3 VERIFYING COMPLIANCE WITH THE ISM CODE

  3.1 General

  3.1.1 To comply with the requirements of the ISM Code, companies should develop, implement and maintain a documented safety management system to ensure that the safety and environmental protection policy of the Company is implemented. The Company policy should include the objectives defined by the ISM Code.

  3.1.2 Administrations should verify compliance with the requirements of the ISM Code by determining:

• .1 the conformity of the Company's safety management system with the requirements of the ISM Code; and

• .2 that the safety management system ensures that the objectives defined in paragraph 1.2.3 of the ISM Code are met.

  3.1.3 Determining the conformity or non-conformity of safety management system elements with the requirements specified by the ISM Code may demand that criteria for assessment be developed. Administrations are recommended to limit the development of criteria in the form of prescriptive management system solutions. Criteria for assessment in the form of prescriptive requirements may have the effect that safety management in shipping results in companies implementing solutions prepared by others, and it may then be difficult for a Company to develop the solutions which best suit that particular Company, operation or ship. Therefore, particular operations should be ship specific and fully reflected in manuals, procedures and instructions.

  3.1.4 Therefore, Administrations are recommended to ensure that these assessments are based on determining the effectiveness of the safety management system in meeting specified objectives, rather than conformity with detailed requirements in addition to those contained in the ISM Code, so as to reduce the need for developing criteria to facilitate assessment of the companies' compliance with the Code.

  3.2 Ability of the safety management system to meet general safety management objectives

 The ISM Code identifies general safety management objectives in section 1.2.2. The verification should support and encourage companies in achieving these objectives, which provide clear guidance to companies for the development of safety management system elements in compliance with the ISM Code. However, the ability of the safety management system to achieve these objectives cannot be determined beyond whether the safety management system complies with the requirements of the ISM Code. Therefore, the objectives should not form the basis for establishing detailed interpretations to be used for determining conformity or non-conformity with the requirements of the ISM Code.

  3.3 Ability of the safety management system to meet specific requirements of safety and pollution prevention

  3.3.1 The main criterion which should govern the development of interpretations needed for assessing compliance with the requirements of the ISM Code should be the ability of the safety management system to meet the specific requirements defined by the ISM Code in terms of specific standards of safety and pollution prevention. The specific standards of safety and protection of the environment are specified in section 1.2.3 of the ISM Code.

  3.3.2 All records having the potential to facilitate verification of compliance with the ISM Code should be open to scrutiny during an examination. These may include records from delegated SMS tasks. For this purpose, the Administration should ensure that the Company provides auditors with statutory and classification records relevant to the actions taken by the Company to ensure that compliance with mandatory rules and regulations is maintained. In this regard the records may be examined to substantiate their authenticity and veracity.

  3.3.3 Some mandatory requirements may not be subject to statutory or classification surveys, such as:

• .1 maintaining the condition of ship and equipment between surveys; and

• .2 certain operational requirements.

  3.3.4 Specific arrangements may be required to ensure compliance with the ISM Code and to provide the objective evidence needed for verification in these cases, such as:

• .1 documented procedures and instructions;

• .2 documentation of the verification carried out by senior officers of day-to-day operations when relevant to ensure compliance; and

• .3 relevant records of the ships being operated by the Company, e.g. flag State records, port State controls, class and accident reports.

  3.3.5 The verification of compliance with mandatory rules and regulations, which is part of the ISM Code certification, neither duplicates nor substitutes surveys for other maritime certificates. The verification of compliance with the ISM Code does not relieve the Company, the master or any other entity or person involved in the management or operation of the ship of their responsibilities.

  3.3.6 Administrations should ensure that the Company has:

• .1 taken into account the recommendations, as referred to in paragraph 1.2.3.2 of the ISM Code, when establishing and maintaining the safety management system; and

• .2 developed procedures to ensure that these recommendations are implemented ashore and on board.