WACT hits 3m man-hours without lost time injury

APM Terminals’ West Africa Container Terminal (WACT), Onne, Rivers State, said it recorded a significant safety milestone by achieving three million man-hours without Lost Time Injury (LTI) in its ongoing phase two terminal upgrade and expansion.

LTI, which is a key indicator of the effectiveness of an organisation’s safety programme, which means no injury was sustained on the job by an employee or contractor that resulted in the person being away from work due to his or her injury.

WACT, in 2020, launched its $110 million Phase Two upgrade that covers the acquisition of three additional Mobile Harbour Cranes (MHCs) to bring the number of MHCs at the terminal to five, the acquisition of 20 Rubber Tyre Gantry Cranes (RTGs) and three Reach Stackers.

Others are 13 terminal trucks and trailers, an empty container handler, deployment of reefer racks with 600 plugs capacity, as well as paving of the current yard and expansion by 13 hectares, a new workshop and a new terminal gate complex.

The Country Chief Executive Officer of APM Terminals Nigeria, Frederik Klinke, described the feat as an enormous achievement, adding that safety is a collective thing.

“Despite all the stress, safety remains our primary obligation, and it is a huge achievement that you have managed to deliver the vast majority of this project without LTI. I am immensely proud.

“For APM Terminals, safety is the first element of our ‘safer, bigger and better’ strategy. This is a live illustration of the importance that we in APM Terminals put on safety, not only for our operators but certainly also for everyone that comes to our premises to work,” Klinke said.

Also speaking, the WACT Project Manager, Kingsley Nwafor, said the three million man-hours without LTI demonstrates the commitment of APM Terminals WACT to a culture of safety.

“Most important to us is that we don’t just do the job, we ensure that we get back to our families safely. We had to use different methods to achieve this success, and for us here, personal protective equipment (PPE) is the last line of defense. We try as much as possible to eliminate hazards in the workplace. We won’t only celebrate three million man-hours without LTI, but we will see to it that we deliver the entire project without LTI,” he said.