The port of Kokkola is busy but safe

The ports are home to a wide range of operators, from regular stevedoring and freight forwarding companies to individual contractors, maintenance and construction companies. Kokkola Port Ltd is developing the safety of the rapidly growing general port in cooperation with Protect, for example in matters related to occupational safety and health. At the same time, Protect has brought good practices and solutions from other industries to the port.

The Port of Kokkola is an important player in Russian transit traffic. It is also the number one port in Finland for the mining industry, and its major customer groups include large-scale industry and trade based in Kokkola.

The reorganisation of occupational health and safety became topical after the Port became a limited liability company at the beginning of 2015. Until then, many occupational health and safety issues had been handled by the city group.

According to Torbjörn Witting, Managing Director of Kokkola Port Ltd, it was important to integrate operations and safety into a more coherent whole, even in view of the current size of the port: the port's traffic has increased almost 30-fold over its history, and including the port company, 14 different companies and communities employ staff in the area on a permanent basis. For example, Kokkola is the largest rail port for VR Transpoint.

-As the impact of the spin-off extended to liability issues, we decided to contact Protect because their comprehensive range of services met our needs. Not only did we contract the services of a fixed-term health and safety manager, but they were also able to implement a reliable solution for our health and safety package.

During the start-up phase, Protect has, among other things, prepared safety documents, a list of chemicals, a health and safety action plan, an action plan and a risk assessment. Protect's health and safety manager supports the line organisation and provides expert advice and participates in the joint operational weekly meetings of the companies operating in the port.

In general, each port defines the rules of the game in its territory in the port regulations and safety manual. These are accompanied by the ISPS Code, which aims to increase safety on board ships and in ports.

-We wanted to take safety even further. The result was a cooperation agreement on safety, the contents of which were drawn up by Protect's experts and Jyrki Roukala, who has long developed the port's safety practices. The agreement has been signed by all those who work in the port on a regular basis," says Witting.

Occupational health and safety issues concern around 250 people working in two shifts. The tasks can vary widely, but most of the staff work on large machines and equipment.

According to Witting, the idea has been to see the port as a shared workplace, where safety is influenced by all parties and individual workers.

For example, the port has produced a model of each work performance for a specific type of goods, and the model has been documented by video. In this way, the safe execution of the work can be taken down to the person level.

Model performance alone is not enough; monitoring must also be ensured. That is why we are the only port in Finland to hold weekly operational meetings involving all 14 permanent operators in the port. At these meetings, the activities for the coming week are reviewed, with safety as the overarching theme in everything we do. At the same time, it has been possible to clarify responsibilities in different situations, which significantly reduces risks.

-Protect's PRO24 system is a key tool for managing the whole. It allows us to have up-to-date information at our fingertips and easily accessible at all times. Communication with Protect is direct and immediate, which contributes to improving safety," says Witting.