HEALTH AND SAFETY
The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998
Suitability of work equipment 4
- Every employer shall ensure that work equipment is so constructed or adapted as to be suitable for the purpose for which it is used or provided.
- In selecting work equipment, every employer shall have regard to the working conditions and to the risks to the health and safety of persons which exist in the premises or undertaking in which that work equipment is to be used and any additional risk posed by the use of that work equipment.
- Every employer shall ensure that work equipment is used only for operations for which, and under conditions for which, it is suitable.
- In this regulation "suitable" means suitable in any respect which it is reasonably foreseeable will affect the health or safety of any person.
Unlike the motor industry where a registration document can give you the age of the vehicle , MOT certificates can give you a view of its condition and manufacturers schemes gives you serviced and guaranteed used vehicles, the second hand racking industry is extremely fundamental. There is generally no indication of where the racking has come from as it is often bought at auction or where factories have closed down or taken in part exchange for new racking (which would indicate that perhaps it has already run its working life). Thus the same price will be charged for 10 year old racking as one year old. It is often stacked outside and therefore leads to the risk of water seeping and internal rust in the beams. If the racking was ultra sonically tested this would reveal defects but the fact is that the cost of this would cause the prices to be as much as new racking. At the best you may get a visual inspection, re-spraying and cleaning, at the worst you may get a bundle of beams and be told to throw away those you don't like and they will be replaced.
Because second hand racking cannot be qualified it cannot be issued with official load notices, this puts the emphasis on its performance and any subsequent failure on the purchaser.
To use the car analogy again there is a point when you would not buy a second hand car because of the safety risks so why buy second hand racking?
Let's take an example of two double entry racks each 4000mm high x 900mm wide x 5 bays long with 3 beam levels each holding 2 x 1000kg pallets, that's a total of 160,000 kg 160 TONNES!
So is it worth the risk?
A new Dexion P90 Silverline installation would cost £3850.00 plus VAT supplied delivered and installed.
A second hand equivalent £3700.00 plus VAT delivered and installed **
It would be reasonable to make a comparison between the two over 10 years useable life, as the age of the second hand is unknown this is not feasible, however both would be written down for depreciation purposes over 5 years therefore the cost to you for peace of mind is 57 pence per week. Less than you probably waste on spilt coffee!
Maybe another reason you would consider second hand is to preserve working capital, there is another alternative you could lease the new racking for a £248 deposit and £82 per month over the same period. Payments are subject to VAT.
** Source of second hand prices Ultimate Storage Equipment web site, it is assumed that delivery, installation and consumable costs would be the same for both examples.
