The ITF Seafarers’ Trust (ITFST) today marked the official launch of its new OSH Ports occupational safety and health app and online training course. Written by industry experts, with contributions from ITF Dockers’ unions and the International Labour Organization’s International Training Centre (ILO-ITC), the free OSH Ports course covers the fundamentals of occupational safety and health specific to the ports sector. The course has been launched through unions across the Middle East and is currently available in Arabic and English, with plans to launch the course in other languages in the future.
The course introduces the fundamentals of occupational safety and health specific to the ports sector, including an overview of regulation, how and why things go wrong, identifying hazards and risks, managing risk and how to contribute to accident investigations. In response to the huge impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on all workplaces, the course additionally includes information on safe working during the pandemic.
The course is completely free of charge and on completion participants can take an assessment within the app or website and receive an official certificate of course completion supported by the ILO-ITC.
Paddy Crumlin, ITFST trustee, ITF President and Chair of the ITF Dockers’ Section said “Dockworker welfare is a collective issue. Regulation and employers have got to address the hazards to workers in ports, but dockers need training in how to keep themselves safe and contribute to everyone’s safety. They need to know they can speak up about workplace risks or accidents. A port can be a dangerous place, but it’s our workplace. It’s our collective workplace. Let’s make it safe.”
Seddik Berrama, Chair of the ITF Arab World regional committee said “This project came about because of the concerns of dockers’ unions in the Arab World over excessive numbers of accidents in the region’s ports. We have to be proactive in addressing these issues therefore we are very pleased to promote this course, which will help ensure every docker goes home safe every night.”
More information can be found on the course website: https://www.oshports.org/
