible for inspecting the racking, or by the company itself, internally. However, certification that these work equipment items comply with current regulations must be issued by the control body.
For the oversight body to do its job, it must be granted access to the premises, as well as be provided with the necessary information and documentation for them to carry out their work.
The Racking Inspections They are carried out once a year, given that, provided that UNE Standard 15635 is followed, it establishes that storage on racking must be inspected at least once every 12 months.
If you want to know more information about racking technical inspections and other maintenance services in logistics warehouses Click here.
Industrial machinery maintenance
In machinery maintenance, the main tasks carried out are:
- Appropriateness to Royal Decree 1215/1997.
- CE Marked.
The main difference between maintenance for machinery and shelving is that machinery requires a one-off adaptation or CE marking, whereas shelving requires periodic annual maintenance. However, even though, by law, adaptation or CE marking only needs to be carried out once, it is advisable to carry out periodic internal inspections to check that the machinery remains in good condition, is functioning correctly, and is safe for the personnel who interact with it. If there is a substantial modification to the machinery, even if it has previously been adapted or has CE marking, the project will need to be redone.
All companies that possess machinery must adapt their machines to one of these two standards, previously mentioned. To know if a machine requires adaptation to RD1215/97 or CE Marking, the most important difference is knowing whether it is going to be commercialised or not.
If a company has a machine, which is only going to be used by its own operators, it will require the Compliance with Royal Decree 1215/97. Instead, if the company intends to market that machine, it will need the CE Marking.
If you want to know more information about the difference between compliance with Royal Decree 1215/97 and CE Marking, and the process involved in both projects Click here.
Ultimately, the safety of a company's work equipment, such as storage racks and industrial machinery, requires a project that complies with current regulations, with corresponding periodic reviews, whether mandatory or not. However, what is truly essential is that a company's safety should not be focused on complying with laws, but on ensuring the safety and health of its workers.
