From an opinion piece on Port Stratego by Paddy Crumlin, president of the International Transport Workers’ Federation and the chair of its dockers’ section:

Paddy Crumlin

‘Having a policy typed up and laminated in your company offices doesn’t make its application a reality. Genuinely high standards of health and safety are about constant vigilance and oversight, proper training and staff numbers, consistent application and improvement.’ — Paddy Crumlin

There are potential problems with health and safety in ports across the spectrum. It isn’t a developing world issue, there’s no East-West divide because men and women are dying on the job in locations across the globe. In the last six months the ITF has sent condolences to Germany, Belgium, Doha. There was a recent spike in the number of deaths on the waterfront in my home country of Australia and just last month a mother of two died when she was hit by a top loader in Port Elizabeth, US.

From where I stand, there is way too much emphasis on health and safety standards for show. Having a policy typed up and laminated in your company offices doesn’t make its application a reality. Genuinely high standards of health and safety are about constant vigilance and oversight, proper training and staff numbers, consistent application and improvement.

And the issue here isn’t just a lack of implementation either. The top down, rules-based systems are often fundamentally flawed. What really works is involving workers as equal partners in health and safety management. They’re the ones doing the job so they’re best placed to advise on minimising risk. As a trade union representing transport workers that’s what we want to see; employers listening to their workforce to see where the real issues are and what the practical response is.

Read the rest at Port Strategy