Forty years ago, dockwork was labour intensive and had little mechanisation - up to a quarter of a million people worked in docks.
Many were engaged on loading and unloading loose cargoes: now only about 23,000 to 24,000 dock-workers are permanently employed. Large volumes of cargo pass through the docks The use of containers, ro-ro ferries and car transporters, bulk handling equipment, and larger ships has speeded up the cargo transfer process.
These changes have brought new health and safety challenges for the industry. Despite improvements over recent years the docks industry remains one of the most dangerous in the UK.
Aspects of health and safety at ports for which HSE has specific enforcement responsibility include:·
A review of accidents from quayside ladders to determine if they were a major risk to safety and whether the design needed to be changed.
The Notification of Installations Handling Hazardous Substances Regulations 1982 (as amended) (NIHHS) [40kb]
require that anyone who handles or stores (or intends to handle or store) 150 tonnes or more of ammonium nitrate or mixtures containing ammonium nitrate where the nitrogen content exceeds 15.75% of the mixture by weight should notify the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is responsible for navigational and ship operation matters and carries out health and safety enforcement on ships and boats. Accidents on ships and boats should be reported to the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) of the Department for Transport (DfT), who may investigate them and publish findings and recommendations with a view to preventing their reoccurrence.
The Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA) and the Docks Regulations apply
to shore based dock workers who may work on ships, and HSE enforces their
health and safety and investigates accidents. The demarcation of enforcement
responsibilities is addressed in a Memorandum of Understanding between HSE
and DoT for enforcement etc. [245kb]
activities at the water margin and offshore.
Local authorities are responsible for enforcing health and safety on certain activities on or adjacent to inland navigations which are prescribed in the the Health and Safety (Enforcing Authority) Regulations 1998. These include:
The MCA is responsible for enforcing safety on fishing vessels but HSE's legislation applies to their loading and unloading, and access to the vessels while this takes place. HSE also enforces in respect of fish farms.
HSE is responsible for issuing approvals for firms who oversee the construction and maintenance standards of freight containers.
Some of the leaflets included below are not directly related to dock work but are included due to similarities between equipment used, and hazards faced by the industries.
