Port Industry Incident Statistics 2020

CV-19 pandemic

No other year challenged the mandate of PSS as much as 2020.  For the sector’s essential workers, quay-side health and safety shifted focus towards social distancing, masks, and sanitisation. Commissioned to give an accurate picture of health and safety standards within the UK port industry; the accident statistics report for 2020 was a reaffirmation of PSS commitment to data sharing and communication regardless of exterior forces.

Industry performance summary

The data coverage in the 2020 Accident Statistics Report was approximately 85% of the PSS member workforce (Approximately 16,500+ employees across the UK) and includes calculations and category breakdowns such as UK incidence rates per hundred employees in the ports workforce. The results indicated that lost time injuries (LTIs) across ports have decreased in general, however an uptrend in LTIs has been observed in the specific areas of ships and roadways. Despite this, PSS is cautiously optimistic about a descent from the accident plateau that has been witnessed in recent years. It is not possible to attribute any one particular cause to this decrease in incidents, given the extraordinary circumstances of last year, however it does fall in line with many of the PSS initiatives to drive down accidents through 2019 and 2020.

Overall, the port industry continues to make progress, which is welcome news after eighteen months of bleak predictions. However, as always, the sector must not to become complacent but maintain momentum and proactively work to improve health and safety. PSS strongly encourages all members to take the time to view the report, use the data to identify potential areas of concern, and use the published resources to address those areas.

Recommendations from the report

• Identify the locations and types of accidents most likely to happen in your port operation
• Identify and target your ‘Hierarchy of Risk’ actions based on this unique information.
• Consider participating in the PSS incident data collection for a more rapid incident information and benchmarking experience.

The full Port Industry Accident Statistics Report for 2020 is available to download below

Provision of data by members

All PSS members are encouraged to participate in the incident reporting process to ensure that the statistics are as accurate as possible and allow for more advanced data analysis. Members who do not currently contribute and wish to start should contact us for further information.