SAFETY: CONFIDENTIAL REPORTING
SPEAKING UP TO IMPROVE SAFETY Marc Spillman, of CIRAS explains how confidential reporting can play a positive role in promoting port safety and what makes it different from whistleblowing
8 Frontline staff are often best placed to see hazards first-hand
Different operational environments share similar challenges, and workforce safety is one of these. Operational staff on the frontline of your port business – quayside, working cargo plant, dealing with ro-ro ferry movements – are dealing with day-to-day issues not unlike those facing workers in the railway industry, for example. Although ports and the railway work with different modes of transport, both move goods and passengers from ‘A’ to ‘B’, and some ports also handle marine, leisure and fishing facilities. Many operate 24/7, increasing the possibility of health and safety issues. Frontline staff are often best placed to see hazards first-hand. What is the nature of hazards and risks in port operations? According to Port Skills & Safety (PSS) – Britain’s professional port health and safety membership organisation – slips, trips and falls account for the largest percentage of safety incidents that result in people being off work for at least one day (Lost Time Injury or LTI). Perhaps unsurprisingly, this is also a frequent workforce safety issue impacting railway operations. Other risks shared by the port and railway sectors include: driving and operating vehicles and machinery, as well as being around these, with the risk of being trapped, crushed or run over; manual handling and the risk of associated muscular injuries; falling or moving objects, such as cargo being transferred from sea to land side; working at height and the associated risk of falling.
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Confidential reporting…. offers anonymity that can remove anxiety around speaking up – so nobody needs to feel excluded While there are differences between different transport and logistics operations, there is plenty of health and safety learning to be shared. One of the differences between ports and the railway is that the railway has a well-established confidential reporting service. The Confidential Incident Reporting and Analysis Service (CIRAS) has been fully embedded in railway operations for many years – from the supply chain, train and freight operating companies to infrastructure managers – and is increasingly used in the bus and tram sector, but is still relatively new to ports. Confidential reporting in the rail sector helps to reduce operational risks. Frontline staff of CIRAS member companies can use it to speak out about health, safety and wellbeing issues without colleagues or managers linking the concern to them personally. This encourages employees to report proactively and means the company can investigate and act on the intelligence. In 2019-2020, 85 per cent of CIRAS
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