Racking damage is unfortunately part and parcel of running a warehouse and no matter how carefully you guard against it there is always the chance that something can happen under your nose which greatly reduces the load bearing capacity of your racking and as a result puts your employees in danger.
One of the biggest causes of racking damage is when a forklift truck driver accidentally knocks into racking. While you can guard against this with good training and safety lines, you can never completely remove the danger of human error leading to an accident. It’s important that you follow good practices and if a pallet is identified as being damaged you should quickly remove it from use and have it repaired before being put back into action. Continued use of damaged pallets can cause problems with your beams.
Damage to your racking, no matter how small, can have a huge impact on your systems and reduce the amount of weight that it can hold. This in turn can lead to a disastrous collapse which at the very least puts your stock at risk and at the very worst endangers your employees. If an accident were to happen in your workplace, would you be confident that you had done everything you could to prevent it? Under the Corporate Manslaughter and Homicide Act (2007) you can be found guilty of corporate manslaughter as a result of management failures and breaching your duty of care.
However, just because damage to racking is very likely doesn’t mean that there is nothing that can be done about it. By organising periodic reviews of your racking with a professional company you can quickly identify small signs of wear and tear before they develop into something much worse.
Logical Storage is highly skilled in spotting the often hard-to-find signs of racking degradation. We carry out regular reviews for a number of businesses helping them to keep their systems in good working order and to maintain their legal obligations under the Health & Safety Act. To find out more please call us on 0845 689 1300.
One of the biggest concerns that many businesses have with moving premises is the risk of losing customers. Businesses spend many years building up their reputation and establishing a loyal base of customers and there is potential for losing them by relocating somewhere different.
However, it is possible to expand and upgrade your facilities without leaving your current site. This allows you to maximise your businesses capabilities without having to endure the cost, time and effort that comes with uprooting. This is especially the case at a time when purchasing commercial property comes at such a high cost.
An effective solution to this problem comes in the shape of mezzanine flooring. This is a type of flooring which can make the most of the upper areas of your building – space which would normally be wasted. Many warehouses, factories, retail units, car showrooms, restaurants and many other types of units have vertical space which could be used to create additional room. This space can then be used to house new assembly lines, racking, seating area, toilets, meeting rooms, whatever it is that you need to make space for.
What’s more, the process of installing and erecting a mezzanine floor can be over in just a matter of weeks. This is much less stressful for you when compared with moving to a new property which will often take a very long time when you bear in mind the time it takes to find a suitable property, raise the capital to purchase it, sell your current premises, wait for all the formalities to take place, inform your customers and employees and actually move in to your new site.
If you are interested in finding out how your business could benefit from mezzanine flooring please contact us on 0845 689 1300 and request a tailored proposal. Alternatively, click here to find out more about our mezzanine flooring options.
One of the biggest mistakes that any type of employer can make is to underestimate their legal responsibilities, namely their duty of care as described under the Corporate Manslaughter and Homicide Act (2007) and the Provisions of Use of Work Equipment Regulations (1998). Failing to protect your staff and to mitigate any potential risks can prove damaging not only financially but also to a business’s reputation if one of their employees is harmed in an accident.
While racking is a fantastic form of storage and can help businesses to optimise their operations, they are not immune from damage and must be regularly inspected for cracks and structural failure. This is why we regularly undertake racking inspections for businesses who are looking to stay on the right side of their Health & Safety obligations.
One of the most common reasons for racking to become damaged is through a lack of planning. If items are too heavy or stored in a way which does not properly distribute their weight then they can overload the structure which will then begin to break down over time. So it is important to make sure you don’t exceed capacity and overload your racking.
Another reason for damage is when forklift drivers accidentally reverse or accelerate into a racking system and cause damage to its structure at speed. Collisions can be quite common in a warehouse so where possible you should look to implement protection such as column guards and make sure that aisles are wide enough and are clear of any obstructions.
Particularly bad damage to racking can cause a structure to collapse altogether. This can be brought about from broken beams, racking that isn’t properly secured to the floor and generally poor racking systems that are badly designed.
The best way to avoid your racking becoming damaged is to regularly undertake racking inspections which minimise the risk of an accident which can damage stock, injure employees and incur financial loss.
We can provide your business with a detailed and comprehensive report of your racking which highlights any damage, missing components or structural imperfections putting you at risk. We will also prepare a detailed AutoCAD drawing which highlights locations requiring attention. If you would like to find out more please call us on 0845 689 1300.
Having your employees call in sick is part and parcel of running a business, but does it really have to happen so frequently? Here we look at some ways that you can reduce absenteeism in your workforce.
While there are obvious ways to reduce illness from spreading amongst your employees such as improving workplace hygiene and ensuring that employees remain off work until they are no longer contagious, there are other ways that you can reduce absenteeism which can have a real impact too.
