by AUFA MARDHIAH / Pic by TMR

NORTHPORT (M) Bhd has won the International Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH) 2022 Sustainability Award under the health, safety and security category. 

With its project titled “Journey Towards Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Excellence”, Northport defeated Port of Montreal and Port of Amsterdam. 

The announcement was made during the gala dinner in conjunction with the IAPH 2022 World Ports Conference on May 17, 2022, in Vancouver, Canada.

Northport CEO Datuk Azman Shah Mohd Yusof received the award on behalf of the company from United Nations Conference on Trade and Development human resources development section, TrainForTrade chief Mark Assaf.

Azman Shah expressed his appreciation to the panel of experts and the public who voted for the company in recognising their Journey Towards HSE Excellence.

“It is an honour and a great achievement for Northport to receive this recognition from an esteemed global institution such as the IAPH, and being the first Malaysian port to receive the prestigious IAPH Sustainability Award,” he said in a statement today. 

IAPH is a global alliance with members of port authorities, port operators as well as port-related businesses from 87 different countries; and has handled about one third of the world’s sea-borne trade and well over 60% of the world’s container traffic.

The 2022 IAPH Sustainability Awards competition received a total of 53 projects from 36 member ports from 26 countries to compete in six categories, namely climate and energy; environmental care; community building; infrastructure; digitalisation; and health, safety and security. 

The projects submitted were evaluated and scored by an esteemed jury of nine independent experts globally with diverse backgrounds encompassing academia, NGOs, research institutes, media, shipping and former port executive management. 

The winners were indicated by 70% marks from the panel of experts and 30% marks from the public voting which was made through the World Ports Sustainability Programme website from March 21 to April 18, 2022.

Northport’s journey towards achieving HSE excellence started in 2012 with its “Transformation” phase to promote mindset and behavioural changes among its employees. 

In 2016, the company’s focus shifted to “Effective Implementation” to enforce all the action plans towards achieving HSE goals. 

Fast forward to 2019, the company embarked on “Sustenance and Continuous Improvement” to strengthen best HSE practices among its stakeholders and in 2020 the company implemented its “Business Resilience and Continuity” to reinforce the company’s commitment towards business continuity management in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Throughout the journey, we have embarked on various HSE initiatives which include the establishment of a Business Continuity Plan to ensure adequate measures are in place for Northport’s operational and business continuity. 

“We have also strengthened our port’s security with the use of drones and closed-circuit surveillance systems. Northport is the first port in Malaysia to use drones for security and surveillance purposes since 2019,” Azman Shah added.

Other notable initiatives by the company include the introduction of HSE Omission Notification to enforce safety compliance on Northport’s employees and port users within the port premises, as well as the “You See You Act” or UCUX mechanism to promote immediate incident reporting using social media platforms.

Previously, the company also won the Best Port Safety Management Award by the Transport Ministry in 2021, National Occupational Safety and Health Award in Business Services in 2020, as well as the Malaysian Society for Occupational Safety and Health Silver Award in 2016 and Gold Award in 2017 and 2018.

Northport, which is also a member of the MMC Group, is the first port in Malaysia to be awarded ISO 45001:2018 for Occupational Safety and Health in 2019 and ISO 37001:2016 for Anti-Bribery Management System in 2021.