Safety Alert: Empty Container Dislodgement

 

 

What happened:

In January 2024, Storm Isha brought severe gale force winds of over 120km/h to the Dublin area.
The winds blew an empty 45ft container stacked near the perimeter fence from its position and it toppled down the tiers of the stack and landing partially on the fence.
Following this, a second 45ft container toppled down the stack, over the first container and coming to rest on a public roadway outside the Terminal (image 1 and 2). A further stack of containers toppled within the Terminal – two of these cleared the internal fence and came to rest on the Terminal Exit.
No one was injured in the incident – damage was sustained to the terminal perimeter fence and a local authority lamp post.

Key findings:

• The severe gale force winds of over 120 km/h impacted the stacking area, resulting in empty containers toppling.
• Container Stacking Guidelines of no more than ‘one high / 6 metres from the boundary’ was followed correctly.
• The sequence and position in which the containers toppled led to the second container clearing the fence.
• A review following the event revealed several stacked containers were noted not to be fully aligned ‘casting to casting’.

Subsequent Actions:
• Peel Ports separation distance has now been increased by 40% and perimeter tier stacking configuration switched to 1-1-2-3-4-5. (Image 3).
• A routine document check by terminal supervisors was introduced, to ensure compliance with boundary stacking rules, as well as confirming stacked containers are fully aligned.

Considerations for members:
• Members carrying out container operations may wish to consider the following actions:
• Review associated risk assessments and safe systems of work to ensure that the hazards associated with high winds are considered.
• Review separation distances in container storage areas to confirm they are appropriate.
• Implement routine, documented reviews of stacks (not just prior to adverse weather) to ensure containers are fully aligned.

FOR THE FULL REPORT, CLICK HERE

ICHCA International is committed to helping industry to learn lessons fast, learn them once and make sure that they stay learnt. This information is intended to provide all organisations in the cargo supply chain with the opportunity to consider the events and to review and adapt their own health and safety control measures to proactively prevent future incidents.

We are grateful to the for Port Skills & Safety and Peel Ports for providing details and for raising awareness. We acknowledge their commitment to sharing learning to benefit others. If you have similar operations, please share this information with managers, operatives and any potentially affected third parties as appropriate. Please also review any of your relevant operations for similar hazardous conditions, risks, and controls. Learning content like this is highly valuable as it is based on real-world experience. We encourage everyone with publishable information about incidents to send it to us, so that we can raise awareness across the whole industry. Please contact us at secretariat@ichca.com; sharing your insight could save a life or prevent injury.