APM Terminals flags off global safety campaign to protect truckers

APM Terminals, the world’s leading operator of port and terminal facilities, has announced that by the end of 2016 all truck drivers entering its facilities must remain within their trucks. This company-wide project is designed to eliminate one of the top five-high risks areas in terminal operations that has led to injuries and could also result to loss of lives among truck drivers.

“Potential injuries related to outside drivers, trucks, yard traffic, miscommunication and human error can be eliminated by keeping drivers inside their trucks at all times when in our terminals, and that’s the procedure we intend to have in effect at all our facilities by the end of 2016,” said Jeff De Best, APM Terminals chief operating officer, during this year’s safety day held at The Hague, Netherlands.

Furthermore, the APM Terminals boss said “terminal operation is a repeat business and our aim is to effectively identify, plan for and mitigate risks to truckers in our facilities. This is a bold move designed to keep our trucker clientele safe and build on our operational excellence vision. We want to be the preferred port operator to truckers worldwide – who know us for safe operations and fast turnarounds. This is the best way we can help their bottom line and keep global trade moving more efficiently.”

To achieve this, De Best said every operational process related to truckers across the APM Terminals portfolio will be analysed using process mapping tools, traffic flow analysis, metrics and interviews with truckers, and “the end result will be a well-developed, clearly defined policy and procedure in place. The majority of incidents involving drivers occur while they are driving or waiting within the terminal yard.”

According to him, this area will specifically be targeted for improved safety performance, even as terminals confront the challenges of working on larger vessels which in some cases involves simultaneous calls of 18,000 Twenty Equivalent Units (TEU) ships as well as increase in global container traffic.

Citing example, he noted that on an average day, APM Terminals dockside in Los Angeles recorded about 2,000 long-shore workers and others on site and over 5,000 trucks.

“We have successfully put into place safety standards in the form of Global Minimum Requirements (GMRs) across our portfolio as part of APM Terminals’ Safety Culture. This new company-wide programme builds upon this work. We believe this is the next step towards preventing any workplace fatality,” said Kevin Furniss, APM Terminals vice president, Health, Safety, Security, Environment and Sustainability.

A successful implementation of the standards will require everyone to take on the role of change managers to effectively work together toward one common safety goal, he said.

Finding reveals that this project is part of a new company-wide programme that aims to eliminate within the portfolio directly managed by APM Terminals, the five identified primary risk areas associated with 90 percent of fatal injuries during terminal operations: transportation (e.g. the movement of containers or cargo within the terminal yard); suspended loads and lifting; stored energy (electricity); working at heights, and control of (external) contractors who enter the terminal. Non-terminal employees, including outside truck drivers, are often at the greatest risk of injury during port operations.

Also, increasing use of automation and evolving terminal operations procedures have already positively impacted the number of outside truckers in some facilities. In APM Terminals Tangier, Morocco, truckers cannot enter the terminal yard, while in APM Terminals’ newest port designed for safety, Maasvlakte II in Rotterdam, containers are transported within the yard by a fleet of battery-powered Lift-Automated Guided Vehicles, removing man or machine contact in the container storage yard.

On the other hand, the APM Terminals Global Terminal Network facilities handled 38.3 million TEUs of containers in 2014, weighted by equity share at the 65 operating port and terminal facilities.

UZOAMAKA ANAGOR