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HOME - ISM LINKS / BLOGISM
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Welcome to BlogISM!
This Blog will be managed by Dr. Phil Anderson but will provide YOU with an opportunity to have YOUR say about ISM and safety management related issues and to share your views with other visitors to this website and users of Blog ISM .
To get the ball rolling I will introduce two topical issues which I believe need addressing and on which I would invite you to comment and respond.
If you have an additional topic you believe needs discussing and you would like to see posted on BlogISM - then please send me details to the following email link"philanderson@consultism.co.uk" |
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| Designated Persons - DPA's |
In my experience of seeing many different Safety Management Systems, often following serious maritime incidents, I frequently identify one of the principle weak links in the chain to be the Designated Person. Often the individual DPA has received little or no training in the job, they are often the original architect of a SMS which is basically incapable of ever working efficiently and they are more interested in making sure that all the bits of paper have been produced rather than ensuring that the management of safety is being improved. I believe we urgently need a structured training programme for DPA's if we are to see significant improvements in the positive effects ISM may have on our industry. Do you agree with that observation?
COMMENTS |
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Name: |
Stuart Edmonston |
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Job Role / Position: |
Admiralty Claims Handler |
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Company / Ship: |
Holman Fenwick and Willan |
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Comment: |
Absolutely agree that there needs to be a structured training program for DPA's. The student should then, if successful, be provided with a 'DPA certificate of competency' approved by the flag state, and subject to a 5 year revalidation process (similar to deck/engine CoC's. |
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Name: |
Chistos Hadjichristou |
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Job Role / Position: |
Marine Surveyor Cypru's Department of Merchant Shipping |
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Company / Ship: |
Department Of Cypru's Merchant Shipping, Ministry of Communications and Work |
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Comment: |
To my experience successful DPAs' are the ones which have relevant academic and ships' operational experience and regularly visiting ships in order to improve safe management system and to identify problems in a proactive way. Visiting ships to carry out company's audit just before the external ISM audit is not very good practice. |
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Name: |
Anonymous |
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Job Role / Position: |
Operations Dept in a Shipowners Company |
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Company / Ship: |
Anonymous |
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Comment: |
I totally agree that DPA needs additional training. Presently many of the DPA's are ex sailors who have done a ISM Internal Auditors or a lead auditors course and have attained this position. There should be an additional course for DPA's expalaining to them the daily nitty gritty of being a DPA, A standardised course will harmonize the General procedures and policies to be followed by a DPA. I understand that presently a Shore based Supdt is nominated as a DPA and carries out those functons, but i believe that it must be mandated that the person appointed as DPA should not be given any other operational responsibility, and should solely be dedicated for his role as DPA he could be in addition the MR and CSO , but a daily operational role will wean his concentration away from the focus required to fulfil the role of a DPA. |
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Name: |
Mark Rossiter |
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Job Role / Position: |
Consultant |
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Company / Ship: |
London Offshore Consultants |
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Comment: |
While I agree that training is a good idea, I think it is also important to identify the person who actually wants to carry out this important role; one volunteer is worth a thousand pressed men. My recent experience with appraising ISM systems is that there are many DPAs who have fallen into this role but in many cases are less than enthusiastic about it.
Recently I found one company with the DPA wearing dual hats of Technical Superintendent and DPA. You may appreciate there could be a conflict of interest but more importantly in this case the Technical Superintendent had no interest in being a DPA; unsurprisingly ISM in this company was in need of some fairly major restructuring. So to summarise, yes training is a good idea providing the person in the role is actually keen to take the job on.
As an aside but related to this subject - should the crucial shore personnel have a minimum set of qualifications or experience and what should they be.
Should an operations manager have a recognised degree, have "x" years of sea going experience, be an ex Master etc? |
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Response from
Dr. Phil Anderson: |
I have also had similar experiences. Clearly some ship operating companies are so small that the Technical Director or Operations Manager may end up wearing many different hats. My own view is that it is still better to keep the DPA's job in house - even under those circumstances where conflicts may arise - rather than, as I have seen on a number of occasions, sub-contracts the DPA's job out to an external organisation.
I also agree with your observations ref the shore management generally. I feel that we have spent enough time concentrating on the standards of the seafarers and it is about time the industry started to look at the standards of its shore management. |
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Name: |
Capt Bill Lunn |
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Job Role / Position: |
Marine Consultant - DPA/CSO |
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Company / Ship: |
MarMan Ltd |
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Comment: |
Whilst understanding Dr Phil's reservations about outsourced DPAs
- my experiences are somewhat different. I accepted the role of
(outsourced) DPA from a company wishing to bring management of one of its older more problematic ships in-house, rather than have it managed by a third party technical manager, as was the case for the rest of their fleet. The results spoke for themselves and now the company is shifting more ships in-house.
Any solution which empowers owners to manage their own vessels must be worth consideration.
Ship Owners and Managers are an extremely diversified bunch and a
one-size-fits-all solution is unlikely to be effective in every case.
Definately commitment of the DPA is a prerequisite, so too however is
commitment of the company's top management - often an outsiders voice will be listened to more seriously than that of a 'salary man'.
