Ism Code

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Compiled for TMI Students International Conventions and IMO Class Notes

International Safety Management Code (ISM Code)


(With 2014 amendments)
(In force on 1.1.2015 for all ships)

PREAMBLE

The purpose of this Code is to provide an international standard for the safe management and
operation of ships and for pollution prevention.

1 The Assembly adopted resolution A.443(XI), by which it invited all Governments to take the
necessary steps to safeguard the shipmaster in the proper discharge of his responsibilities with
regard to maritime safety and the protection of the marine environment.
2 The Assembly also adopted resolution A.680(17), by which it further recognized the need for
appropriate organization of management to enable it to respond to the need of those on board ships
to achieve and maintain high standards of safety and environmental protection.
3 Recognizing that no two shipping companies or shipowners are the same, and that ships operate
under a wide range of different conditions, the Code is based on general principles and objectives.
4 The Code is expressed in broad terms so that it can have a widespread application. Clearly,
different levels of management, whether shore-based or at sea, will require varying levels of
knowledge and awareness of the items outlined.
5 The cornerstone of good safety management is commitment from the top. In matters of safety and
pollution prevention it is the commitment, competence, attitudes and motivation of individuals at
all levels that determines the end result.

PART A – IMPLEMENTATION

1 GENERAL

1.1 Definitions

The following definitions apply to parts A and B of this Code.


1.1.1 International Safety Management (ISM) Code means the International Management Code for
the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention as adopted by the Assembly, as may
be amended by the Organization.
1.1.2 Company means the owner of the ship or any other organization or person such as the manager,
or the bareboat charterer, who has assumed the responsibility for operation of the ship from the
shipowner and who, on assuming such responsibility, has agreed to take over all duties and
responsibility imposed by the Code.
1.1.3 Administration means the Government of the State whose flag the ship is entitled to fly.
1.1.4 Safety management system means a structured and documented system enabling Company
personnel to implement effectively the Company safety and environmental protection policy.
1.1.5 Document of Compliance means a document issued to a Company which complies with the
requirements of this Code.
1.1.6 Safety Management Certificate means a document issued to a ship which signifies that the
Company and its shipboard management operate in accordance with the approved safety
management system.
Compiled for TMI Students International Conventions and IMO Class Notes

1.1.7 Objective evidence means quantitative or qualitative information, records or statements of fact
pertaining to safety or to the existence and implementation of a safety management system
element, which is based on observation, measurement or test and which can be verified.
1.1.8 Observation means a statement of fact made during a safety management audit and
substantiated by objective evidence.
1.1.9 Non-conformity means an observed situation where objective evidence indicates the non-
fulfilment of a specified requirement.
1.1.10 Major non-conformity means an identifiable deviation that poses a serious threat to the safety
of personnel or the ship or a serious risk to the environment that requires immediate corrective
action or the lack of effective and systematic implementation of a requirement of this Code.
1.1.11 Anniversary date means the day and month of each year that corresponds to the date of expiry
of the relevant document or certificate.
1.1.12 Convention means the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974, as
amended.

1.2 Objectives

1.2.1 The objectives of the Code are to ensure safety at sea, prevention of human injury or loss of
life, and avoidance of damage to the environment, in particular to the marine environment and
to property.

1.2.2 Safety management objectives of the Company should, inter alia:

.1provide for safe practices in ship operation and a safe working environment;
.2assess all identified risks to its ships, personnel and the environment and establish appropriate
safeguards; and
.3continuously improve safety management skills of personnel ashore and aboard ships,
including preparing for emergencies related both to safety and environmental protection.

1.2.3 The safety management system should ensure:

.1compliance with mandatory rules and regulations; and


.2that applicable codes, guidelines and standards recommended by the Organization,
Administrations, classification societies and maritime industry organizations are taken into
account.

1.3 Application
The requirements of this Code may be applied to all ships.

1.4 Functional requirements for a safety management system


Every Company should develop, implement and maintain a safety management system which
includes the following functional requirements:

.1a safety and environmental-protection policy;


.2instructions and procedures to ensure safe operation of ships and protection of the environment
in compliance with relevant international and flag State legislation;
.3defined levels of authority and lines of communication between, and amongst, shore and
shipboard personnel;
.4procedures for reporting accidents and non-conformities with the provisions of this Code;
.5procedures to prepare for and respond to emergency situations; and
.6procedures for internal audits and management reviews.
Compiled for TMI Students International Conventions and IMO Class Notes

2 SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL-PROTECTION POLICY

2.1 The Company should establish a safety and environmental-protection policy which describes how
the objectives given in paragraph 1.2 will be achieved.

