ISM in Practice
The Safety Management System in practice: 19 topics covering responsibilities, certification, audits, risk management and continual improvement, with crew safeguards, cyber risk, MASS and TMSA self-assessment.
Operational explanations, references, examples, common mistakes, checklists and FAQs for learning and reference. Each topic distinguishes applicable requirements from guidance, Company choices and future developments; for operational use, check flag rules, authorisations and the ship's procedures.
Managing a Non-Conformity (NC)
How a non-conformity is opened, classified and formally closed within the Safety Management System — the heart of the ISM Code's continuous improvement cycle.
Reporting a Near Miss
A near miss is the most valuable and hardest-to-collect piece of information: how to build a reporting culture that does not punish the person who reports.
Management Review
The periodic evaluation through which the Company checks SMS effectiveness and decides how to improve resources, procedures and results.
Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA)
The action that truly closes the loop: what the ISM Code actually requires — corrective action under Section 9 — and where the CAPA cycle used by many Companies comes from instead.
Internal SMS Audit
How to plan and conduct the internal audit the ISM Code requires at intervals not exceeding twelve months — and how to make it a useful tool, not just a formality.
Designated Person Ashore (DPA)
The link between ship and senior management: the DPA’s functions, direct access and the support the Company must provide.
Document of Compliance (DOC) and Safety Management Certificate (SMC)
The two certificates that make ISM compliance tangible: what they attest, who issues them, when they must be renewed, and what happens if they expire or are suspended.
Crew Familiarisation and Training
From qualification to ship-specific knowledge: familiarisation before assigned duties and essential instructions before sailing.
Emergency Preparedness and Contingency Plan
Having a written emergency plan is not enough: the ISM Code requires proof, through regular drills, that the crew could really carry it out.
Handling Seafarer Complaints (MLC 2006)
Every ship subject to the MLC must have a fair, effective and expeditious on-board complaint procedure. The MLC sets no deadlines in days: the flag State's law and the company procedure do, and those are what a PSCO checks against.
Management of Change (MoC)
Assess a change before introducing it: risks, approvals, people and documents, using a process proportionate to the change.
Contractor and External Supplier Management
Anyone who comes aboard without being crew brings a risk somebody must have assessed: how external suppliers are qualified and monitored, and for which category of them approval is not the Company's choice.
Whistleblowing and Anonymous Reporting of Non-Conformities
Reporting safety concerns needs accessible channels, confidentiality and clearly defined safeguards. MLC complaints, SMS reporting and whistleblowing may overlap, but they do not automatically share the same legal scope or a universal anonymity requirement.
Prevention of Violence and Harassment Onboard
From 1 January 2026, mandatory PSSR training includes for the first time a specific competence on preventing and responding to violence, sexual harassment, bullying and sexual assault on board.
Master's Authority and Safety Culture
The Master's authority is not a hierarchical formality: the ISM Code requires it to be explicitly defined, documented and recognized as overriding any other pressure, including commercial ones.
Crew Fatigue: The IMO 2026-2027 Review Process
Fatigue management is already part of safe operations: adequate manning, effective rest and reliable records. The ongoing IMO review examines the effectiveness of the existing framework; it does not defer present duties until 2027.
Cyber Risk Management in the SMS (MSC.428(98))
The ISM Code has never had a dedicated cyber risk chapter: Resolution MSC.428(98) affirms that an approved SMS should take it into account under the objectives and functional requirements of the Code, and encourages Administrations to check it from 2021.
Autonomous Ships (MASS): the Company's Responsibility under the SMS
Autonomous or remote operations need explicit roles and operating conditions: the Company, Master and remote centre are not interchangeable. The non-mandatory MASS Code provides a framework to coordinate with ISM, authorisations and the ship's concept of operations.
TMSA: the Company's self-assessment, not the ship's
TMSA is OCIMF's Company management self-assessment: 13 elements, 266 KPIs and four cumulative levels. Declared attainment must reflect actual implementation, not just available documents; sharing with third parties requires the relevant permissions.
Last substantive revision of this page: 3 September 2026 · page fingerprint 876f9aaf686c