Safety on wharves is seriously under-researched globally. NL wharves and harbours are important industrial, recreational and semi-public spaces located primarily in rural and remote environments where access to OHS expertise and monitoring are very limited. They are associated with very diverse and often risky activities in high risk environments (proximity to water, limited space to operate, challenging weather conditions) and associated substantial risk of injury or death. Reported hazards and risk factors include: time pressure/rush periods of intensive activity; bad weather (wind, ice, snow); congestion; parked vehicles; debris on the wharf; and, public access. Slips/trips/falls and Struck by falling/flying object are prominent among injuries identified in interviews. Perceptions of risk appear to vary among user groups. Wharves are multi-employer worksites where the employer who creates the risk might be different from the employer who exposes his or her workers, and different again from the employer who controls the worksite at any one point in time. It is not always clear what employer is responsible for addressing specific safety issues in this shared work environment. More generally, jurisdictional responsibility for ensuring and promoting safety on wharves is complex, ambiguous and evolving. Lack of clarity at all levels regarding safety responsibility may have contributed to the invisibility of risk on wharves and to prevention challenges over past decades.