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UK’s busiest
malt whisky ferry wins an International
Safety Award with merit.
 Those
of you who visit Islay by ferry will be
pleased to hear that you are in safe
hands when you do so as the ferry you
are most likely to travel on,
the Caledonian MacBrayne’s MV Finlaggan
ferry has won an International Safety
Award with merit from the British Safety
Council.
A new addition to CalMac’s fleet in
2011, MV Finlaggan carries more bulk
malt whisky than any other ferry in the
UK, and, indeed, very possibly the
world, transporting the Isle of Islay’s
most famous export on the first leg of
its global journey.
The safety and handling considerations
given to this most precious and revered
of cargoes were among many criteria
explored in a submission by CalMac to
the British Safety Council for its
annual awards.
For the whisky connoisseur, the most
likely hazard facing them is the
potential for over-indulgence. However,
for a ferry company transporting some 25
per cent of Scotland’s annual malt
whisky output from its island birthplace
onwards to world markets, it is quite a
different prospect. Islay has eight
distilleries and neighbouring island
Jura has one – all nine ship their cargo
using CalMac ferries, most frequently MV
Finlaggan.
Tasty as these whiskies may be, such
cargoes are also hazardous and must be
handled with care – whether it be the
potential risk of fire or pollution
hazard.
In 2014, Finlaggan – which also provides
occasional cover on the Skye to North
Uist and Harris routes – carried 114,000
passengers, 40,000 cars and 6,500
commercial vehicles, spending the
equivalent of more than 130 days at sea.
The rigorous submissions procedure also
investigated everything from details of
crew welfare through to first aid
procedures, how health and safety
hazards are determined to testing of
emergency systems, and much more
besides.
"The safety of customers, crews and
vessels across our fleet are of
paramount importance at CalMac," said
Louis de Wolff, Head of Safety,
Environment and Security at Caledonian
MacBrayne. "MV Finlaggan has worked hard
to ensure that all systems are in place
to deliver robust health, safety and
welfare procedures, accurate and
thorough reporting and compliance with
an extensive set of maritime
legislation, licensing and certification
requirements.
"Congratulations to all members of
Finlaggan’s crew – it is a collaborative
effort and testament to the way that the
ship’s team has prioritised and focused
on the health, safety and welfare of
passengers, crew and the ship."
"Everyone on board, has a safety role of
some description," continued MV
Finlaggan’s Master, Guy Robertson. "All
crew members feel fully involved and
take great pride in their excellent
record. They came together with
headquarters’ Safety, Environment and
Security Department staff to put
together this award entry and we are
proud to have achieved this result."
These awards are internationally
renowned as a pinnacle of achievement in
the field and attract entries from blue
chip companies globally – others which
achieved merit awards alongside CalMac
were Babcock International, BAE, Boeing,
Carillion, Diageo, GlaxoSmithKline and
Unilever. Companies from as far afield
as India, Nigeria, Jordan, Abu Dhabi,
Dubai, Qatar and Kuwait were all
rewarded.
Neal Stone, acting Chief Executive of
the British Safety Council, said: "We
warmly congratulate Caledonian
MacBrayne’s MV Finlaggan and her crew on
gaining an International Safety Award
with merit for 2015. All of those
working on board have made this award
possible.
"It was also apparent that Caledonian
MacBrayne recognises the value that
proportionate and sensible management of
occupational health and safety risks
brings to the organisation, its people
and society.
"These awards reflect the importance of
aiming for good standards of health and
safety at work. Caledonian MacBrayne and
MV Finlaggan should rightly be proud of
this achievement."
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