AN APPROVED Code of Practice (ACOP) for loading and unloading cargo at ports and on ships has come into effect in New Zealand.
From today (29 November) all commercial ports throughout the country have the new code to follow. It replaces all existing industry codes of practice related to stevedoring.
The ACOP is one of six interventions suggested last year as part of a safety plan for ports in NZ. The goal of an approved code was to establish more consistent regulatory standards around high-risk port activities to reduce harm.
The ACOP has now been signed by minister for workplace relations and safety Brooke van Velden and associate minister for transport Matt Doocey.
The Port Health and Safety Leadership Group, which developed the initial safety plan, is made up of ports and stevedoring companies, the Port Industry Association, unions and Maritime NZ.
“A criticism of the current health and safety system from several industries’ leaders has been that it does not have the regulations, approved codes of practice and guidance to support businesses to understand what they need to do to comply with the law,” the leadership group said.
Maritime NZ director Kirstie Hewlett said the ACOP provides assurance and clarity under the Health and Safety at Work Act. If a business can show what they have done is equivalent to or better than the requirements in the ACOP, then they are likely to be meeting the test of what is reasonably practicable under HSWA, she said.
Maritime NZ will take the ACOP into account when undertaking inspections, assessments and investigations and when deciding the appropriate enforcement action. Courts may also take the ACOP into account in their deliberations.
The national president of the Rail and Maritime Transport Union, Aubrey Wilkinson, said the focus is on loading and unloading ships because that is the most dangerous activity on ports – it is when most incidents and injuries happen.
Port Industry Association chair, Pat Kirk said development of the ACOP has been strongly supported by the port sector. He said involved a large amount of work and effort from the sector, there is collective buy-in of the sector to it, and it will make a significant impact on the health and safety on ports.
The ACOP took only 15 months to develop and reach agreement on. In addition, many businesses on ports are already considering how to implement and integrate it into their health and safety systems and processes, and some are already implementing it.
“We would like to thank all the industry and WorkSafe subject matter experts who gave their time to the development of the ACOP,” the leadership group said.
“Alongside the ACOP, the Leadership Group are working on further guidance, case studies, and educative tools and training to support implementation of the ACOP.”
