How can you avoid employee injuries and fines at your port?
Consequences of poor port safety: A poor safety record and ill-conceived processes are not only detrimental to personnel, but can result in negative publicity, legal cases, and fines for safety breaches which can severely affect your bottom line.
When an Ellesmere Port man’s hand was crushed at Cammell Laird shipyard, Cammell Laird was fined £400,000 for breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act. Although they had a Health and Safety Management System (HSMS) in place, it wasn’t implemented effectively across the organization.
This is a tragic and timely reminder that only having basic technology in place isn’t enough to create a safe and compliant port. Jade recommends using a three-pronged approach involving technology, people, and communication between the two.
Here are three ways to ensure Health and Safety compliance.
- Choose a terminal operating system (TOS) that includes a health and safety component.
- Ensure that technology-backed processes to minimize hazards are put in place and followed by a safety-conscious workforce.
- Separate machinery and labor in the yard. Port staff who operate heavy machinery need to receive notifications warning them of the areas where they can’t operate.
Regarding the Ellesmere Port incident, the Health and Safety Executive inspector said “If the HSMS had been followed this accident may not have occurred.”
Through working with local ports, Jade recognized the difficulty to action safety procedures. This knowledge led to the development of Master Terminal’s Labor On Block functionality. The guiding principal is that when ‘Labor is On the Block’, machinery is not allowed to enter an area.
Learn about how Labor On Block improves the safety of port yard workers and visitors and ensures procedures are being followed in our Yard Safety fact sheet.
