A Napier Port initiative to improve safety standards has won a national Safeguard Award.
The port has just won the IMPAC Best Collaboration Between PCBUs Award – an award that recognises businesses working together to promote workplace safety.
A PCBU is a ‘person conducting a business or undertaking’ – so it includes both large businesses and sole traders. Since the Health and Safety at Work Act was implemented in 2015, Napier Port has taken a strong leadership role to ensure all PCBUs operating on port are working together on the safety agenda.
The Safeguard Award recognises Napier Port’s initiative with PCBUs loading log ships. Napier Port holds ‘pre-vessel meetings’ – where all parties involved in loading a log ship meet before-hand, to agree a plan for the operation.
While adhoc meetings were held in the past, increased cargo and vessel numbers added complexity and required a more structured meeting, to understand the operational plan and identify risk. In May 2017, Napier Port’s General Cargo team revolutionised the process, formalising these pre-vessel meetings. Since the introduction of this initiative, Napier Port has seen a 75% reduction in the number of vehicle-related incidents.
Peter Bateman, convenor of the judging panel and editor of Safeguard, said that all the award-winning initiatives demonstrate a fascinating range of engaging and collaborative approaches to health and safety.
“There is a big secret at the heart of health and safety. Far from being a dry and dull subject, it is actually driven by highly engaged people for the benefit of many. These initiatives simply represent the best of a huge range of activities being undertaken all around the country by people who really care.”
It was a big night for Napier Port, which was also selected as a finalist in the Industry Leadership category for its training and development work with Fiji Ports. Culture and Capability Manager Viv Bull also broke new ground, becoming the first woman to be a finalist for the Health and Safety Leader of the Year Award.
