Safety Management in Shipping was mandated by the ISM Code in 1998. After all these years of implementation, shipping is now moving to the ‘2nd generation’– those that were ‘brought up’ in the ISM era. It is crucial that these seafarers embrace the benefits offered. To achieve this it is imperative that the system must remain dynamic, learning, and considerate to their evolving needs. Shipping remains dynamic with new regulations, increasing diversity of seafarers and training application and safety culture. Regulations are continually changing and adding to the burden of ever-evolving technology. Manning costs drive tough decisions for a safe balance. An aging ‘experienced’ seafarer and superintendent synergy gives way to less hands-on diverse seafarers.

Management systems have evolved in step, following usually the knee-jerk response of more detailed procedures following root cause analysis. Safety Management systems become procedurally over weight and their effectiveness, understanding, and application leave much lost in translation. The urgency for Management of Company Experience and Knowledge cannot be understated. Tough times do not afford the luxury to devote time and effort to important business considerations such as succession planning and knowledge consolidation as needs increase exponentially due to an aging and dwindling experience pool.

At FourEm Konform, we believe that management of Safety Management is a specialised task utilising key analytical tools parsed with a deep understanding of the company and the larger context of shipping to be able to find Affective solutions that not only last, but also provide the foundation for consolidation and improvement. That it is important to acknowledge and move away from the one-size-fits-all approach widely adopted in shipping. It is time to acknowledge the cultural shift that must be take into consideration when planning and implementing well-meaning initiatives and programs if these are to be effective and provide value to the organisation.

An effective, adequate, and value-adding preventative and improvement system must establish specific strategies based on business context and purpose combined with process-based structure enhanced by risk-based approaches to identify leading indicators, manage emerging risk, change, new ventures, regulations. Personnel are key to this transformation and establishment of a safe and sustainable culture, effectively implemented with passion and commitment, and continually monitored for improvement. Seize the benefits of a structured, consistent, ever-learning management cycle that continually improves. Too often, even with the best of intentions, organizations adopt piece-meal measures without realising the impact and reactions to related processes and without a company-wide approach. Numerous studies have shown this to be true. There is a struggle to realize intended outcomes due to lack of understanding of resources, motivation, communication, training, monitoring etc.