Visitors like FPR's investor relations consultant Romil (left) are required to wear safety helmets and boots and are escorted by authorized personnel.
INVESTORS VISITING shipyards do well for themselves to observe safety rules.
This is because industrial hazards are part and parcel of daily shipyard operations which use elevated platforms, moving cranes, welding works and the like.
Eleven shipyard workers died and 286 others were hurt in the first half of 2008, compared with three deaths over the same time period last year.
When Financial PR’s investor-relations consultants visited Drydock World SEA’s Batam yards, they were required to wear safety helmets and boots, escorted at all times by authorized personnel, and allowed only restricted proximity to vessels under construction.
To address industrial safety, Drydocks World SEA will be implementing the following measures:
1. Build a training center in Batam at an investment cost of S$5 million which will focus on improving worker skills and teaching safety procedures.
2. Halve the number of countries (currently more than 10) from which it hires workers. This will prevent miscommunication arising from language barriers
3. Hire permanent workers instead of using sub-contractors.
4. Bring in external auditors to conduct a worker safety survey on the yard and review safety procedures.
The subsidiary of Dubai World acquired the 4 yards of Labroy Marine and Pan-United Marine when it took over the two listed shipbuilders and now has 29 building berths, 8 floating docks, and a specialized rig-building yard.
Safety signboard at Drydocks World's yard.
Related stories:
| 7 Aug 2008 | DRYDOCKS WORLD SEA delivers AHTS to Esnaad |
| 11 Jul 2008 | DRYDOCKS WORLD (formerly Labroy Marine): Scoring a few firsts |
