Incatep highlights the need to expand port training to reduce accidents and increase safety in cargo handling, after an accident at a port in Jordan

After the accident during a cargo handling operation at the Port of Aqaba, in Jordan, the executive director of Incatep highlighted the need for more port training in the scenario to guarantee more safety and avoid accidents.

This Monday (25/07), the scenario for the port segment is focused on the issue of port training in cargo handling operations, after the accident in Jordan, which caused the death of 13 people. Thus, the Port Technical Qualification and Training Institute (Incatep) highlighted the need for investments in this training to reduce the possibility of accidents and increase safety in Brazilian and international ports.

Accident at the Port of Aqaba, in Jordan, opens debate on the need for port training to ensure more safety in cargo handling

A few weeks ago, an accident occurred at the Port of Aqaba, located in the country of Jordan, which caused the death of 13 people and left 251 injured after the fall and explosion of a container during a cargo handling operation.

The vessel would carry almost 20 containers of liquefied gas containing a very high percentage of chlorine, adding that the product was heavy and difficult to transport, and the accident ended up causing an unstable and dangerous scenario in the complex. 

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The container fell due to the breakage of the steel cables of the crane that carried out the container lifting and loading operation, configuring a technical failure. However, according to Incatep, the operator could have foreseen or even avoided that happening, if it had a better quality in port training for cargo handling.

In this way, the international port scene opened its eyes to the need for more security and training to avoid accidents of this type. 

Thus, carrying out port training for those responsible for operations with stowage materials, handling loading and unloading, including dangerous cargo, becomes increasingly necessary in the midst of accidents of this type.

In this scenario, it is not enough just to professionalize the operator in terms of the technical part of handling cargo in ports, but to make him even more qualified to avoid accidents and ensure his safety and that of others on site. 

Incatep developed a port training platform and aims to ensure more safety and avoid accidents in cargo handling operations

Seeing the need for more port training to ensure more safety in cargo handling operations, Incatep developed a VLE platform (Virtual Learning Environment), specifically for port activity, revealing the main dangers in everyday life.

In addition, the tool has tools used synchronously to ensure more operator participation in port training, and asynchronous tools to ensure access to information. 

In this way, João Gilberto Campos, executive director of Incatep and specialist in safety at work in port terminals and taking a master's degree in mechanical engineering, commented on what happened in Jordan and highlighted some points about accidents in cargo handling.

He stated that the operator could guarantee safety and avoid what happened if he performed the inspection procedures for the stowage material, described in the PREPOM syllabus, ABNT standards and Nr.29.

Therefore, the simple port training of the worker could have prevented the event and, in addition, ensured more safety in future operations, to reduce the risk of accidents. 

Incatep, certified by ISO 9001:2015 and accredited by the Maritime Authority of Brazil, works together with the national port sector to guarantee the port training of workers and seeks more visibility for the issue of safety in cargo handling, one of the main pillars for that it is carried out efficiently in the complexes.