New Year Message from ICHCA’s CEO

 

Success in 2023

ICHCA members came together once again in 2023 to deliver improvements in safety and health across cargo handling. With partners we launched a Lithium battery safety paper, improving risk-based knowledge in an area that has been high on industry’s agenda and is likely to continue to be in the coming year. In February we held the TT Club Innovation in Safety Awards as a live in-person ceremony for the first time since lockdown and published a 60 page digest of the incredible creative safety ideas being delivered throughout our industry. Any organisation could look at the digest and see something to inspire their next game changing idea.

We continued our monthly Technical Panel Calls; an open forum where you decide what we discuss, ensuring that we explore topics of importance to you.
A brand new benefit to members was the introduction of free delegate places at Transport Events international conferences (delegate tickets typically €1795). We also secured similar access to Port Technology International events. Our new website events calendar gave members a one-stop shop to find the many activities we were involved in during 2023.
Building effective industry partnerships to extend our impact and reach is a key strategic goal for ICHCA. In 2023 we established a collective MOU and work package with a group of several organisations each with visions for global trade safety and security. We were also delighted to formally re-establish our MOU with PEMA in 2023 and to work with LEEA on ‘Global Lifting Awareness Day’.

We continued our monthly Technical Panel Calls; an open forum where you decide what we discuss, ensuring that we explore topics of importance to you.
A brand new benefit to members was the introduction of free delegate places at Transport Events international conferences (delegate tickets typically €1795). We also secured similar access to Port Technology International events. Our new website events calendar gave members a one-stop shop to find the many activities we were involved in during 2023.
Building effective industry partnerships to extend our impact and reach is a key strategic goal for ICHCA. In 2023 we established a collective MOU and work package with a group of several organisations each with visions for global trade safety and security. We were also delighted to formally re-establish our MOU with PEMA in 2023 and to work with LEEA on ‘Global Lifting Awareness Day’.

We firmly established the Innovation in Safety Award as a year-round cycle. June 2023 saw an enhanced Safety Village at TOC Europe, featuring five exhibitors, and over 20 speakers including innovators from Awards past and present.
It was an intensive IMO year with two weeks of editorial and technical meetings for the IMDG Code, the Maritime Safety Committee and an extended CCC9 meeting. ICHCA was once again present and fully active. Additionally, we joined the IMO special correspondence group on safe transport of vehicles, which reported and has been renewed by IMO for further work in 2024.

As part of several stakeholder groups, we continued what will be a longer-term journey to identify new requirements for control of invasive pest contamination, including representation at the second international conference in Australia in the summer and contributing to revised draft container cleanliness industry guidelines.
Our Safety Alerts delivered over 34 important learning points to members who also saw over a dozen member enquiries handled. Our digest format newsletter ‘ICHCA Insights’ regularly delivered to your in-box every month. We were guest speakers at over half a dozen events including being invited to speak at the prestigious Tokyo Seminar as well as hosting our own world class webinars on Safety Innovation and on Port/Terminal safety.
We continued work under the UNECE aimed at updating the CTU Code with Cargo Integrity Group partners and did preliminary work on a packer’s app to reduce instances of unsafe container packing.
More of you joined the Technical Panel, the engine that drives ICHCA’s technical expertise and credibility.
We took on major new workstreams in 2023 and developed an international standard for vessel inspection best practice to protect all involved in loading / discharge. This project will begin its port trials in 2024 for release later in the year.
We also began developing basic safety rules for managers, port workers, visiting drivers and crew as well as commencing work on a hidden dangerous goods video along with a separate project guide to dangerous goods for port workers.

 

Our high consequence risk research and database now documents over 1380 severe cargo workplace incidents from around the world since 2000. From this we can robustly evidence that crush by cargo, struck by handling vehicles, falls from height and confined spaces are the top four severe outcome risks to port personnel and we will continue to drive our work hard in these areas.
Our plan to create on-line learning content based on our publications – an ‘ICHCA Academy’ – continued apace.
To keep all of this work ‘on point’ our – member driven – Technical Panel Steering Group continued to set the direction and programme of work for ICHCA and its project teams such as the Dangerous Good working group. The DG group delivered on Ammonium Nitrate safety with our amendment expected to be reflected in the 42-24 edition of the IMDG Code.

Ambitious for ICHCA’s future… into 2024!

In addition to again benefitting from all the value-add member services that we delivered to you in 2023, you will see new works as well as conclusions of projects that started this year. We will publish communal industry basic safety rules, the vessel inspection standard and various dangerous goods guidance. We will continue joint projects with partner organisations addressing topics such as battery fire safety and slinging operations.
The Dangerous Goods Group will continue to work on new guidance on stacking of dangerous goods containers in tanks in terminals, temperature controlled storage of organic peroxides and dangerous goods in ports including training and emergency response. We will develop a video on hidden dangerous goods and host campaigns on confined spaces including work on updating 2011 IMO resolution A.1050(27); workplace transport and safety of lashing bridges.

Our database of severe consequence incidents from across the globe will be turned into a dashboard for members to draw down learning and provide the evidence-led focus for our communication and delivery.
With your help these are just some of the delivery areas that we will work on in 2024. Others will of course emerge throughout this and future years. Every day I am excited about what we can achieve together as the ICHCA community. There is the opportunity, will and capability to transform cargo handling and coordination to make what we do safer, healthier and smarter. Every single member of ICHCA is important to achieving that goal. I hope that you will continue to support our shared mission and renew your membership for 2024 and look forward to the opportunity of working with you to keep changing the world.

Richard Steele
Chief Executive Officer
ICHCA International