Award Nomination:
Peel Ports Group is the second largest port operator in the UK. Health and safety sits at the heart of everything they do. Making sure the people who work, visit and use their sites return home safely every day is their number one priority and the guiding principle behind each decision.
To keep safety front and centre, Peel Ports is investing in pioneering safety initiatives, including the development of a bespoke, fully digital desktop and mobile solution for the end-to-end management of high-risk activities undertaken by contractors and employees on site. The system incorporates a robust review and approval process that must be completed before any high-risk work can commence. It provides a real-time interactive map of all activities taking place, supported by detailed dashboards and analytics for maximum visibility and auditing.
There are two key stages:
- Request Authorisation to Work, where job owners and contractors submit online requests with risk assessments, method statements etc., which route through an integrated approval workflow in Outlook and Teams.
- Issue of Work Management Package, consolidating all job details, hazard assessments, contractor audits, permits, isolations, gas tests, PPE requirements and emergency arrangements into one comprehensive digital safety plan.
Users can attach evidence, assign actions to staff/contractors, and access training resources – ensuring every high-risk job has a thorough safety plan that is properly reviewed, approved and monitored from start to completion.
Additional Information
Prior to implementing this digital Work Management System, Peel Ports Group lacked centralised visibility into high-risk activities occurring across their nationwide port operations – a major limitation of outdated paper-based processes. Auditing and oversight were extremely challenging, and the sheer volume of paper records was an ongoing burden in all areas. Each port location issued different documentation and managed high-risk activities differently, with inconsistent standards and some operations faring better than others.
The project was desperately needed to establish a single, standardised process with robust risk controls and reporting. By adopting this comprehensive digital solution, Peel Ports has effectively consolidated around 20 different documents into one streamlined, mobile-enabled risk management tool used consistently across the entire business.
A key benefit is providing all stakeholders – from front-line staff to executives – with real-time visibility into risk activities through an interactive map, dashboards and analytics. Port workers can easily review all jobs occurring on their site during pre-shift briefings. Safety managers and leadership teams have reassurance that high-risk work in their areas is being safely managed according to Peel Ports’ standards.
Perhaps most impactful is the ability to rapidly implement new process improvements or best practices. Unlike cumbersome printed permit books of the past, the digital system allows updates to be made in minutes and immediately deployed to all users, ensuring everyone operates from the latest approved version.
While the technology is innovative, Peel Ports recognised that effective training would be critical to the project’s success. An extensive learning program was rolled out to all involved personnel, covering practical fundamentals of permit management as well as how to use the new digital system. Their forward thinking Health & Safety approach even motivated Peel Ports’ insurers to part fund accredited Permit to Work certification training.
Additionally, detailed e-learning modules were developed for each of the 9 different high-risk activity permit types issued through the system. To reinforce understanding, a series of animated videos was created to walk users through basic permit protocols and guide them through the digital workflow. A nationwide tour to all Peel Ports operational sites allowed for in-person training, familiarisation and awareness sessions.
In its first year, the new system has enabled over 6,000 comprehensively planned and approved Work Management Packages across Peel Ports’ locations, including 2,500+ high-risk activity permits. The standardised digital approach strengthened contractor management integration with over 600 companies engaged and 420 Level 1 worksite audits conducted to verify compliance. Most importantly, Peel Ports now has an auditable system of record with electronic signatures and a log of all changes – finally replacing the fragmented paper trail of the past.
This initiative transformed a critical safety process through technology while heavily investing in people’s capabilities. Peel Ports overcame long-standing limitations to implement world-class risk controls and operational consistency.
In just the first year since go-live, Peel Ports Group’s new digital Work Management System has facilitated over 6,000 comprehensively planned and approved work packages across their operations, including over 2,500 high-risk activity permits. The system has 110 active users who have engaged with more than 600 different contractors.
Contractor management has been closely integrated with Peel Ports’ Internal Assurance Program. 420 Level 1 audits of contractors working on site have been conducted, along with 17 Level 2 audits specifically reviewing work management packages. These are further substantiated by 18 Level 3 audits – a multi-layered approach ensuring the system is utilised properly and risks are adequately managed.
A key strength is the system’s auditing capabilities compared to former paper records. It provides a complete digitised log of all changes made, capturing electronic signatures from everyone involved. This robust audit trail allows tracking exactly who made modifications and when – much more transparent than the fragmented paper trail previously.
To drive adoption, Peel Ports streamlined access by integrating the system’s two core stages directly into their company intranet. Now all users have one stop access to the actual systems, the policy, user guides, training videos, individual training records, performance dashboards, system data, and contact details. This ease-of-use has accelerated the cultural shift toward Peel Ports’ new digital safety standards.
Overall, this initiative has successfully modernised critical risk management and assurance processes through digitisation, standardisation across all sites, seamless contractor integration, robust audit trails, centralised access to
resources, and extensive user training.
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