Port Workers Celebrate Safety Achievement

The Port of Felixstowe has made the annual award of the John Bubb Safety Trophy, won this year for the first time by an operational shift.

The trophy is awarded annually to the area with the greatest reduction in accidents over the course of a year. In the past, the port’s rail department and temperature-controlled examination facility have repeatedly taken the title, however for the first time an entire operational shift has won the trophy.

The members of ‘B’ Shift, which includes berth operators, crane drivers, internal movement vehicle drivers, and terminal managers, managed to reduce of the number of accidents by 15% during the year. The trophy was presented by Mr John Bubb himself, after whom it was named in honour of his support and commitment to improving safety in the port.

David Gledhill, Chief Executive Officer of Hutchison Ports (UK) Ltd, which owns the Port of Felixstowe, said:

“There is no level of accidents that we consider acceptable, even one accident is one too many. It is, however, a massive achievement for an entire shift to win this award and to achieve a reduction in accident rates on this scale, and I would like to thank them all for their efforts. It is by continuing to raise the profile of health and safety that we can improve, and make our working environment as safe as possible. The Port of Felixstowe has a dedicated team of safety professionals who work closely with all departments to help make the port a safe place to work.”

The port has recently celebrated being awarded the OHSAS 18001 Safety standard, confirming its commitment to the overall safety of its staff. OHSAS 18001 is an Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series for health and safety management systems. It is intended to help organizations to control occupational health and safety risks.