ICHCA International, the global cargo handling association, launched the 2022 TT Club Innovation in Safety Award today inviting entrants to submit details of their innovations by 11 November 2022. The Award, which is open to an individual, team or company involved in cargo logistics, has seen the prestige associated with winning or being highly commended, grow year-on-year. Past winners have ranged from individual entrepreneurs and specialist suppliers to employee teams in major industry businesses. Entrants are required to show that a product, idea, solution, process, scheme or other innovation has resulted in a demonstrable improvement in safety.

Details of how to submit entries and of the judging criteria can be found here.

Both ICHCA and TT Club have a fundamental commitment to risk reduction throughout the entire freight supply chain. Promoting safety advice and good practices is paramount to the philosophy of the two organisations and the Award reflects this commitment. As such, the Award and the consequent profiling of the innovations put forward by its enthusiastic entrants, is central to the two organisations’ efforts to support continuous improvement in safety. They will continue to provide opportunities to showcase winners and other entrants, organising Safety Villages at industry forums and other live or virtual events. The range of the safety information and guidance documents these two organisations produce, from white papers to webinars and from advisories to checklists, can be found on their individual websites.

TT’s Risk Management Director Peregrine Storrs-Fox has been a supporter of the Award since its inception in 2016, “In TT’s role as a specialist provider of insurance products and risk management services to the supply chain industry, we have always emphasised the critical nature of loss prevention. Encouraging safety awareness and advising on effective risk mitigation is core to the Club’s business ethos,” he says.

“TT is therefore proud to have worked closely with ICHCA for a number of years, both in presenting this Award and urging all parties from the IMO and national governments to transport companies, intermediaries and cargo packers, storage facilities and handlers to adopt and constantly improve good practice systems and procedures. We look forward to celebrating the wealth of safety innovation that will once more be attracted by this Award.”

In past years, submissions to the Award programme have ranged in focus from bulk cargo handling to securing containers and their cargoes; from safety reporting and education to the correct handling of dangerous materials; from environmental monitoring to fire detection and suppression. The 2021 Award went to VIKING Life-Saving Equipment A/S for its HydroPen system designed to fight onboard container fires. HydroPen has recently secured a major contract to supply the entire Maersk fleet, gaining traction to deliver global ship safety.

Those highly commended in this latest Award included PSA International for its video analytics solution to prevent in-terminal collisions and Cargotec’s innovation to inspect containers from below, effectively and safely identifying any damage and ensuring they are free of any invasive pests.

Richard Steele, ICHCA’s CEO comments, “A massive benefit of the Award is that we make the innovative work carried out by the organisations that enter, available to others. Working together with our partner TT, we strive to achieve this through publishing a Digest of all the entries and helping the innovators to disseminate their knowledge through webinars and Safety Villages at industry exhibitions.”

“At ICHCA we believe that safety is the partner of efficiency, not its opposite. A well-run safety-conscious organisation is an efficient and sustainable organisation. Accidents cost lives, money and reputation. We challenge ourselves and our industry to move safely forward. We are proud of the innovation our industry has achieved and we wish to celebrate those achievements into the future.”

The Award ceremony will take place in February 2023 where the winners will be announced, those shortlisted will present their entries and innovation will be celebrated once more.
Sources: TT Club, ICHCA International