Posted By garyh HSE books publishes Managing health and safety in dockwork HSG 177 also Safety in docks COP 25. Not sure which is best - they used to publish a thing called (as I remember) "safe working on docks and harbours" or similar. Last time I looked at this (5 years ago) there was no general reccomendation for handrails or edge protection! A big issue is that if you are dealing with ships people can fall onto the deck or into the water - although fall prevention is obviously key you need to look at this. Hope this helps.

Posted By Jeffrey Watt Kev You need safety in inland waterways and Safety on british beaches both by RoSPA. One of which is free to download from their site (I think) Best of luck Jeff

Posted By steven bentham Hi Kev We faced this problem several years ago on the Isle of Man (following a double fatality- car/into harbour). If you travel around the UK you will see many areas where the exact same accident can happen. Obviously risk assessments have not identified this and the regulators seem to have let it go. We identified areas where edge protection would prevent cars going over, fitted edge protection and painted them white. This also seems to have worked in harbours that are leisure, fishing, working harbours. (This can bring conflicts between people who work at the edge and people who stand and view the edge!!) The UK Docks Regs recommends fence or edge protection at changes of directions; this is perhaps less successful as you have a long area unprotected and then a chain link fence at the change of direction. The change in direction often is the cause of persons on foot falling down unguarded steps. Where we have a large 'street' population but no fishing or boat owners this can of course be fenced fully. You can search Isle of Man Harbours for photographs or contact me direct if you want further details or hop over and I'll show you round. Regards Steve