Despite the lack of fire safety regulation specific to the ports sector DP World London Gateway has successfully prepared itself to handle the various risks.
Since 2018 DP World London Gateway has partnered with Fire Shield Systems to ensure the ongoing, safe use of its site’s machinery and vehicles.
“Almost one million containers pass through our port each year,” said Neil Bellinger, workshop and mobile equipment manager, DP World London Gateway, “As a result, our schedules are tightly packed each day – there’s little room for any period of downtime.”
“Fire safety has always been a priority for us to ensure team and asset safety. Our ultimate goal is to continually, safely and successfully fulfil our programmes of imports and exports to keep trade moving.”
It has been noted that for some, fire safety can fall low on the long list of priorities for ports because of the lack of a standard or regulation.
“We have a large number of machinery assets which are crucial to our operations. Some of these, such as straddle carriers, are very expensive to replace, so safeguarding their continued use is essential. This is why it is our policy to ensure all assets are supplied with fire suppression systems as standard,” Bellinger added.
As part of the partnership Fire Shield Systems recommended the approved Dafo system to be used on all of the mobile equipment on site at London Gateway.
“Fire Shield Systems continues to visit our site regularly to monitor our mobile suppression systems and carry out any necessary maintenance to ensure they remain effective and operate as they’re designed to, should an emergency occur,” added Bellinger.
“It’s been a real pleasure to work onsite at DP World London Gateway,” said James Mountain, Director, Fire Shield Systems, “Our work with them is part of our continued effort to raise safety standards across the port industry.”
DP World London Gateway is the third largest container port in the UK, handling container traffic, loading and unloading ships and transferring cargo to lorries or trains for onward transportation.
