Philippine Ports Authority and Port of Iloilo Step up PSHEMS

Iloilo, Philippines — Consistent with the commitment of the Philippine Ports Authority's "Puerto Gwapo Program", the Port of Iloilo with guidance from PEMSEA embarked on the development of a Port Safety, Health and Environmental Management System (PSHEMS).

 

Forty-four participants representing the different departments of the Port of Iloilo and its cargo handling operators participated in the PSHEMS workshops, held last 6-10 December 2010 and 6-11 March 2011. The training workshops are part of a series of training-workshops for PSHEMS. The series of workshops are designed to enhance the participants' knowledge and understanding on the PSHEM Code and provide them with the necessary skills to establish, implement and improve the PSHEMS of the Port of Iloilo.

 

During the workshop the participants were able to develop the PSHEMS Policy for the Port of Iloilo consistent with the requirements of the PSHEM Code. The developed policy expressed Port of Iloilo's commitment to: prevent accidents, comply with applicable regulations, prevent pollution and improve safety, health and environmental performance.

 

The workshop provided the participants with the necessary skills to identify safety, health and environmental hazards and perform risk assessment to assess the significance of the different hazards found in the port. It also covered the development of the business process, the regulatory register and establishment of PSHEMS objectives, targets and improvement programs. These skills enabled the participants to perform the Initial Status Review and the Strategic Planning Phases of PSHEMS development in the port.

 

The next PSHEMS training workshops scheduled later this year will cover the System Development and Documentation, Implementation of the PSHEMS, Monitoring PSHEMS Performance, PSHEMS Auditing and PSHEMS Continual Improvement.

 

Mr. Luis A. Cuison, Port Manager of the Port of Iloilo expressed the commitment of the management to establish the PSHEMS and to follow the approach defined in the signed Memorandum of Agreement between PEMSEA and the Philippine Ports Authority. He also expressed his gratitude to PEMSEA for its consideration to extend technical assistance to the Port of Iloilo for the development of its PSHEMS.