How to Inspect Stillages for Damage and Wear

A damaged stillage that fails in service can drop a tonne of stock, crush a forklift driver or collapse an entire stack. Regular inspection is how you catch them early, stay compliant, and avoid throwing away perfectly serviceable equipment.

Range Storage has manufactured and repaired UK stillages since 1979. We see the same failure patterns come back to the factory year after year, which is why we’ve pulled this guide together: a step-by-step inspection methodology built around a green/amber/red damage classification, the regulations that sit behind it, and a checklist you can use on the warehouse floor.

Why stillage inspection matters

Two sets of reasons drive stillage inspection: the legal ones and the operational ones. Both end up in the same place, but they matter for different reasons.

The legal picture. Under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER), every piece of work equipment (including stillages) must be suitable for its purpose, maintained in good working order and inspected at appropriate intervals.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) expects a documented inspection regime. If a stillage fails and causes injury, the first question will be whether the equipment had been inspected, by whom, and to what standard.

The operational picture. Stillages represent real capital: at typical UK prices, a fleet of 200 heavy duty units can be a six-figure asset. Catching a small repair early keeps a stillage in service; missing it forces you to scrap the unit or replace it outright. A structured inspection programme extends useful life, protects workers and gives you the evidence you need for insurance and compliance audits.

Our overview of UK stillage safety regulations and compliance requirements covers the legal framework in more detail.

Who should inspect: the competent person

PUWER and LOLER both talk about a “competent person”. The definition matters: it’s not a job title, it’s someone with enough practical and theoretical knowledge of the equipment to detect defects and assess their significance.

For pre-use checks, that’s usually the forklift operator or store team member using the stillage on that shift. They need to be trained in what to look for, but they don’t need specialist qualifications.

For interim inspections (typically weekly or monthly), a maintenance team member, team leader or H&S representative with documented training is normal. They’ve been shown the checklist, know the damage thresholds and can decide what to flag.

For the six or twelve-month thorough examination required under LOLER, you need a genuinely independent competent person: either an in-house engineer with formal training in lifting equipment, or an external inspection specialist. This is where most UK businesses bring in a third party. The report they produce is what you show to HSE if something goes wrong.

A good rule of thumb: the person doing the inspection should not be the person responsible for the production target that benefits from passing it. Conflicts of interest are how borderline damage quietly gets signed off.

When to inspect: frequency and trigger points

Inspection frequency isn’t fixed by regulation, but it is driven by three things: usage intensity, risk of failure and the manufacturer’s guidance. A practical UK schedule looks like this:


Inspection type	Who	Frequency
Pre-use check	Operator	Every shift or before each use
Interim inspection	Trained staff	Weekly to monthly, depending on use
Thorough examination	Competent person	6 or 12 monthly (if used in lifting)
Post-incident inspection	Competent person	After any impact, drop or visible damage

The weekly-vs-monthly interim decision comes down to how hard the stillage is being worked. A scaffold-yard stillage that gets craned daily, stacked four high and dragged through a mud-filled compound wants weekly interim checks. A warehouse stillage that moves twice a week in a clean environment can run monthly.

Any suspected damage, drop, rollover or major impact is an automatic trigger for an out-of-cycle inspection. The stillage should be tagged out of service until it’s cleared.

What to inspect: the full checklist

A proper inspection works zone by zone. The sequence below covers every significant failure point on a typical UK stillage, in the order most auditors expect to see.

Zone 1: base and fork pockets

The base carries the full stacked load, and fork pockets take every single handling cycle. They wear and fail first.

Base deck integrity: check for bowing, buckling, cracks or splits in the steel plate. Any visible daylight between the deck and the frame is a serious issue.
Fork pockets: look inside for crushing, tearing or weld failure at the pocket-to-base joint. Fork-tip damage around the entry mouth is normal; crushing of the pocket tube itself is not.
Feet and locating cups: check for deformation, missing feet or damaged stacking cups. A stillage won’t stack cleanly if a foot is bent out of alignment.
Drain holes (if fitted): should be clear of debris for outdoor units.

Zone 2: uprights, posts and corner welds

The uprights carry the stack load. If they fail, the whole column comes down.

Vertical posts: sight down each post from top to bottom. Any bowing, twist or dent is a flag. Mild superficial dents are typically acceptable.
Corner welds: check every weld at the base-to-post joint for cracks, porosity or visible separation. Welds are the single most common failure point on stacked stillages.
Post caps and stacking lugs: these take the load of any stillage above. Check for deformation or missing caps.

Zone 3: mesh, panels and sides

Welded mesh: look for broken wires, large-scale distortion or failed welds at the mesh-to-frame joint. Minor localised damage can usually be repaired.
Sheeted panels: check for splits, punctures or corrosion perforation.
Hinged gates: operate the gate through its full range, check the hinge welds and test the latch or lock.

Zone 4: SWL plate, labels and marking

SWL plate or label: must be present, legible and matched to the stillage. A missing SWL plate is a compliance failure under PUWER: the operator has no way to know the load limit.
Serial number and manufacturer mark: needed for traceability and, on lifting stillages, for LOLER records.
CE or UKCA marking (where applicable): required on equipment placed on the market for lifting.

Zone 5: castors, wheels and moving parts

Castor wheels: spin each wheel. Any binding, flat spots or visible bearing damage flags replacement.
Braked castors: test the brake mechanism.
Hinges, latches and drop-bottom mechanisms: work each moving part through its full range.