Making your business premises a pleasant place to work can pay dividends in terms of the morale of your employees and thus the amount of sick days that they tend to take. When looking at how you can reduce absenteeism and look after your employees there are three key areas that you should focus on – organisation, health & safety and morale.
A workplace which is poorly optimised puts needless pressure on your employees making them work harder than they need to. This is why it is important to periodically review your processes and see if there are any opportunities to streamline your operations and relieve some pressure. Consider using mezzanine floors to house new machinery, assembly lines, workspaces or innovative racking and shelving solutions.
A workplace which is dangerous and has faulty equipment puts your employees at risk of injury. If you don’t carefully follow guidelines then you risk serious accidents occurring which could put employees out of work beyond just a few days at a time. Protect your workers and your reputation by carrying out regular risk assessments.
Finally, research shows that employees who enjoy their working environment are less likely to fall ill and phone in sick to work. So take a look at how you can improve your surroundings. Consider office partitions which can be used to create a bright, well lit area where you and your employees can take a well earned break.
Based in the Midlands, Logical Storage Solutions create solutions for businesses with an emphasis focussed on quality, attention to detail and customer satisfaction. We provide a wide range of solutions for businesses from racking and shelving to mezzanine floors and office partitions. For a tailored proposal designed to meet your specific needs please contact us on 0845 689 1300.
There is no one correct method to effectively running a warehouse and the particular way that you operate will always depend on the nature and needs of your business. However, there are some universal practices which should be adhered to and there are mistakes that can have, or may already be having, an overwhelmingly negative impact on your operations that you may not be aware of.
Poor organisation
An efficient and well organised warehouse space is absolutely essential to the profits of your business. Reducing the amount of time and effort it takes to carry out a task by utilising mezzanine flooring, shelving and racking solutions can have an impressive impact on your picking rate and reduce any unnecessary wastage.
Poor Health and Safety management
While Health and Safety regulations can sometimes seem like an unnecessary burden to businesses, the consequences when something goes wrong are often far worse. Under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act a business can be found culpable for harm that comes to workers due to neglect of your duty of care. This means it is incredibly important to carry out regular inspections of your equipment to make sure they are safe to use.
Neglecting staff needs
It has been proven time and time again that looking after your employees can have a positive impact on your business, reducing levels of absenteeism and making your employees more productive. Investing a small amount of money in creating a partitioned area for a quiet lunch area, toilets or office area for your employees can go a long way towards making their work day more enjoyable.
Here at Logical Storage, we know that no two businesses are the same and you may need a combination of different solutions to help optimise your warehouse. For a tailored proposal designed to meet the specific needs of your business, call us on 0845 689 1300.
Good management is the key to making sure that your warehouse can meet the demands of your clients and customers in the months and years ahead. This means not only ensuring that your employees work in a safe and practical manner but also that your warehouse is well organised to cope with the ebb and flow of seasonal trade.
As we begin 2017, many business owners will be looking at how best they can achieve their targets and goals for the year ahead. Here at Logical Storage we have extensive experience putting together combinations of storage solutions for businesses that help them to do exactly that.
One of the first examples of how a business can benefit from our storage solutions is that of a mezzanine floor. Continually one of the most popular solutions available, a mezzanine floor helps to maximise the space already available to you in your warehouse, reducing the need for relocation and allowing you to make more efficient use of your space.
Office partitions provide another route for improving your operations in your warehouse. An office partition can provide you with the space you need to conduct important meetings with clients and customers, make private phone calls, a space to do paperwork or create an area for your employees to take their lunch.
A third way that you can make the most of the room in your warehouse is to consider racking and shelving solutions, which are a fantastic way to better organise your inventory. An experienced storage provider can help you to choose a system which is best suited to your operations, be it pallet racking systems like wide aisle or dynamic push back, or shelving solutions like carton flow and longspan.
Here at Logical Storage we know that no two businesses are the same and you may need a combination of different solutions to help create space in your warehouse. For a tailored proposal designed to meet the specific needs of your business, call us on 0845 689 1300.
According to some surveys, a significant number of businesses view Health and Safety legislation as a time consuming process and others as an unnecessary burden. However, while it’s true that compliance with Health and Safety law can be complicated, it is certainly worth the investment of your time, as we will explain.
Protect and retain the best employees
Here at Logical Storage we encourage businesses to take their Health and Safety obligations seriously and recognise the potential to profit from good practices. First of all there is the issue of absenteeism. If poor standards lead to an employee being injured then they may be off work for a serious amount of time, leaving your business stretched. This might mean that you have to spend time and money on recruiting and training new staff. While this may not be too much of an issue with lower level employees, replacing your most skilled workers even on a temporary basis can prove difficult.