2.2 The Company should ensure that the policy is implemented and maintained at all levels of the
organization, both ship-based and shore-based.

3 COMPANY RESPONSIBILITIES AND AUTHORITY

3.1 If the entity who is responsible for the operation of the ship is other than the owner, the owner
must report the full name and details of such entity to the Administration.

3.2 The Company should define and document the responsibility, authority and interrelation of all
personnel who manage, perform and verify work relating to and affecting safety and pollution
prevention.
3.3 The Company is responsible for ensuring that adequate resources and shore-based support are
provided to enable the designated person or persons to carry out their functions.

4 DESIGNATED PERSON(S)

To ensure the safe operation of each ship and to provide a link between the Company and those on
board, every Company, as appropriate, should designate a person or persons ashore having direct
access to the highest level of management. The responsibility and authority of the designated person or
persons should include monitoring the safety and pollution-prevention aspects of the operation of each
ship and ensuring that adequate resources and shore-based support are applied, as required.

5 MASTER’S RESPONSIBILITY AND AUTHORITY

5.1 The Company should clearly define and document the master’s responsibility with regard to:

.1 implementing the safety and environmental-protection policy of the Company;


.2 motivating the crew in the observation of that policy;
.3 issuing appropriate orders and instructions in a clear and simple manner;
.4 verifying that specified requirements are observed; and
.5 periodically reviewing the safety management system and reporting its deficiencies to
the shore-based management.

5.2 The Company should ensure that the safety management system operating on board the ship
contains a clear statement emphasizing the master’s authority. The Company should establish in
the safety management system that the master has the overriding authority and the responsibility
to make decisions with respect to safety and pollution prevention and to request the Company’s
assistance as may be necessary.

6 RESOURCES AND PERSONNEL

6.1 The Company should ensure that the master is:

.1properly qualified for command;


.2fully conversant with the Company’s safety management system; and
Compiled for TMI Students International Conventions and IMO Class Notes

.3given the necessary support so that the master’s duties can be safely performed.

6.2 The Company should ensure that each ship is manned with qualified, certificated and medically fit
seafarers in accordance with national and international requirements.
6.3 The Company should establish procedures to ensure that new personnel and personnel transferred
to new assignments related to safety and protection of the environment are given proper
familiarization with their duties. Instructions which are essential to be provided prior to sailing
should be identified, documented and given.
6.4 The Company should ensure that all personnel involved in the Company’s safety management
system have an adequate understanding of relevant rules, regulations, codes and guidelines.
6.5 The Company should establish and maintain procedures for identifying any training which may be
required in support of the safety management system and ensure that such training is provided for
all personnel concerned.
6.6 The Company should establish procedures by which the ship’s personnel receive relevant
information on the safety management system in a working language or languages understood by
them.
6.7 The Company should ensure that the ship’s personnel are able to communicate effectively in the
execution of their duties related to the safety management system.

7 SHIPBOARD OPERATIONS

The Company should establish procedures, plans and instructions, including checklists as appropriate,
for key shipboard operations concerning the safety of the personnel, ship and protection of the
environment. The various tasks should be defined and assigned to qualified personnel.

8 EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS

8.1 The Company should identify potential emergency shipboard situations, and establish procedures
to respond to them.

8.2 The Company should establish programmes for drills and exercises to prepare for emergency
actions.
8.3 The safety management system should provide for measures ensuring that the Company’s
organization can respond at any time to hazards, accidents and emergency situations involving its
ships.

9 REPORTS AND ANALYSIS OF NON-CONFORMITIES, ACCIDENTS AND


HAZARDOUS OCCURRENCES

9.1 The safety management system should include procedures ensuring that non-conformities,
accidents and hazardous situations are reported to the Company, investigated and analyzed
with the objective of improving safety and pollution prevention.
9.2 The Company should establish procedures for the implementation of corrective action, including
measures intended to prevent recurrence.

10 MAINTENANCE OF THE SHIP AND EQUIPMENT

10.1 The Company should establish procedures to ensure that the ship is maintained in conformity
with the provisions of the relevant rules and regulations and with any additional requirements
Compiled for TMI Students International Conventions and IMO Class Notes

which may be established by the Company.

10.2 In meeting these requirements, the Company should ensure that:


.1inspections are held at appropriate intervals;
.2any non-conformity is reported, with its possible cause, if known;
.3appropriate corrective action is taken; and
.4records of these activities are maintained.

10.3 The Company should identify equipment and technical systems the sudden operational failure of
which may result in hazardous situations. The safety management system should provide for
specific measures aimed at promoting the reliability of such equipment or systems. These
measures should include the regular testing of stand-by arrangements and equipment or
technical systems that are not in continuous use.
10.4 The inspections mentioned in 10.2 as well as the measures referred to in 10.3 should be
integrated into the ship’s operational maintenance routine.

