Safety features ‘must be standard’

Laurence Jones, TT Club director, global risk assessment, expressed exasperation that manufacturers have not risen to the challenge of fitting existing safety technologies as standard and not as optional extras.

TT Club figures reveal that the quay crane continues to be the biggest single cost for insurance claims. “Let’s save lives and money and remove quay cranes from the No.1 risk spot,” he said.

“The technology is there. But why is it not being used? Do terminals think their insurance will cover everything? Do they think these accidents will not happen to them? They are wrong in both cases,” he said.

Back in 2011, TT Club, ICHCA and PEMA published a joint document “Minimum safety features for quay container cranes”. An update of this document is soon to be published and Mr Jones has urged that the minimum safety features highlighted be treated like seat belts in cars: standard, not optional.

“Seven years after the initial publication this is still not the case,” he said. “I challenge all container crane manufacturers to place safety first and make these minimum safety features all standard, not optional. I also encourage all terminals to include these safety features in the technical specifications for new quay cranes.

“These features should also be retrofitted to existing cranes,” he added.