The government has decided to appoint consultants for studying the safety aspects and transport system across all major ports in the country.
The decision was recently taken at the dock advisory committee meeting, said S K Saxena, director-general of the directorate of general factory advice services and labour institutes, on the sidelines of a workshop on workers' safety in Kolkata on Wednesday.
In 2007, a total of 23 workers had died at work, and 153 accidents took place, in ports.
Between 2004 and 2006, as many as 94 workers died in ports, and more than 600 accidents took place, according to the government data.
On june 3 morning, one worker lost his life during work at the Kolkata port.
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"While the number of accidents in ports has decreased over the years, the number of fatalities has not reduced," said Saxena.
According to one government official, the major reasons of the deaths in ports were inadequate amenities for workers, poor infrastructure and outdated machineries.
Shockingly, majority of deaths in ports over the years occurred when workers were asleep beneath the trucks, waiting to move, in absence of a proper shelter, said the official.
The directorate general would soon initiate a mandatory training programme for those operating cranes in port areas, as a large number of deaths were on account of mishandling of the equipment.
At present, the crane operators did not require any licence from the government.
Cranes more than 20 year-old, would not be allowed to operate in ports, said Saxena. The Union ministry of labour has also advised the state governments to frame their own rules for the safety of workers in minor ports.
"New types of equipment are needed for the up gradation of ports and to ensure that the ports are of international standard," said A Majumdar, deputy chairman, Kolkata Port Trust.