Safety within logistics and the supply chain

Published: Wednesday, 31 January 2024

The logistics industry is multifaceted, incorporating a variety of working environments, from offices to warehouses, planes, ships and lorries. As an end-to-end provider, Priority Freight oversees every element of a logistics solution. David Greenslade, SHEQ Officer at Priority Freight, discusses the importance of safety management across the supply chain.

No matter the industry, safety should be every business’s top priority. Aside from ethical and moral obligations, if companies are not taking all appropriate and reasonable steps to safeguard personnel, they risk significant reputational and financial harm. Safeguarding the physical and mental wellbeing of employees is vital for fostering a healthy, happy and productive workforce.

Priority Freight is an ISO 45001-certified company, meaning we prove that we have put occupational health and safety processes in place to keep colleagues safe. We believe that clear communication at all levels of the organisation is essential, and that staff should participate in ensuring health and safety processes and risk assessments remain fit for purpose in the areas in which they operate. Clear guidelines should be in place for all staff, and managers should lead by example.

When it comes to safeguarding the welfare of colleagues, companies should look for the best solution, not just the cheapest, and ensure health and safety representatives champion continuous evaluation and improvement. Something that we advocate is to always use the hierarchy of control when identifying hazards to determine the best way to anticipate, mitigate or resolve an issue. 

To enforce this, all staff should be adequately trained to as high a standard as is practicable. An effective training programme is one that maintains awareness; it should be engaging and open, such that it encourages discussion between trainer and trainees. We believe annual updates are appropriate in many areas, unless a major change in task, activity or regulations dictates otherwise, or where the risk is greater.

We recently rolled out a new ‘Health, Safety & Environment’ overview training programme for all staff and have seen great results. One consequence has been an increase in reported near misses – a direct consequence of increased engagement around health and safety issues within the workplace. This new programme will facilitate constant improvement and help to maintain a very low rate of incidents. 

Because of the nature of our business, we have staff working across Europe and calling a variety of locations their ‘office’. We have measures in place to ensure that everyone is kept safe, for example, we believe that in the air cargo industry, training staff to at least Civil Aviation Authority standards, as well as general health and safety training, should be mandatory.

Companies must establish a good health and safety ethos and ensure it is understood and adopted by all staff members, much like at Priority Freight. For those involved in ground handling, to prevent unnecessary risks, dangerous goods awareness training should be organised for all relevant staff and suppliers.

As you would expect, during a busy period, more incidents can happen; it’s unavoidable and simply the law of averages. The only way to prepare is to employ a robust health and safety management system that can accommodate these busy periods, to learn from mistakes, and to ensure that you are always up to date with any regulatory or legislative changes.