IMO - INTERNATIONAL MARITIME ORGANIZATION
MSC-MEPC.2/Circ.3, 5 June 2006

GUIDELINES ON THE BASIC ELEMENTS OF A SHIPBOARD
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY PROGRAMME

 

1 The Maritime Safety Committee, at its eighty-first session (10 to 19 May 2006), and the Marine Environment Protection Committee at its fifty-third session (18 to 22 July 2005), recognizing the need to provide guidance to personnel or consultants who are implementing, improving or auditing the effectiveness of shipboard health and safety programmes, approved Guidelines on the basic elements of a shipboard occupational health and safety programme, as set out in the annex.
2 Member Governments are invited to bring the annexed Guidelines to the attention of all parties concerned so that they may use them when implementing, improving or auditing the effectiveness of a shipboard occupational health and safety programme.
3 The Committees, recognizing the need to provide guidance for shipowners and ship managers for implementing the ISM Code, agreed that these guidelines would provide relevant information related to occupational health and safety on board ships.
 

ANNEX
GUIDELINES ON THE BASIC ELEMENTS OF A SHIPBOARD OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY PROGRAMME

1 Purpose
These guidelines describe the basic elements of a shipboard occupational health and safety programme (SOHSP). The elements set out in the appendices are applicable to all vessel types and are fundamental pieces of a systematic occupational health and safety programme, which may be used by company line managers, health and safety personnel or consultants who are implementing, improving or auditing the effectiveness of a shipboard occupational health and safety programme.

2 Application
These guidelines do not set specific performance or technical criteria, but recommend that companies set policies and objectives and develop procedures for managing their occupational health and safety programme. Companies should consider their unique organization, culture and hazards on their vessels and the possible effects of their operations. The elements are intentionally flexible and may be adapted to address any size of operation or any vessel type. However, it should be noted that, although the standard is aimed at the shipboard occupational health and safety programmes, some of the elements address activities and commitments that must be completed or made by shore side personnel (e.g. executive management commitment and provision of adequate resources). Key to the effectiveness of the programme is the implementation of each element within an interconnected system.

3 Basic elements
3.1 Executive Management commitment and leadership. Executive management commitment and leadership is a precondition for an effective SOHSP. Executive management commitment and leadership includes, but is not limited to: (a) integrating occupational health and safety into the management structure and fabric of the company; (b) developing an occupational health and safety policy; (c) developing occupational health and safety objectives; (d) providing resources to achieve the objectives; (e) defining stewardship responsibilities, and providing authority to carry out those responsibilities, and (f) establishing accountability for occupational health and safety as a part of job performance reviews. Further guidance is provided in appendix 1.

3.2 Employee participation. Employees from all levels including crew members, officers, masters, persons in charge, and shore-side personnel should be directly involved with the SOHSP. Shipboard and shore-side employees should be involved in developing, implementing, evaluating, and modifying the SOHSP. Employees should also participate in setting occupational health and safety objectives and performance criteria. This involvement might be through employee membership on safety committees that provide input to management for the development of occupational health and safety policy, debate and set occupational health and safety goals, measure and evaluate performance, and recommend modifications to the programme based on their evaluation. Shore-side and shipboard employees should work together to achieve occupational health and safety goals. For example, shore side personnel should participate on vessel safety committees since their decisions affect vessel operations and ultimately the occupational health and safety of vessel personnel. In large companies, individual vessel safety committees might submit recommendations to an overarching safety committee that evaluates the recommendations and sets policy to apply appropriate recommendations to the entire fleet. Further guidance is provided in appendix 2.

3.3 Hazard anticipation, identification, evaluation and control. The core function of any occupational health and safety programme is prevention. Occupational health and safety hazards including fire, reactivity, chemical and physical hazards need to be anticipated and prevented from occurring. Hazards and unsafe operating procedures need to be identified and addressed so they will not endanger employees or the public, and will not damage the vessel, cargo or third party property. Potential hazards should be systematically anticipated, identified, evaluated and controlled. Tools such as job hazard analysis, industrial hygiene exposure assessments, and risk assessment/management methodologies enable the evaluation and control of hazards. Further guidance is provided in appendix 3.

3.4 Training. Employees should receive training appropriate for their duties and responsibilities so that they may work safely and not endanger their shipmates or the public. In addition, employees who have specific occupational health and safety responsibilities (generally supervisors with responsibility for the safety of others, but also non-supervisors who are assigned to safety committees or as crew member representatives) should receive training to enable them to carry out their occupational health and safety programme responsibilities. Further guidance is provided in appendix 4.

3.5 Record keeping. Company records sufficient to demonstrate the effectiveness of the occupational health and safety programme should be maintained. Data that enables trend or pattern analysis for root causes is particularly desirable. For example, results of audits that evaluate effectiveness of the occupational health and safety management programme should be maintained. Records that indicate industrial hygiene exposure assessments have been conducted and appropriate controls have been implemented should be maintained. Current job safety analyses and corresponding standard operating procedures with safe work practices should be documented. Injury and illness data should be maintained to enable the identification of trends and patterns that associate the injury or illness with a common cause, which can be addressed. Training topics, lesson outlines and attendees should be documented. Where appropriate, such records should permit evaluation of the programme on individual vessels as well as across an entire fleet. Further guidance is provided in appendix 5.

3.6 Contract or third party personnel. When contract or third party personnel are on board to perform work, vessel personnel should provide information regarding potential hazards on the vessel that may affect the contract or third party personnel. Potential hazards related to the work conducted by contract or third party personnel should be provided to the vessel owner/operator and/or the master/person-in-charge. Each employer should provide appropriate information regarding vessel and work hazards to their own employees. For example, exchange of information on chemical hazards might be accomplished by exchanging appropriate safety data sheets (SDS), then each employer can inform their own employees of the hazards identified in the SDS. Further guidance is provided in appendix 6.

3.7 Fatality, injury, illness and incident investigation. Personnel injuries, occupational illnesses, and “near miss” incidents should be promptly investigated. The current incident and other similar occurrences should be analysed to identify the primary (root) cause and any contributing factors.
The investigation report, setting forth primary cause, contributing factors, and corrective measures should be presented to management. Follow up action which specifically addresses the report's recommendations for corrective action should be undertaken and documented. Further guidance is provided in appendix 7.

3.8 Systematic programme evaluation and continuous improvement. Maintaining an effective occupational health and safety programme is an ongoing process. The SOHSP should have systems for detecting, reporting, and correcting non-conformities to the programme. Some type of “formalized” evaluation should also be conducted on a periodic basis consistent with other aspects of the vessel's management plan. The evaluation should determine whether the SOHSP is appropriate for the vessel and its operations, that actual practices are consistent with the programmes and procedures in the SOHSP, and that the SOHSP is effective. Comparison of data and records (refer to appendix 5, Record keeping) to performance objectives and criteria (refer to appendix 1, paragraph 3, health and safety objectives) can provide important indicators of the effectiveness of the SOHSP. Further guidance is provided in appendix 8.

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APPENDIX