Employees work best in workplaces that value them and take steps to improve their general well being. A workplace that refuses to take steps to look after the Health & Safety of their employees could be accused of not caring. If accidents happen on a regular basis then you risk a demoralised workforce with higher levels of absenteeism and most likely a high turnover of staff.
Protect your reputation
Next, there are your legal obligations to consider. Employers have a duty to protect their employees and if you fail to take the necessary steps to prevent accidents from happening then you could be liable to costly fines and even imprisonment. A serious accident in your workplace can also have a damaging impact on the profile of your business as court action will most likely result in negative media coverage for your company, harming your reputation.
Protect your infrastructure
Despite the threats faced by not complying, you should try to see Health & Safety policy as a positive thing. Taking the time to conduct regular inspections of your machinery and infrastructure can pay dividends for your business. For example, if you operate a warehouse and rely on seasonal traffic then you need to make sure that your storage systems are in good shape. Receiving a large and important delivery of stock, only to discover that your racking has become cracked and unusable could be disastrous for your business. But, by maintaining good Health & Safety standards and practices you can identify problems with infrastructure, storage systems and machinery early on, ensuring that your business remains safe and profitable.
Here at Logical Storage we recognise that Health and Safety legislation should be at the forefront of any business. We help businesses identify problems with their infrastructure by performing rack inspections. Click here for further information or call us on 0845 689 1300.
It’s October which means that there are only 2 months to go until Christmas! As we know, this is among the busiest time of the year for many retailers as shoppers begin buying presents and businesses gear up for the mayhem of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
However, for owners of warehouses and distribution centres this is an important time to check over the capabilities of your site and ask themselves if they are ready for the pressures of seasonal traffic.
One way that businesses can handle the increase in business around Christmas is to ensure that orders are able to be picked, packed and shipped out quickly. One way to do so is to focus on the right type of storage which allows for the most popular products in stock to be easily accessible.
Two of the available options for achieving this include dynamic push back racking and double-deep racking. The first of which allows for easy access to products and the next for increased storage capacity of said item.
November is also a good time to perform a health check on your infrastructure, particularly the integrity of your racking. An increase in your inventory could mean a significant strain on your racking. Increased load can cause beam damage and cracking, putting not only your inventory but also your employees at risk. Having an inspection now, before a seasonal delivery will identify any existing problems sooner rather than later.
Logical Storage Solutions have extensive experience in performing racking inspections, as well as helping businesses to meet the needs of seasonal demand with a wide range of impressive storage solutions. To find out more click here or call us on 0845 689 1300 to discuss your needs.
Two of the most important standards for a library to maintain are order and of course, silence. While we can’t help with ensuring that your library users refrain from talking, we can help to ensure that your library is well organised.
Our mobile shelving can help to reduce the amount of time it takes to find a specific item and at the same time can free up valuable space in your library for other activities.
Today’s libraries are very different to how they once were and encapsulate a wide variety of materials and services for their users. Today many libraries house everything from paperback and hardback books to public records newspapers and multimedia items. They also now offer a broader range of services that includes book lending but also computer access, poetry and book readings, hot desking and access to media rooms.
With this in mind, space now comes at a premium and it is important for libraries to be able to maintain some order, and we have just the thing. Mobile shelving is an increasingly popular form of shelving which is used across many libraries, museums and universities in order to store away books, files and other small items.
It is set on rollers which means that it can be pushed together and moved apart quickly, creating a high density and easily adjustable form of shelving that frees up space. It will also help to keep your premises looking neat and tidy and allow your library users to easily locate what it is they are looking for.
For more information about Logical Storage’s shelving solutions, please go to the following page on our website: http://www.logicalstorage.co.uk/services/shelving-solutions/ or call us on 0845 689 1300 for a tailored proposal.
If you run your business from a warehouse or other industrial type building then one of the challenges that you are likely to face is that of creating a suitable space to hold meetings with clients and customers when they visit your site.
While employees are less likely to be concerned about whether an area has adequate lighting, soundproofing and a welcoming layout, it may be something that your clients and customers care about and you want to leave a good impression.
Office partitions can help to create a bright, well lit area that leaves a strong impression on visitors to your site and can allow you to conduct important business in private and away from the noise and movement of your main warehouse floor.
Here at Logical storage we have an extensive range of options for office partitions with lots of options for customisation from bespoke doors and windows to integrated or stand alone blinds. There are also additional options for soundproofing, protective fire-rating and corporate colour coding as per your requirements. We know that no two businesses are the same and can help you to create a sophisticated work area that improves your work space.
Based in the Midlands, Logical Storage Solutions create solutions for businesses with an emphasis focussed on quality, attention to detail and customer satisfaction.
In order to find out more about how your business could benefit from an office partition or other forms of storage systems please call us today on 0845 689 1300.
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