Entries Now Open for 2026 TT Club Innovation in Safety Awards

ICHCA International, the global cargo handling association, together with long-standing sponsor TT Club, has opened entries for the 2026 TT Club Innovation in Safety Awards. The program invites the worldwide cargo handling and logistics community to submit their safety innovations, with entries now officially open.

Now in their second decade, the awards seek to identify and celebrate practical innovations that have made a demonstrable difference to safety across the cargo-handling and logistics sector. While much safety innovation involves significant technological breakthroughs, many of the most effective improvements begin with a simple observation, a problem identified on the frontline, or a better way of handling a task that has been part of everyday operations for years.

Qualifying entries span a broad range. They can include new technologies and engineering solutions, process changes, revised training, updated procedures, and improved operational practices. This breadth reflects a recognition that safer operations rarely depend on a single source of progress.

The awards remain open to anyone involved in cargo logistics. Individuals, teams, companies, ICHCA members, and non-members may all enter, provided they can demonstrate how their product, idea, solution, process, scheme, or other initiative has resulted in a measurable improvement in safety.

Richard Steele, Chief Executive Officer of ICHCA International, underlined the range of sources from which innovation emerges. 'Safety innovation develops in all areas of our industry. It can come from a large organisation investing in new technology, but it can just as easily come from a supervisor or worker identifying a better way to manage a familiar day-to-day risk. Such solutions deserve to be celebrated, and their success disseminated across the globe.'

'These awards do just that. Sharing what works and encouraging others to consider how similar approaches might be applied in their own operations. We want to hear from the people who have challenged the way things have always been done and found a safer way forward.'

For freight forwarders and logistics operators focused on operational efficiency and service differentiation, the awards provide a platform to showcase innovations that enhance reliability and reduce risk across the supply chain.

Mike Yarwood, Managing Director of Loss Prevention at TT Club, emphasised the value of solutions proven in day-to-day operations. 'The most valuable safety innovations are those that work in the real world. They identify a genuine risk and find a practical way to reduce it, whether that involves new technology, a change in behaviour, a different process, or a relatively simple engineering solution.'

'The Innovation in Safety Awards give us a chance to learn from those ideas and share them across the cargo handling community. We are looking forward to seeing the breadth of entries this year and discovering the innovations that could help make operations safer for everyone.'

Entries are free to submit and must be no longer than 1,250 words. Entrants are encouraged to explain the safety challenge they addressed, the innovation they introduced, and the demonstrable improvement that resulted.

The entry window closes on 13 November 2026. An independent judging panel of experts from the cargo logistics industry will select the winners. Winners and highly commended entries will be recognised at an awards ceremony in London in February 2027.

Full judging criteria, entry guidance, and promotional materials, translated into multiple languages, are available on the ICHCA International website.

The Innovation in Safety Awards continue to serve a clear purpose across the sector: identifying what works, rewarding those who deliver it, and spreading proven practice to make cargo handling safer for everyone who depends on it.