Port of Cromarty Firth achieves ‘gold standard’ trademark as it bids to be safest port in Britain for people to come to work.

The Port of Cromarty Firth has achieved a new ‘gold standard’ in international occupational health and safety that will help it maintain a world-class safety culture.

The Port gained the ISO:45001:2018 mark for Occupational H&S Management Systems, which provides a framework for the Port to enhance its health and safety programmes.

It is one of a series of certifications achieved by the Port over the past 12 months as it aims to fulfil its goal of being the safest port in Britain for people to come to work.

Under the ISO:45001 framework, both management and workers are involved in creating, maintaining and evaluating their processes. The standard also requires businesses to consider safety risks that impact “other interested parties”.

That is of particular value for the Port where, alongside its 38 staff, others work for independent companies operating on Port land who carry out projects such as major rig upgrades and bringing in vessels, who in some areas are covered by landlord’s responsibility.

Other certifications gained by the Port include Quality accreditation ISO:9001:2015 and environmental management accreditation ISO:14001-2015, plus industry recognition through Achilles Fpal – set up by the UK oil and gas industry in 1996 to help operators promote successful contract delivery.

The certifications stand alongside further investments in appropriate staff and training by the Port. It has boosted its health, safety, environment and quality (HSEQ) team from one to four people, and undergone a comprehensive spend on staff training, including oil spill response, manual handling, fire safety, risk assessment, first aid at work, legionella awareness, working at height and accident investigation.

This focus on health and safety proved its worth. Last year the Port recorded just one minor first aid incident last year among its workers, who worked 70,500 hours in total.

Bob Buskie, Chief Executive of the Port of Cromarty Firth, said it would continue to strive to make sure those working at the Port did so in the safest environment possible.

It also had set the bar very high with a target of “surpassing other Ports for our policies, procedures and expectations”.

He said: “Our aim is to be at the leading edge of operational health and safety and we’ll be continuing to invest to stay there.

“We want to ensure that our people not only have faith in the systems we have in place but also we want to make sure at the end of the day they go home safely.”