Zone 6: corrosion, coating and cleanliness

Rust and corrosion: surface rust is usually cosmetic. Structural rust, pitting through the metal or active corrosion at load-bearing welds is not.
Powder coat or galvanised finish: check for damage that exposes bare steel in corrosive environments (outdoor, chemical, food).
Cleanliness: matters more in food, pharma and hygiene-zone stillages; clean any residue that might hide damage.

Traffic-light damage classification: green, amber, red

Most UK stillage failures live in the grey area between “obviously fine” and “obviously condemned”. A three-colour classification turns a judgement call into a documented decision. This is the framework Range Storage uses internally and recommends to our clients.

Green: safe for service

A green classification means the stillage has passed inspection and can go straight back into use. Green covers:

No visible cracks, bowing or deformation above normal wear limits.
All welds intact and within spec.
SWL plate present and legible.
Castors, latches and gates are functional.
Finish intact, with only superficial marks.
No corrosion affecting structural integrity.

Green stillages don’t need any action beyond normal cleaning and the next scheduled inspection.

Amber: usable with conditions

Amber means the stillage has minor defects that don’t remove it from service immediately but need resolution. Typical amber findings:

Surface rust or coating damage without structural compromise.
Bent fork pocket mouth (entry wear) with the pocket tube still intact.
Damaged mesh panels in non-load-bearing positions.
Stiff or sticky gate mechanism.
The SWL plate faded but was still legible.
Worn but functioning castors.

An amber stillage should be tagged, the defect logged, and the repair scheduled within a defined window. If the defect progresses, the stillage moves to red before the window closes.

Red: out of service

Red means the stillage is unsafe and must be removed from service immediately. Red findings include:

Cracked or failed structural welds.
Bowing of uprights beyond tolerance.
Buckled, cracked or split base deck.
Crushed or torn fork pocket tube.
Missing SWL plate.
Active corrosion through load-bearing steel.
Failed drop-bottom mechanism on a drop-bottom stillage.

A red stillage should be physically tagged with an out-of-service label, stored separately from the active fleet and either scheduled for refurbishment or condemned. Never mix red stillages back into the active pool “until someone gets to them”.

Decision flow: repair, refurbish or scrap

Once a stillage is tagged amber or red, three outcomes are possible:

On-site repair for minor amber issues: a new castor, a mesh panel swap, a touched-up powder coat, a replaced SWL plate. Your maintenance team can handle most of these.
Factory refurbishment for significant amber or repairable red issues: weld repair, straightening of bent uprights, mesh replacement, full strip-and-refinish. Range Storage’s stillage repair and maintenance service handles refurbishment, including stillages built by other manufacturers.
Scrapping for red stillages where repair cost exceeds around 70% of replacement cost, or where structural failure puts the whole unit beyond economic refurbishment. Scrap stillages should be cut up before disposal so they can’t be returned to service by mistake.

The decision between refurbishment and replacement usually turns on the stillage’s age and the cost of the repair. A five-year-old bespoke stillage is almost always worth refurbishing; a 20-year-old commodity unit with failed welds usually isn’t.

Recording and reporting inspections

PUWER requires inspection records to be kept. For LOLER thorough examinations, a written report is a legal requirement, not a preference.

A usable inspection record captures:

Stillage ID (serial number or asset tag).
Inspection date and inspector name.
Inspection type (pre-use, interim, thorough).
Findings by zone, with classification (green, amber or red).
Defects logged with photos where possible.
Action taken or required, with a deadline.
Next inspection due date.

Digital asset-management tools make this easier, but a structured paper log is acceptable. What matters is that the record is accessible, consistent and covers every stillage in the fleet. HSE is generally less interested in how you record and more interested in whether you’re recording at all.

Inspection by stillage type

Not every stillage wears the same way. The key differences across common UK formats:

Mesh stillages and cages fail most often at mesh-to-frame welds and in the mesh panels themselves. Focus inspection effort on the welds and panel integrity. Our mesh vs solid stillages guide covers the trade-offs in more detail.
Solid-sided stillages hide damage behind the panels. Inspect the inside surfaces carefully, especially at corners and floor joints.
Scaffold stillages take crane lifts. Lifting lugs, corner welds and base integrity are the priority zones, and LOLER thorough examination is non-negotiable.
Drop-bottom stillages have moving base mechanisms. Test the drop mechanism through its full cycle and check the hinge welds separately.
Post pallets rarely fail at the base; look at the posts, the locating cups and the post-to-base welds.

A forklift operator inspecting a stillage at the start of a shift takes 30 seconds. A competent person running a thorough LOLER examination takes around 20 minutes per unit. Both roles matter, and neither replaces the other. The aim is a layered programme where problems are caught as early as possible and the more detailed inspections confirm what the daily checks have already flagged.

Bring inspection into the routine

Stillage inspection isn’t complicated, but it only works when it happens consistently. A fleet that’s inspected every shift, every week and every six months almost never delivers a surprise failure. A fleet that’s inspected when someone notices a problem almost always does, eventually.

If you’re setting up an inspection programme, spec’ing a checklist or working out whether a damaged fleet should be refurbished, Range Storage’s advisory team can help. We’ve inspected, repaired and refurbished UK stillages for more than 40 years and can walk through a specific fleet’s issues in detail. For ongoing maintenance beyond inspection, our stillage maintenance guide picks up where this one finishes. For repair work, speak to the Range Storage team about our refurbishment service.

Lee Pattison