Safer Tomorrow thought leadership series: Martin Lawlor

The next in the PSS Safer Tomorrow series, hears from Martin Lawlor, chief executive at the Port of Blyth and a Board member at PSS, where he champions the skills remit.

When asked what a safe port is, Martin’s reply is simple – look no further than the dictionary: “If ‘safe’ is defined as ‘to protect from, or not exposed to harm, danger or risk,’ then a safe port is one with zero lost time injuries.”

However, he does draw an important distinction between a ‘safe’ port and a ‘safer’ port; and believes that while a completely safe port where no one is ‘exposed to harm or risk’ may be a distant goal, it must ultimately be the goal. In the meantime, every port can, and should, strive to be safer tomorrow than it was yesterday.

Martin acknowledges that one of the key factors in making ports safer is the separation of people and plant, and that while automation and AI has a role to play in this, it is not the only solution.

He says: “Ports will become more technical in the future and will require more people who have digital and IT skills, but they’ll still need mechanics and they’ll still need engineers. Someone needs to build and maintain the quayside and to fix the machines when they inevitably breakdown.

“It’s important that we dispel the myth that there will be no people on the quayside in the port of the future. Technology has a role to play, and data is key, but full automation is a very long way away.

“We are on a journey and we can use technology to remove people from harm in areas like the cargo handling interface. We are already seeing ports moving crane operators away from the top of gantry cranes and into an office.

However, Martin acknowledges that a safe port is more than just one which does not have high number of lost time injuries. Mental health, fatigue, and workplace culture all influence risk. As automation and remote operations become more common, he warns that new pressures may emerge — from isolation in remote-control roles to new forms of fatigue. Addressing these issues with the same level of attention as physical hazards will be essential if ports are to maintain genuine all-round safety.

“We already see crane operators moved into offices where they operate cranes with joysticks. This means they are focused on a computer screen and could be using a joystick for four hours at a time. That’s going to bring in a lot of mental fatigue and strain, so we have to understand the new risks we are introducing.”

Martin believes that the current focus should be on data, as that is what drives technological change, and that PSS has a vital role to play in driving data gathering and analysis forward.

“With better data, we get better analysis, and the ability to identify trends across the sector. Then we can identify and implement tools which target those risks and genuinely reduce lost time injuries. That becomes a constant loop and gives us a safer tomorrow every day.

This takes the whole sector to get involved as it requires accurate and consistent data across the board. By aggregating information from across the industry, PSS can help ports focus resources where they will have the most impact and identify root cause trends that are harder to spot in isolation. With a nod to Bob Geldof’s famous Live Aid quote, Martin wants the whole sector to “Give us your data”.

Skills and competency are the key

Martin believes that, in the port of the future, the specific job titles will matter less than ensuring people have the right skills and competence for the tasks they perform. He points to the construction sector, where workers must present verified qualifications before entering a site, as an example the ports industry could learn from. At present, he argues, ports lack a culture of provable competence — whether that’s programming an autonomous vehicle or driving a forklift truck.

Alongside competency, Martin points to diversity, in its broadest terms, as the driver to making ports safer. By bringing in people from different backgrounds and with different experiences, ports can begin to challenge entrenched ways of doing things and avoid the trap of ‘we’ve always done it this way’.

“I think the phrase I hear the most when I asked why a certain operating is undertaken in a certain way is ‘well, we’ve always done this way’. And that’s absolutely no reason to be doing something. In fact, you’re probably leading me towards saying ‘we can definitely do this a better way’. People coming from more diverse backgrounds, whatever that background might be, are more likely to challenge these practices, than people who have all the same life experiences as people already in the workplace.

“I think the age profile of port workers is one of the most important areas where we need to diversify. A younger workforce is less likely to have entrenched ideas, be more open to new technology, and more open to change. When you haven’t had 50 years of lifting something in a certain way, it doesn’t seem as scary to change it.

In line with this ethos, for the Port of Blyth, apprenticeships are a key part of building capability and shaping a good culture from the outset. New recruits learn not just the technical skills of the job, but the values and behaviours that underpin safe working. Martin sees this as a long-term investment, developing the next generation of port professionals who will be both competent and confident in challenging unsafe practices.

Safer tomorrow, today

Whilst some changes may be further away, Martin does believe there are some operations that can and should be made safer now. One priority for him is removing stevedores from the holds of ships, wherever possible. By their very nature, ships’ holds have moving cargo in when being loaded or unloaded, so by putting people in the hold, we are placing them directly in the line of fire. Moving personnel to safer positions on the quayside can significantly reduce these risks. While he acknowledges that this may not be achievable in every scenario, he believes it is an achievable sector-wide ambition to make ports safer within the next five years.

Martin also wants the sector to be braver in adopting new technology. Understandable concerns about cost, reliability, or selecting the wrong system can lead to hesitation, but he argues that sharing the risks and lessons of innovation could help everyone move forward more quickly. Here again, he wants PSS to continue to play a central role, bringing ports and providers together to examine the art of the possible.

“Nobody wants to be the first adopter of expensive technology that potentially may not work. But if we are all brought together through PSS, we can work together to share the costs, share the expertise and share the risk, then the end result is then going to be something cheaper for everyone that is much more likely to work.

“We have to be bold, we have to accept that we will learn lessons along the way but we to move forward together because if we are not bold, we will keep doing the same things that we’ve always done, and keep seeing the same incidents and accidents that we have always done.”

His closing message is simple but direct: “Being free from ‘harm, danger or risk’ is not just about physical injury. We need to think more about mental health, the environment, time pressures, bullying and fatigue. They all play a role in improving workplace culture which is the key to becoming a safer port tomorrow.

“Physical health and mental health have a massive impact on injuries and incidents because if you’re tired or under stress, you’re going to lose focus. And the injury that might result will not be about your competency, or the equipment, or company processes. It will just be about your mental health at the time. Let’s make sure good mental health drives the port of tomorrow.”