Docks, terminals and yards, UK wide
Ports and Marine Health and Safety
A working port puts heavy lifting, moving plant, work at height and open water within a few metres of each other, often at night in weather nobody would choose. AL23 Safety provides risk assessment, safe system design and audit support to harbour authorities, terminal operators, stevedores and marine facilities across the UK.
Why it matters in ports and marine operations
The risks are real and so are the duties
HSE recorded 126 worker deaths in 2025/26. Falls from height accounted for 31 of those, close to a quarter. In a terminal that means container tops, trailer beds and quay edges.
Two regimes run in parallel and neither excuses the other. Marine operations answer to the Ports and marine facilities safety code, published by the Department for Transport on 15 April 2025. Land side work answers to HSE, whose sector standard is the Approved Code of Practice L148 Safety in docks. Fee for Intervention runs at £188 per hour where an inspector records a material breach.
The main risks
Where the harm comes from
Workplace transport
Straddle carriers and terminal tractors share ground with pedestrians and lashing gangs, with poor sight lines from the cab.
Falls from height and into water
Container tops, trailer decks and quay edges produce the falls. Water adds a rescue problem a harness does not answer.
Lifting operations
Cranes, reach stackers, spreaders and accessories fail in ways that put a suspended load over people.
Confined spaces
Holds, tanks and void spaces carry oxygen deficiency, residual cargo vapour and inerting gas.
Fumigated containers
Units treated with methyl bromide or phosphine are still opened without gas testing.
Weather and isolation
Wind, cold and darkness degrade performance on the quay. Much of the work is done alone or out of sight.
The regulations that apply
Your legal framework, in plain terms
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 set the baseline. Dock work is addressed in detail by the Approved Code of Practice L148 Safety in docks, which replaced the approach of the Docks Regulations 1988. Lifting sits under the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998, with the machinery under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. Entry into holds and tanks engages the Confined Spaces Regulations 1997 and work on containers and vessels engages the Work at Height Regulations 2005. Dangerous cargo engages the Dangerous Goods in Harbour Areas Regulations 2016 alongside the IMDG Code.
Thorough examination intervals under LOLER are fixed. Equipment that lifts people and all lifting accessories such as slings, shackles and chains go at least every six months. Other lifting equipment goes at least every 12 months. Either can be replaced by a written examination scheme from a competent person, which is normally the route for a ship to shore crane. Crane operations are planned to BS 7121 by an appointed person.
The marine side has a different character. The Ports and marine facilities safety code, retitled from the Port Marine Safety Code and reissued on 15 April 2025, applies to all harbour authorities and to other marine facilities, berths and terminals in the UK. The board is the duty holder. A Designated Person gives independent assurance directly to that duty holder. Formal risk assessment feeds a marine safety management system and compliance is declared every three years through the Department for Transport exercise. One honest caveat. The gov.uk record of the 2025 reissue notes the new title and an updated version without itemising what changed. A comparison against your existing system is worth doing.
Fire safety in ports and terminals
Shared estates where co-operation is the weak point
A port is a multi occupier estate, which makes the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 harder than it looks. Each employer is a responsible person for the area it occupies and the authority or landlord holds common parts and structure. Article 22 imposes a duty to co-operate and co-ordinate. Section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022, in force from 1 October 2023, requires every responsible person to record the fire risk assessment in full, record the arrangements, identify the other responsible persons on site and exchange information with them. On a tenanted terminal estate that identification duty is commonly unmet.
The technical content is port specific. Transit sheds hold high and variable fire loads. Bulk handling of grain or coal creates combustible dust that falls under DSEAR as well as fire law. Dangerous goods areas need segregation consistent with the 2016 harbour areas regulations. AL23 Safety provides BAFE SP205 third-party certified fire risk assessments, independently certificated by SSAIB.
How we help
Built around your operation
We start with what moves and what lifts, then work outwards to the systems meant to control them. Storage and racking inside terminal warehouses follows the warehousing regime and we handle that separately.
- Traffic management review across quay, yard and gate. Our workplace transport safety work covers routes, crossings, visibility aids and reversing controls.
- Lifting equipment registers and examination scheme design so nothing runs past its date. See machinery safety, PUWER and LOLER for how we hold the regime together.
- Confined space registers and entry procedures for holds, tanks and void spaces, with rescue arrangements tested rather than assumed. Our confined space safety page sets out the method we use.
- Work at height review for container tops, trailer decks and quay edges, applying the regulation 6 hierarchy of avoid, prevent then minimise.
- Falls into water arrangements, covering edge protection, lifejacket policy, ladders and a rescue plan that names who does what.
- Fumigated container procedure, covering documentation checks, gas testing and ventilation before anyone opens a treated unit.
- Lone working and adverse weather arrangements, covering check in and escalation, stand down triggers and how everyone is accounted for.
- Marine safety management system review, covering the Designated Person interface, the safety plan and the triennial declaration.
Why AL23 Safety
Sector-aware support that gets used
Accountable
When something is non-compliant, we say so clearly and set out the fix. A crane running without a current thorough examination report is reported as such.
One team, three disciplines
Health and safety, fire safety and fire engineering, all in-house. A transit shed gets one visit, not three.
Practical, not just compliant
We write procedures a lashing gang will follow at three in the morning in the rain.
Nationwide
We support ports, terminals and marine facilities across the UK.
Get in touch
A quay is a poor place to run a paper exercise
Tell us what you operate and we will tell you what we would look at first. Call +44 161 399 2523 or email info@al23safety.com.
Common questions
Answers, up front
Cannot see your question? Get in touch and we will answer it directly.
Contact usYes if you operate a marine facility, berth or terminal. The code was retitled from the Port Marine Safety Code and reissued on 15 April 2025 and it applies UK wide. It expects board level duty holder accountability, a Designated Person, formal risk assessment, a marine safety management system and a declaration every three years.
Lifting equipment that does not lift people is thoroughly examined at least every 12 months. Equipment that lifts people and all lifting accessories go at least every six months. Either can be replaced by a written examination scheme from a competent person. Examination is not maintenance and does not replace daily checks under PUWER.
HSE enforces land side work at port and dock premises. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency deals with vessel side work. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch investigates marine accidents. Boundary questions between ship and shore are worth agreeing in writing before an incident.
Cost is driven by the size of the estate, the number of berths and yards, the equipment fleet and whether marine safety management system work is included. A single terminal review is usually two to three days on site plus reporting. A multi berth authority is a programme.
Related services