TT Club's Risk Assessment Director, Laurence Jones, talks about mitigating the risk of human error in claims.

Biggest Cause of Claims in the Cargo Handling Industry

Well, I could highlight specific issues like fire, theft or vehicle equipment accidents, however, they all have one thing in common. The human element or human error. About 95% of all TT Club claims are human error. Better training can minimize mistakes, however, we’re all human and we all make mistakes no matter how much training we have.

Mitigating Human Errors

TT Club looks at five basic loss prevention options or a combination of these options to help our members mitigate accidents. We can have better training, changing the procedures or systems they use, providing technology as a backup to the operator. Full automation. We have sites that are fully automated in the yard and we see very few accidents, if any. The other thing we could do is actually eliminate the task altogether.

One simple example is just changing from two-way traffic flows to one way traffic flows within a terminal. This can dramatically reduce vehicle collisions and in most cases will also improve productivity.

Key Innovations and Technologies Important in Improving Safety in the Cargo Handling Industry

There are many innovations and technology already available to help improve safety today. The issue is making industry realize that it pays to be safe. I was at a conference a few years ago where the operations director of a global terminal operator said their most productive and efficient terminals were also their safest terminals. Now there should be no reason why the health and safety of people and the environment does not come first.

Key Innovation in Helping to Minimize Human Errors

Full automation is the key to minimizing accidents, however, there are many technologies that can help without the cost of full automation. Key Crane boom to ship anti-collision systems is a good example of technology to help prevent the crane driver accidentally hitting the ship.

One terminal had a collision that caused $2 million worth of damage and the crane was out of action for six months. There was also $6 million worth of business interruption. Now, this type of accident is totally preventable with an electronic boom anti-collision sensor system, which costs about $15,000 to $20,000 per crane, but it’s well worth the investment.

The common boom anti-collision system using a tripwire just does not work. The electronic system is proven, and to help TT Club members, we have negotiated a 10% discount on all sensors. Also, if the system is installed by an authorized installer, TT Club will consider offering an improvement in the terms of insurance.

I’m sure if you do a risk assessment, it will no doubt show that electronic boom anti-collision systems are a sensible investment. Contact your broker and underwriter for more information.