LEONARD RICHARDS - JP BSc (Hons) FIFireE GCGIMSM CONSULTANT TO THE FIRE SERVICE COLLEGE

Management fire safety in a large port or harbour us a diverse and complicated process due to the magnitude of risks which impact on fire safety , these include industrial and commercial risks; as well as chemical , explosive and other hazards. This is in addition to security-related issues, which may be from both inside and outside of the port boundaries and could acts of deliberate damage or fire setting. Many of these risks may be spread across more than one single responsible organization. The most obvious example of this is the many different vessles that resort to parts and harbours. Every ship is under the direct control of the ship’s captain or master. He will be bound by the regulations set by the flag under which the ship operates. The Interational Maritime Organisation (IMO) has set guidelines as common standards that vessles should operate to . but the ships master will also be constrained by the requirements of the nation’s flag that the ship flies. This together with the premise that a ship is a nations own territory irrespective of where it is further compounds the difficulties faced by port and harbors authorities . as a result, managing fire safety effectively is an integral part of the core business of taking care of the operational business and day – to – day running of the port whilst also considering the safety of staff, contractors and visitors.