TT Talk: More dazzling innovations at the TOC Europe Safety Village

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The brightest and smartest innovations in port safety were once more showcased at the TOC Europe 2025 Safety Village in Rotterdam on 17–19 June. TT Club, ICHCA International and TOC Worldwide again teamed up for a three-day celebration of gold-standard safety solutions at the world’s leading container supply chain event, attended by over 4,500 professionals. 
The Club’s loss prevention team expertly guided conversations on pertinent risk management topics facing the industry before turning the spotlight on some of the most exciting innovations shaping port operations. These included winners of this year’s TT Club Innovation in Safety Awards, jointly run with ICHCA. 

Safety culture

Day one kicked off with a discussion around a behavioural approach to safety culture by Debbie Cavaldoro of Port Skills and Safety, Tommy Carnebo of DAFO Vehicle Fire Protection and Isabelle van Schilt of Portwise.
Debbie pointed out that a safety culture cannot exist on its own, it needs to be an integral part of company culture. ‘Staff should be praised for safety, not speed, and employees at all levels should feel empowered to “stop the job” if they have concerns about port worker safety.’
Isabelle said businesses should be talking about problems and weaknesses to turn them into a strength. This was a ‘difficult conversation’ but one that can affect a real change in culture. Tommy added that leaders needed to be mindful and always display safe behaviours. ‘They set the bar for safety, workers follow their leaders.’ 

Innovation, technology and equipment

The next session focused on safety innovation, technology and equipment. TT Club Rrisk Aassessment Mmanager Neil Dalus, alongside Mark Rushton, of (Comet), Max Doyle of (Doyle Shipping Group) and Steve Price of (Lloyd's Register and Safetytech Accelerator) started by discussing the overreliance on near-miss data, before moving on to the importance of an ‘innovation champion’ within the workforce and the sole-reliance on near-miss data, the importance of an innovation champion and investing in safety. 
TT Club manging director of loss prevention Mike Yarwood said one of the main barriers to investment in safety technologies and risk mitigation was the fact that there is no universal definition of safety for the ports sector. 
He and Richard Steele at ICHCA International, Neil Griffiths of Konecranes and Chris Ingham of Peel Ports Group then tackled the lack of industry-wide safety standards and the need for better data sharing and collaboration across ports, authorities and businesses. 

Practical demonstrations

Day two involved practical demonstration sessions from some of the most innovative solutions in the port safety market, kicking off with training methods and simulation technologies moderated by Mike Yarwood.
Peter Olsson of Kalmar later gave a fascinating insight into the art of the possible with 360⁰ vision systems designed to remove blind spots, giving drivers of port and terminal vehicles the confidence to operate safely. He said that anyone with a scratch on their vehicles needed a 360⁰ vision system. ‘That scratch might well have been a bollard you didn’t see, next time it could be a staff member.’ 
The third demonstration focused on multi-functional laser systems produced by LASE Industrielle Lasertechnik GmbH. Lars Ambrosy walked attendees through the company’s innovative approach to making port operations safer. 
Mike concluded the day saying, ‘These systems are smarter and more futuristic each time we run the Safety Village. It is heartening to see such safety systems being prioritised and developed year after year.’

Award-winning innovations

The final day saw presentations from some of this year’s winners of the TT Club Innovation in Safety Awards. Gertjan Strietman of Straatman Mooring Systems and Joppe Burgers of the Port of Rotterdam discussed the benefits of Straatman’s Smart Bollard, which won the Segregating People and Machine Award for its real-time monitoring of mooring line loads.
Next Katie Higginbottom from ITF Seafarers' Trust discussed the Trust’s OSH Ports App, which was jointly developed with the International Transport Workers Federation. This aim was to engage port workers in occupational safety and health, and won the Learning and Engagement Award.

Finally, Chris Skipper of Voxel explained how the company’s AI-powered worksite visibility platform is helping to  manage risk and eliminate blind spots in port and terminal operations. This won the Turning Data into Insight Award and features in a recent TT Live podcast.

Conclusion

TOC Europe 2025 and the Safety Village were a resounding success, with over 4,500 attendees from over 100 countries. Partnering in this event demonstrates TT Club’s and ICHCA’s ongoing commitment to spotlighting and celebrating high-calibre safety solutions as well as the passionate people who work tirelessly to develop their ideas into products. 

By giving these ideas oxygen, TT Club and ICHCA hope to encourage their adoption and adaption within the global transport and logistics industry, helping to make it safer, more secure and more sustainable.