Over the last few years, we have seen several fatalities on the vehicle decks, many of which could have been avoided.

As such, at the beginning of 2020 the UK Chamber published Guidelines to Shipping Companies on Vehicle Deck Safety (VDS) to support companies. Given the continued reports of safety incidents, the UK Chamber refreshed its output of the VDS Working Group. The group regularly meet to review and monitor new initiatives with the intention of publishing practical examples for improved Vehicle Deck Safety.  

Out of this collaboration, the group has produced “The 10 Golden Rules of Vehicle Deck Safety”. The 10 Golden Rules is a toolbox of safe behaviours which people working on vehicle decks should take to work with them from the start of their shift until the end of their shift.

They focus on the Human Element Factors which reinforces safe behaviours to avoid incident or injury if they apply the rules correctly.

In order to encourage safe implementation of the poster, in early 2022 a pocketbook guide will be launched to accompany the poster and elaborate on each of the ten rules.

Chamber members P&O, Condor, DFDS, Red Funnel, Irish Ferries, Stena Line, Seatruck, Northlink, Lloyds Register as well as Port Skills and Safety members have collaborated on this project, so that the work streams in VDS are fully aligned to drive consistency between deck and land, and to avoid any ambiguity across industry.

We hope that this will be a positive step in improving safety on vehicle decks and most importantly, ensure that crew return home from work to their families.

For any queries regarding Vehicle Deck Safety please contact Mel or Tim. (mwhite@ukchamberofshipping.com and tspringett@ukchamberofshipping.com)

 10 GOLDEN RULES FOR VEHICLE DECK WORKERS