Diversification and growth bring new hazards to the workplace for employees

RISK: Assessment is at the core of health and safety management

The traditional operations at our local ports have seen a dramatic shift over the last few years. Dundee Port is set to become a major oil and gas decommissioning centre and the renewable energy sector is also bringing new opportunities. Growth and diversification bring great opportunities, but also bring new hazards to the workplace. All organisations have a legal duty to put in place suitable arrangements for managing health and safety. Ports have particular challenges to overcome with the sheer number of different employers and contractors on site. Business leaders need to understand the range of health and safety risks, give appropriate attention to those risks and provide sufficient resources to properly tackle them. Competence of the workforce is vital. Employees need to be able to recognise the risks in their activities and apply the right measures to control and manage those risks. In 2016, an English port was fined £1.8 million following an incident involving a newly installed capstan.

A risk assessment had been carried out and the risk of entanglement had been identified. However, a procedure for mitigating that risk had not been implemented and the ability to place a foot pedal that operated the capstan in a danger zone had not been identified. Workers had raised concerns about the operation of the new machinery and while the company hadn’t ignored those concerns, they had not implemented a procedure for escalating the concerns. It is important that business leaders ensure appropriate management systems are in place to identify emerging risks and implement appropriate controls. One of the highest causes of accidents at ports is transport. Last year, a port operator, security firm and shipping company were cumulatively fined £1.4m after a fatal accident. The port had opened an additional access gate to the facility and had failed to update its transport risk assessment. A competent risk assessment would have identified that the traffic control systems were inadequate, the routes were confusing and there was no physical protection for the security guard who was fatally injured. The key to eliminating risks associated with vehicles and pedestrians is segregating, wherever possible, the pedestrians and vehicles. Risk assessment is the core of any health and safety management system – but it must be reviewed and updated.

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