Safety management systems in multimodal transport networks: the case of commercial port infrastructures

The aim of the present work is to propose an original approach to the design of Safety Management Systems of multimodal transport networks, taking account of rules already used, or being tested, in the aeronautical, railway and road-motorway fields. This research, in particular, aims to analyze the specific case of commercial ports, which are configured as natural hubs in logistics chains and, as such, as points of intersection and interface between different carriers. Due to their intrinsic characteristics (multi-modality, multi-scale, multi-risk, multi-functionality), ports are configured not only as nerve nodes of large-scale transport networks but to be themselves complex networks characterized by multiplicity and diversity of inherent technical rules related to safety of infrastructures. Therefore, the purpose of the work consists of developing a context analysis of the port sector, capturing and analyzing its most relevant and distinctive features, in order to formulate and discuss hypotheses for the implementation of SMS focused on the infrastructural assets of ports. Note that such type of SMS can be therefore strategic in order to be usable as decision tool for the management activities defined in the Regulatory Plans of the Port System.