CTUpack e-learningTM course launched to combat bad practice in warehouses and other packing facilities
31 January 2014
Analysis by specialist transport and logistics insurer TT Club has revealed that as many as two thirds of accidents that involve the loss of, or damage to, containerised cargo are thought to be caused by poor or improper packing and securing. Such a finding is echoed by the ocean carriers’ Cargo Incident Notification System (CINS), where a third of incidents investigated were found to have this cause. The loss to the industry is substantial, resulting in direct expense, operational disruption and management distraction, not to mention litigation or insurance costs.
The TT Club’s claims history is strewn with incidents that indicate inadequate awareness of the dynamic forces that can be encountered during intermodal transport, in addition to lack of consideration of the consequences of inappropriate load distribution within the CTU. However, since the modern container typically passes through so many handling processes during its journey, it can be difficult to pinpoint liability for an incident, even where poor packing is suspected.
“It is no surprise that the correct packing of containers is high on the agenda for industry bodies, regulators and insurers, as the consequences of unsafe and badly secured cargo are serious. It is important to take account not only of financial losses but also in too many cases serious bodily injury to operators, and even death”, says TT Club’s Risk Management Director, Peregrine Storrs-Fox. “Increased levels of training to maintain and improve the expertise of those employed by shippers, consolidators, warehouses and depots to pack containers and other transport units is now essential”, he continues. “This is why TT Club has commissioned the expert e-learning course designer Exis Technologies to develop the CTUpack e-learningTM course”.
The CTUpack e-learning™ course is an online training tool for those involved in the packing and unpacking of cargo transport units (CTU), comprising freight containers, swap bodies, trailers and suchlike used in intermodal transport. The first release of CTUpack is a foundation level course, which is being launched today. The course modules focus on the topics of cargo, transport, packing and arrival. There are lessons on the issues most relevant to container packers, including forces and stresses encountered during transport, and how these need careful consideration when packing and securing cargo in a CTU. Students are assessed continuously through the course and receive a course completion certificate which records their final score. The e-learning course is accessed via the web and is available for individual training or for national, regional or global company training programs., Multiple courses are managed using Exis Technologies’ e-learning management system, which provides administrator functions for setting up courses and monitoring students’ records.
The aim of the course is to focus industry attention on the significant and dangerous implications of bad packing and provide guidance consistent with current good practice. The course takes account of the recent revisions to the ILO/IMO/UNECE* Guidelines, anticipated to be approved as a non-mandatory, but enforceable, Code of Practice later this year. The CTUpack e-learning™ will evolve to reflect any further changes to the UN documents and other industry good practice guidance.
Storrs-Fox concludes, “CTUpack e-learning follows the well-established IMDG Code e-learning training course from Exis, which is also sponsored by TT Club. Both courses fit closely with the risk management approach that the Club has always fostered among the global freight transport community. As in other operational sectors of the industry, training is clearly the number one loss prevention measure and, if adopted as a core feature of the operator’s culture, can greatly reduce the number of incidents incurred globally each year throughout the industry.”
CTUpack e-learning™ can be purchased directly from www.ctupack.com. There are discounts for courses purchased in quantity.
* International Labour Organization/International Maritime Organization/United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
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About TT Club:
The TT Club is the international transport and logistics industry’s leading provider of insurance and related risk management services. As a mutual insurer, the TT Club exists to provide its policyholders with benefits, which include specialist underwriting expertise, a world-wide office network providing claims management services, and first class risk management and loss prevention advice.
Customers include some of the world’s largest shipping lines, busiest ports, biggest freight forwarders and cargo handling terminals, to companies operating on a smaller scale but whose operations face similar risks. TT Club specialises in the insurance of Intermodal Operators, NVOCs, Freight Forwarders, Logistics Operators, Marine Terminals, Stevedores, Port Authorities and Ship Operators
About Exis Technologies:
Exis Technologies, headquartered in Darlington, UK, is the leading supplier of compliance systems for the management of dangerous goods in sea transport. For over 25 years major container shipping lines, ports and shippers have been relying on Hazcheck Systems for regulatory compliance, efficiency and safety in their global operations. They serve 80% of the top container lines.
Exis Technologies also develops e-learning courses. IMDG Code e-learning is a cost-effective training solution for shore side staff that has been implemented by half of the top 20 container lines as well as shippers and logistics operations worldwide. CTUpack e-learning is the latest addition to their training courses.
www.existec.com/solutions.aspx
Images:
Images to illustrate the need for safer and more secure cargo packing in containers are available on request from ISIS Communications, please email: info@isiscomms.com