Safety concerns in the global container industry

On 26 April 1956, a crane lifted 58 aluminium truck bodies aboard an aging tanker ship moored in New Jersey. Five days later, the boat sailed into Houston, where 58 trucks waited to take on the metal boxes and haul them to their destinations. Such was the beginning of a revolution.

From these modest beginnings, the concept developed by Malcolm McLean has developed into a huge international industry that powers global trade. Fifty-four years later, the 24′ long aluminium truck bodies have evolved into 20, 40- and 45′ long international freight containers, capable of carrying nearly 30 tonnes of cargo and supporting up to nine similarly loaded containers.

The container shipping market currently represents about 16% of the world’s goods loaded in tonnes and the use of containers continues to grow. The majority of these containers are from established shippers with sophisticated dispatch facilities, who understand the stresses and forces to which containers are subjected throughout the supply chain.

However, there is also evidence that many accidents in the sector are attributed to poor practices in relation to packing of containers, including overloading. As such, the International Labour Organization (ILO) is trying to find a common approach throughout the supply chain to ensure the application of appropriate standards for packing containers.

“If you think any fool can stuff a container, think again,” says Marios Meletiou, the ILO’s Senior Ports and Transports Specialist. “One-in-six container journeys results in damaged cargo. Many incidents are caused, or made worse, by bad packing. Losses exceed $5 billion a year, according to the United Kingdom P&I Club, one of the oldest protection and indemnity insurers worldwide.

“This has caused major concern particularly because the victims of accidents attributed to poor practices in packing containers can be the general public, transport workers or their employers, who have no control over the packing of containers.”

The report stresses the need to find ways to capture the often ‘remote players’ in the industry and ensure that they fully abide with good practice guidelines. It also warns that many organisations involved in packing containers may not fully understand the need for the effective loading and securing of cargoes. In a number of cases in which cargoes have moved, there is evidence to suggest that the packers who stuffed the containers did not appreciate to what extent containers can move and how forces change as they proceed along the supply chain.

“For a better understanding of the forces, packers should be invited to participate in interactive training programs that are readily accessible and appropriate,” explains Meletiou. “It would also be relevant to examine whether there is a need for accredited certification to demonstrate a candidate’s successful completion of the course.”

An example for such a training program is the ILO Portworker Development Program (PDP) which includes two specific training units on packing containers.

The development of packing and good practice guidelines and an accompanying training program will only be successful if packing organisations and others implement the recommendations. The ILO Forum will therefore also consider the means by which they are disseminated: voluntarily good practice guidelines or the enactment of specific legislation, which would require packing organisations to comply with it.

“The ILO report shows that there are a multitude of stakeholders in the various sectors involved in the supply chain,” concludes Alette van Leur, Director of the ILO’s Sectoral Activities Department. “An analysis of these findings demonstrates that the stowage and securing of goods, the establishment of responsibilities and implementation of rules, regulations and best practice, as well as the interlinking of all the players in the supply chain and communication (or lack thereof), will all have an impact on safety in the industry.”