Port Industry Incident Statistics 2023

Overall performance

The annual analysis of port industry incidents highlights that safety performance in 2023 has improved compared to 2022.

Fatalities

PSS is aware that a fatality occurred in July 2023; while unloading a bulk carrier a person not directly employed by a port operator was fatally wounded and died at the scene. This is noted in the report, but was not recorded on the dashboard as the port operator was not a PSS member at the time of the incident.

Lost time injuries and incidents reported under RIDDOR

The number of lost time injuries (LTI) reported in 2023 has reduced by 19% on the 2022 figure. there were 193 lost time injuries, resulting in a total of 2,076 lost working days. The reduction in total LTIs and an increase in average headcount has driven a corresponding reduction in lost time injury rate (LTIR) per 100 workers and the lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR) per million working hours. The LTIR has improved significantly; down 34% to 1.05, with the LTIFR reducing 28% to 5.41.

RIDDOR reported incidents were 16% higher in 2023 (106 incidents) compared with 2022 (91), this follows an increase in 2022 from 2021 figures. Additionally, RIDDOR reported incidents were 11 per cent higher in 2022 compared to 2021. This increase is likely to be due to the increase in total contributing members and headcount, because the historical metric of total RIDDOR incidents per 100 workers showed a 5% reduction in 2023 (0.58) from 2022 (0.61).

The details of RIDDOR incidents reported in 2023 are:

• 85 over 7-day injuries.
• 21 specified injuries.
• one occupational illness (hand arm vibration syndrome: HAVS).
• 10 dangerous occurrences. These included failures of lifting equipment, dropped lifting equipment, overturned container and others.

Immediate causes

The report finds that the top immediate causes of reported LTIs in 2023 were similar to previous years and included slipping, tripping, and falling on the same level; being hit by moving, flying or falling objects; and being caught between objects (e.g. nips of fingers / hands).

Incident locations

The trend for top incident locations is similar to 2022 with berth/quay alongside vessel and container ships top of the list. Other location, roadway/parking area with public access and open storage areas complete the top five list for 2023.

“The statistics show us that slips, trips and falls on the same level are responsible for the majority of lost time injuries, and this has also been the case in previous years. PSS is prioritising the review of related Safety in Port guidance to endure they are fit for purpose. Our increased focus on data, particularly what we can learn from investigations, is intended to help the sector address the trend and we are calling on all operators in the sector to engage with us, contributing data to help address this trend.”

Jen Maddison, Health, Safety & Culture Lead, PSS

The full Port industry incident statistics report for 2023 is available to download below.

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.