Another worker had a fatal accident inside Hutchison Port’s Karachi International Container Terminal (KICT), marking the second fatality at the terminal this year. The 23-year-old truck driver, that lost his life on July 21, ‘was crushed when a container lowered on top of him as he slept on the back of his truck‘ in early morning, as ITF reports.
In light of this event, Chair of the ITF Dockers’ Section Occupational Safety and Health Working Group Steve Biggs, passed on the condolences, adding
Today we mourn for another worker, who has tragically lost his life at Hutchison Ports Pakistan. No worker deserves to die at work. Our heartfelt thoughts are with Imran’s family and friends…The report that the ITF Dockers’ Section has received from KICT Labour Union – our affiliate in the terminal – highlights significant safety concerns that the workforce hold about the adequacy of lighting in the yard, traffic management systems and the minimum number of checkers deployed to manage safe yard operations.
This is the second incident taking place at the terminal in 2019, as in March, another dock worker lost his life as he was seriously injured after a reach stacker reversed over him.
In addition, ITF President and Dockers’ Section chair Paddy Crumlin added that Hutchison ports has better acknowledge their mistakes in workplace safety, and consult with a workers’ safety committee on how to eliminate and minimise risks and hazards.
Moreover, Mr Crumlin stated
It’s time for the company to increase its efforts to improve our places of work and make them safer than ever before.
The two lost workers follow the death of five workers at Hutchison’s Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT), between 2016 and 2018.
Concluding, ITF calls Hutchson’s global management to review its health and safety procedures and proceed to a better safety culture across its global operations.
