Bosses at Aberdeen Harbour Board (AHB) are celebrating external recognition of the port’s record on health and safety.
Aberdeen harbour, which is said to be the oldest existing business in the UK, recently announced a 50% drop in reportable health and safety incidents during last year.
It has now ticked all the boxes for an international benchmark, the ISO 45001-2018 standard, following a “rigorous” auditing and inspection process.
Yesterday, AHB chief executive Michelle Handforth said: “Reaching this international benchmark for occupational health and safety is a huge achievement … and bolsters our resolve to be one the of the safest ports in the UK.
“I would like to recognise the efforts of the harbour’s compliance department, who worked with our 98 employees to ensure we have all the required processes, considerations and controls in place.
“We are very proud of our further reduction in safety incidents over the last 12 months, and I would like to thank all of our port users for their diligent work in this respect.”
She added: “Our port safety group involves representatives from 30 different port-related businesses.
“As we look to the opening of South Harbour in 2020, we will ensure this group’s agenda stays relevant to the many health and safety issues facing ports around the country.
“Our lifeblood is our customer base, whilst our employees remain at the heart of our organisation.
“It is vital, therefore, that we continually set our sights on improved health and safety practices, and mitigate issues for the benefit of our employees, port users, and the wider UK port industry.”