Port Skills and Safety Ltd (PSS) has called on the UK Ports sector to improve the recording of data around near-misses and incidents.
The call intends to enable the sector to perform better data analysis and identify the root cause of such events in the future.
PSS has just completed a pilot data project to understand if AI could provide better root cause analysis of port data to gain broader insights into safety risks.
The project successfully understood the data but found that the quality of data routinely being collected by ports is not enough for in-depth analysis.
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Working with PSS member Comet; data, including first responder’s reports, investigations, and safety observations, was collected from five ports, and examined to understand where common root causes occurred across the sector.
Just over 33,000 records were uploaded as part of the pilot project; nearly 10,000 incident reports, 1,000 near-miss reports and the remaining records were classified as observations.
Container handling, vehicle operations (not mobile plant) and mechanical systems featured most regularly in the data; all three had shown improvements in safety between September 2022 and September 2023.
However, one of the main findings of the pilot was that in far too many cases, reports of incidents are very brief and only provide a limited amount of useful data.
PSS will be taking the results of this initial project forward by encouraging more ports to take part, and crucially, to retain more of the data that arises from observations, near misses and incidents, so that the true value of computer learning, data analysis, and artificial intelligence can be realised.
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“PSS has been promoting the recording of incident and near miss data for many years,” explained PSS CEO, Debbie Cavaldoro.
“But without the context of how that data can be used, it is difficult to fully understand what data should be recorded.
“If more detailed records are kept, including basic notes taken at the time of the incident, then ability of AI to identify root causes for near misses and observations, will allow the port sector to learn lessons much more effectively and address the root causes most likely to be the cause of incidents in the future.”
Earlier this year, RightShip announced a partnership with Napier Port to implement RightShip’s innovative RightPort risk solution at the New Zealand port.