Minimum qualifications/experience for a DPA is a natural progression from the initial requirements; if they are sufficiently stringent to be
meaningful then it is likely this will drive many small owners wishing to manage their own ship(s) to seek outsourced solutions. |
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Response from
Dr. Phil Anderson: |
Thank you very much Captain Lunn for a most valuable contribution and a point very well made. |
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| ISM Paperwork |
Far too many Safety Management Systems are still down by the head with paperwork. This is often the result of overzealous ISM Consultants, including Classification Societies, setting up systems for ship operators and also Flag State Administrations, often being advised by Classification Societies, in verifying and Certifying systems. Certain Port State Control inspectors also insist on seeing masses of paperwork - which, in their eyes seems to confirm whether or not a system is working. In my view too much paperwork and an obsession with its production tend to be major inhibitors to a SMS operating efficiently. Do you agree? Does anyone have any good ideas or experience of how to reduce the paperwork and achieve a more efficient SMS as a consequence?
COMMENTS |
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Name: |
Chistos Hadjichristou |
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Job Role / Position: |
Marine Surveyor Cypru's Department of Merchant Shipping |
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Company / Ship: |
Department Of Cypru's Merchant Shipping, Ministry of Communications and Work |
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Comment: |
I couldn't agree more, this is the one complain we are constantly getting from ship personnel.
The are should be an easier way.From what I am experiencing is that paper work is not creating a safe proactive culture. Seafarers need good initial safety awareness training and how to assess the risks. Hopefully the new ILO consolitated Convention which have risk assessment as mandatory chapter, once ratified I am hoping would address this issue. |
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Name: |
Capt P J Denny |
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Job Role / Position: |
Ex Ship Inspector |
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Company / Ship: |
Unemployed at present |
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Comment: |
As an Ex Ship Inspector for a leading P & I Club, I have seen more than my fair share of SMS and associated paperwork. The workload of Master and officers has reached a point that they should be wering a blue and redsuit with the letter "S" embroided on the chest - oh yes, and wear underpants on the outside of the leggings.
Seriously, since the demise of the Radio Officer, that traditional stalwart who assisted with the ship's/ Master's paperwork, time constraints and the burden of additional duties & responsibilities has left minimum time for the Master & Officers to adequately fulfill their duties in a timely manner.
I have seen some sharp practice with required paperwork for the SMS BUT it is humanly understandable to see how it arises. Boarding a vessel as soon as the gangway was lowered in Rotterdam, I climbed to the bridge and awaited the Master to finish the operation and take leave of the pilot.
The 2/O was on the bridge calmly completing the pre-sailing checklist. Uh Oh ! No actions were actually taken, just the neccessary boxes ticked off with such mundane items as steering gear testing !!!
The Perfect answe to this would be an onboard Clerk / scribe to assist the Master & Officers for ther upkeep of the SMS system. Alas, most shipowners would pooh-pooh this suggestion on cost alone. sorry Guys you're not getting a 20 year old shapely blonde to help you
There are many of you out there who have probably seen similar, if not worse activities. Well I now believe the time is right to have technology assist the master & officers to complete their duties and responsibilities in keeping the paperwork up to date.
I have used and continue to use a hand held dictation machine thast re4cords onto a memory card. a 32 bm card can give over 400 minutes ofrecording time in LP mode.
from the card it would seem relatively easy to traqnsfer the card to a PC and from there through voice recognition software the hard copies can be produced. Just an idea but woth a look at in depth and very cost effective compared to say a rudder failure and subsequent consequences. |
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Response from
Dr. Phil Anderson: |
I certainly empathise with much of what you say. I am aware of a number of ship operating companies, particularly tanker operators, who are indeed employing clerks and I believe they are extremely pleased with the way it is working out - and I suspect the Master and officers on board are delighted!
I am also aware of at least one leading tanker operator who is now employing an additional senior officer on board - between Chief Officer and Master / Second Engineer and Chief Engineer who is responsible for overseeing the running of the on-board Management Systems - e.g. ISM / SMS, ISPS, Garbage etc. The intention is that they would fill this position before being promoted to Master / Chief - an excellent initiative - although I suspect a costly one! Hats off to them - I am sure their investment will be well rewarded! |
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| Hours of Work / Rest |
It is well known that seafarers hours of work / rest, particularly watchkeepers, are regulated under relevant sections of STCW and ILO conventions - or at least that is the theory. However, there are numerous anecdotal accounts of not only excessive hours being worked by some seafarers but also manipulation of the hours of work / rest records in an attempt to conceal the truth and suggest compliance. The working of excessive hours, with inadequate rest periods, can lead to fatigue in an individual which is well recognised as a major contributory factor in the causal chains leading to accidents, hazardous occurrences and near misses. The opening comment on this topic has been submitted by a Nautical College lecturer.
Please do share your own experiences
COMMENTS |
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Name: |
Anonymous |
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Job Role / Position: |
Lecturer |
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Company / Ship: |
Anonymous |
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Comment: |
I have read your article on Fatigue in the Seaways Magazine. In my address to Master's Revalidation Course I caution persons from the consequences of falsifying hours-of-rest records. I have informed them that this may result in Criminal proceedings against the perpetrator.
The feed back given is that most Masters are prompted to 'manage hours of rest' when they go to their Management Offices for a briefing prior to joining the vessel.
They claim that they stand at risk of losing their jobs if they do not manipulate the rest-hours.
Are there any institutions whom they can report such incidents to in confidence?
Does CHIRP accept such reports, if there is a hazardous incident if a ship is taken out to sea with fatigued crew?
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Response from
Dr. Phil Anderson: |
Many thanks for your very interesting and frank message. Whilst extremely alarmed I must admit, unfortunately, that your advice does not come as a total surprise - indeed I have heard similar anecdotal accounts from a number of other sources.
I would refer you to the 'Fatigue' section of this website, under 'ISM Information' and specifically the Nautical Institute 'The Fatigue Forum'
which can be accessed through www.nautinst.org/fatigue/index.htm That will provide a good and worthwhile repository of reports of this nature. |
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