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Checking ISM Effectiveness
11-May-2009
BMT Marine & Offshore Surveys Acts to Fill Gap in the Market
With the majority of marine claims blamed on “the human element”, BMT Marine & Offshore Surveys Ltd is looking to step up its services to help shipowners and P&I providers identify problem areas in specific ship and fleet operations.
The company’s ship safety management assessments will be rolled out more widely, to meet demand in the worldwide market. Despite the existence for the past 10 years of the International Safety Management (ISM) Code, which made every vessel adopt clear procedures and lines of communication with shoreside management, throughout the industry there has been little in the way of a full-scale resource available to check the effectiveness of systems once in place.
Critics of ISM implementation have said that some personnel are content to tick the boxes without adequate awareness of what is meant, and that they fail to build into their systems mechanisms for continuity and checking practical effectiveness. One instance of tightening up systems would be to ensure that familiarity with procedures is not lost through crew changeovers.
Under the equivalent of an audit of corporate quality management systems, BMT specialists look at the whole operation of a ship, including the way it is worked to allow for maintenance.
Discussions between BMT and the maritime community have shown that the time is right to extend its in-depth auditing in this area. “We have expertise in ‘human factor’ issues throughout our organisation,” said Dr Phil Thompson, managing director of BMT Marine & Offshore Surveys, “in claims, loss prevention, and surveying. Drawing this knowledge together closes the loop.”
For example, BMT already works with the cruise industry to conduct human factor evaluations on board large cruise ships looking at the design, location and operation of control equipment both on the bridge and in engine rooms. These evaluations have resulted in many improvements and actions to minimise any impact on the safe operation of these vessels.
Paul Jackson, operations director of BMT Marine & Offshore Surveys, added: “Our experience so far has led us to believe there is a gap in the market for in-depth independent auditing of ISM Safety Management Systems concentrating on human factor issues. ISM is a statutory certification regime that ships must comply with, but I am not sure that there has been enough digging under the system to look at the practical application.”
BMT Marine & Offshore Surveys intends to put more of its surveyors around the world through audit training so that its service can be strengthened quickly.