Hi all,

I will be overseeing a fabrication project that is to be carried out at the Quayside harbour in the next few weeks. We have completed most of the fabrication (welding etc) at our warehouse, however it is to be transported next week to the harbour for final prep before completion.

As i have never worked on a quayside before apart from my offshore training, i wanted to ask the good community if there is anything i should be looking at specifically that i may not have thought off.

The mainstay of the work being carried out will be welding, grinding and crane operations.

I have risk assessments in place for all the general work, work procedures and training has bee carried out to ensure all staff members know what to do when the crane is on site, and have qualiofied banksmen on site too.

I have a toolbox talk planned to cover the basics of quayside hazards, specifically working near water, no go area, no working alone, and procedure if emergency occurs 9 i am conferring with harbour master ATM about this).

However i wondered if anyone with experience in such operations could give me some advice about anything i have probably missed and would need to have covered.

The work being done is nothing new, the staff are aware of their jobs and are well expereinced, and have worked offsite before, the pnly main difference is they are working within about 10-15m of the water so obviously it has specific hazards of its own.

Many thanks all.

Just doing belt and braces and covering all i can. :)

Depends what type of Quay you are working on.
If you can segregate your worksite with fencing keeping a barrier 1 to 2 metres from quay edge would be a help.
If ships going to be coming alongside you will have springs (wires securing ship to quay), people embarking/leaving, accommodation ladder, ship working.
Quay may be shared with other fixed or travelling cranes either railed or rubber tyred. Our quay cranes operated off 11KV cables that ran in a gulley alongside the rails. Gulley covered by heavy duty rubber flap
You may have HGV's delivering/picking up 24/7.
Quay itself may have poor surface with oil/grease spilled from other equipment.
I presume there will be a meeting between yourself & the dock H&S to discuss your work at which you will find out any problems, your induction programme and what security arrangements if any, are required for your personnel as the quay may come under the ISPS code

You should also familiarise yourself with the Port Marine Safety Code and the Guide To Good Practice on Port Marine Operations, both a freely downloadable and a quick Google search should find them.

A lot relates to things like pilotage and navigation systems but there are sections on hot works and quayside operations. Also, if you somehow manage to sink a ship or damage it, the MAIB will be involved.

Go to the HSE web site and enter docks in their search thingy-bob. Loads of good gen on all hazards inc. hot work (DIS06).

Also the Safety in docks, Docks Regulations 1988 and Guidance, Approved Code of Practice. (COP 25 from the HSE) is worth a read.