11 DOCUMENTATION

11.1 The Company should establish and maintain procedures to control all documents and data which
are relevant to the safety management system.
11.2 The Company should ensure that:

.1valid documents are available at all relevant locations;


.2changes to documents are reviewed and approved by authorized personnel; and
.3obsolete documents are promptly removed.

11.3 The documents used to describe and implement the safety management system may be referred
to as the Safety Management Manual. Documentation should be kept in a form that the
Company considers most effective. Each ship should carry on board all documentation relevant
to that ship.

12 COMPANY VERIFICATION, REVIEW AND EVALUATION

12.1 The Company should carry out internal safety audits on board and ashore at intervals not
exceeding twelve months to verify whether safety and pollution-prevention activities comply
with the safety management system. In exceptional circumstances, this interval may be
exceeded by not more than three months.

12.2 The Company should periodically evaluate the effectiveness of the safety management system
in accordance with procedures established by the Company.

12.3 The audits and possible corrective actions should be carried out in accordance with documented
procedures.

12.4 Personnel carrying out audits should be independent of the areas being audited unless this is
impracticable due to the size and the nature of the Company.

12.5 The results of the audits and reviews should be brought to the attention of all personnel having
responsibility in the area involved.

12.6 The management personnel responsible for the area involved should take timely corrective
Compiled for TMI Students International Conventions and IMO Class Notes

action on deficiencies found.

PART B – CERTIFICATION AND VERIFICATION

13 CERTIFICATION AND PERIODICAL VERIFICATION

13.1 The ship should be operated by a Company which has been issued with a Document of
Compliance or with an Interim Document of Compliance in accordance with paragraph 14.1,
relevant to that ship.

13.2 The Document of Compliance should be issued by the Administration, by an organization


recognized by the Administration or, at the request of the Administration, by another Contracting
Government to the Convention to any Company complying with the requirements of this Code
for a period specified by the Administration which should not exceed five years. Such a
document should be accepted as evidence that the Company is capable of complying with the
requirements of this Code.

13.3 The Document of Compliance is only valid for the ship types explicitly indicated in the
document. Such indication should be based on the types of ships on which the initial verification
was based. Other ship types should only be added after verification of the Company’s capability
to comply with the requirements of this Code applicable to such ship types. In this context, ship
types are those referred to in regulation IX/1 of the Convention.

13.4 The validity of a Document of Compliance should be subject to annual verification by the
Administration or by an organization recognized by the Administration or, at the request of the
Administration, by another Contracting Government within three months before or after the
anniversary date.

13.5 The Document of Compliance should be withdrawn by the Administration or, at its request, by
the Contracting Government which issued the Document when the annual verification required
in paragraph 13.4 is not requested or if there is evidence of major non-conformities with this
Code.

13.5.1 All associated Safety Management Certificates and/or Interim Safety Management Certificates
should also be withdrawn if the Document of Compliance is withdrawn.

13.6 A copy of the Document of Compliance should be placed on board in order that the master of
the ship, if so requested, may produce it for verification by the Administration or by an
organization recognized by the Administration or for the purposes of the control referred to in
regulation IX/6.2 of the Convention. The copy of the Document is not required to be
authenticated or certified.

13.7 The Safety Management Certificate should be issued to a ship for a period which should not
exceed five years by the Administration or an organization recognized by the Administration or,
at the request of the Administration, by another Contracting Government. The Safety
Management Certificate should be issued after verifying that the Company and its shipboard
management operate in accordance with the approved safety management system. Such a
Certificate should be accepted as evidence that the ship is complying with the requirements of
this Code.

13.8 The validity of the Safety Management Certificate should be subject to at least one intermediate
Compiled for TMI Students International Conventions and IMO Class Notes

verification by the Administration or an organization recognized by the Administration or, at the


request of the Administration, by another Contracting Government. If only one intermediate
verification is to be carried out and the period of validity of the Safety Management Certificate is
five years, it should take place between the second and third anniversary dates of the Safety
Management Certificate.
13.9 In addition to the requirements of paragraph 13.5.1, the Safety Management Certificate should be
withdrawn by the Administration or, at the request of the Administration, by the Contracting
Government which has issued it when the intermediate verification required in paragraph 13.8 is
not requested or if there is evidence of major non-conformity with this Code.

13.10 Notwithstanding the requirements of paragraphs 13.2 and 13.7, when the renewal verification is
completed within three months before the expiry date of the existing Document of Compliance
or Safety Management Certificate, the new Document of Compliance or the new Safety
Management Certificate should be valid from the date of completion of the renewal verification
for a period not exceeding five years from the date of expiry of the existing Document of
Compliance or Safety Management Certificate.

13.11 When the renewal verification is completed more than three months before the expiry date of the
existing Document of Compliance or Safety Management Certificate, the new Document of
Compliance or the new Safety Management Certificate should be valid from the date of
completion of the renewal verification for a period not exceeding five years from the date of
completion of the renewal verification.

13.12 When the renewal verification is completed after the expiry date of the existing Safety
Management Certificate, the new Safety Management Certificate should be valid from the date
of completion of the renewal verification to a date not exceeding five years from the date of
expiry of the existing Safety Management Certificate.

If a renewal verification has been completed and a new Safety Management Certificate cannot be
issued or placed on board the ship before the expiry date of the existing certificate, the
Administration or organization recognized by the Administration may endorse the existing
certificate and such a certificate should be accepted as valid for a further period which should not
exceed five months from the expiry date.

If a ship at the time when a Safety Management Certificate expires is not in a port in which it is
to be verified, the Administration may extend the period of validity of the Safety Management
Certificate, but this extension should be granted only for the purpose of allowing the ship to
complete its voyage to the port in which it is to be verified, and then only in cases where it
appears proper and reasonable to do so. No Safety Management Certificate should be extended
for a period of longer than three months, and the ship to which an extension is granted should
not, on its arrival in the port in which it is to be verified, be entitled by virtue of such extension
to leave that port without having a new Safety Management Certificate. When the renewal
verification is completed, the new Safety Management Certificate should be valid to a date not
exceeding five years from the expiry date of the existing Safety Management Certificate before
the extension was granted.

14 INTERIM CERTIFICATION

14.1 An Interim Document of Compliance may be issued to facilitate initial implementation of this
Code when:
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.1 a Company is newly established; or


.2 new ship types are to be added to an existing Document of Compliance,
following verification that the Company has a safety management system that meets the
objectives of paragraph 1.2.3 of this Code, provided the Company demonstrates plans to
implement a safety management system meeting the full requirements of this Code within
the period of validity of the Interim Document of Compliance. Such an Interim Document
of Compliance should be issued for a period not exceeding 12 months by the Administration
or by an organization recognized by the Administration or, at the request of the
Administration, by another Contracting Government. A copy of the Interim Document of
Compliance should be placed on board in order that the master of the ship, if so requested,
may produce it for verification by the Administration or by an organization recognized by
the Administration or for the purposes of the control referred to in regulation IX/6.2 of the
Convention. The copy of the Document is not required to be authenticated or certified.

14.2 An Interim Safety Management Certificate may be issued:

.1to new ships on delivery;


.2when a Company takes on responsibility for the operation of a ship which is new to the
Company; or
.3when a ship changes flag.

Such an Interim Safety Management Certificate should be issued for a period not exceeding 6
months by the Administration or an organization recognized by the Administration or, at the
request of the Administration, by another Contracting Government.

14.3 An Administration or, at the request of the Administration, another Contracting Government may,
in special cases, extend the validity of an Interim Safety Management Certificate for a further
period which should not exceed 6 months from the date of expiry.

14.4 An Interim Safety Management Certificate may be issued following verification that:

.1the Document of Compliance, or the Interim Document of Compliance, is relevant to the ship
concerned;
.2the safety management system provided by the Company for the ship concerned includes key
elements of this Code and has been assessed during the audit for issuance of the Document of
Compliance or demonstrated for issuance of the Interim Document of Compliance;
.3the Company has planned the internal audit of the ship within three months;
.4the master and officers are familiar with the safety management system and the planned
arrangements for its implementation;
.5instructions, which have been identified as being essential, are provided prior to sailing; and
.6relevant information on the safety management system has been given in a working language
or languages understood by the ship’s personnel.

15 VERIFICATION

15.1 All verifications required by the provisions of this Code should be carried out in accordance with
procedures acceptable to the Administration, taking into account the guidelines developed by
the Organization.

16 FORMS OF CERTIFICATES
Compiled for TMI Students International Conventions and IMO Class Notes

16.1 The Document of Compliance, the Safety Management Certificate, the Interim Document of
Compliance and the Interim Safety Management Certificate should be drawn up in a form
corresponding to the models given in the appendix to this Code. If the language used is neither
English nor French, the text should include a translation into one of these languages.

16.2 In addition to the requirements of paragraph 13.3, the ship types indicated on the Document of
Compliance and the Interim Document of Compliance may be endorsed to reflect any limitations
in the operations of the ships described in the safety management system.

Space for notes

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