Ems 2009 03 - Iso 140012004 - Standard (ems) And Ism Code (sms) Comparison

EMS/CIR/2009/03 Prepared By - K T Cheong Approved By - B E Ang Date - 15Jul09

RE: ISO 14001:2004 STANDARD (EMS) AND ISM CODE (SMS) COMPARISON ISO 14001:20041 4.1 – General Requirements

ISM2 Preamble No. 6

4.2 – Environmental Policy

2 – Safety and Environmental Protection Policy

4.3.1 – Environmental Aspects

1.2.2.2 – Objective to safeguard against all identified risks.

4.3.2 – Legal and other requirements

1.2.3 – SMS ensures compliance with mandatory rules and regulations, also takes into account applicable codes, guidelines and standards.

4.3.3 – Objectives, targets and programme(s)

1.2.2 – Company’s objectives should include the provision of safe operational practices in a safe working environment, the establishment of safeguards against all identified risks, the continuous improvement of safety management skills and preparation for emergencies related to safety and pollution prevention. 3.3 – The company is responsible for ensuring that adequate resources and shorebased support are available.

4.4.1 – Resources, roles, responsibility and authority

4 –The designated person (or persons) is responsible for ensuring that those resources are applied as required.

Remarks3 The EMS requires the need for visible and demonstrable top management commitment. The EMS requires the need to include environmental requirements and a commitment to legal compliance and continual improvement. The EMS is not limited to ‘pollution prevention’ at sea but all environmental issues, both at sea and ashore. The EMS requires a formal procedure to identify and access all applicable legal and other requirements which cover all ship management and operation activities. The EMS requires the need to establish the company’s own objectives as a means of achieving continual improvement, as well as the associated management programmes which provide for their achievement.

The SMS and EMS are very similar at the operational level. However, EMS goes beyond pollution prevention. It requires awareness and training to go beyond statutory regulations and include non-statutory best practice and environmental improvement programmes in line with the company’s EMS scope and environmental policy.

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See EMS/CIR/2009/02. See ISM Code. 3 Reference: Environmental Management Systems – ISO 14001 A Practical Pack for Ship Operators. 2

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4.4.2 – Competence, training 6 – Resources and Personnel and awareness 4.4.3 – Communication

4.4.4 – Documentation

1.4, 2.2, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11 and 12 contain requirements relating to internal reporting and communication in relation to specific areas of operational management. 1.1.4 – Safety Management System means a structured and documented system.

4.4.5 – Control of documents

11 – Documentation

4.4.6 – Operational control

7 – Development of Plans for Shipboard Operations

4.4.7 – Emergency preparedness and response

8 – Emergency Preparedness

4.5.1 – Monitoring and Measurement

4 – Designated Person(s)

4.5.2 – Evaluation of compliance

12 – Company Verification, Review and Evaluation

The EMS is more specific in its requirements, particularly relating to significant environmental aspects. Most responsible and professional companies have a communications policy and Strategy. This clause is additional to the requirements of the ISM Code. New procedures required by ISO 14001 should be created, and where existing SMS elements contribute to the EMS, these should be identified and a suitable link and signposting between the two should be established. There are few differences between the ISM Code and ISO 14001, but the Standard requires more records. The main additional requirement by EMS is to provide a clear link between the controls in place and the identified significant environmental aspects and vice versa. ISO 14001 requires that emergency preparedness and response procedures are periodically reviewed, particularly after the occurrence of accidents and emergency situations. ISO 14001 covers all locations, on board and on shore, so environmental performance at all locations needs to be included. Furthermore, the environmental aspects addressed by the EMS will exceed those in the ISM pollution prevention procedures, so there will be more key characteristics to be considered by the EMS. All legal and other requirements need to be evaluated for compliance, at all locations covered by the EMS, on board vessels and on shore. These will include ports and terminals

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4.5.3 – Nonconformity, corrective action and preventive action

9 – Reports and Analysis of Non-conformities, Accidents and Hazardous Occurrences

4.5.4 – Control of records

11 – Documentation

4.5.5 – Internal audit

12 – Company Verification, Review and Evaluation

4.6 – Management Review

12.2 - The Company should periodically evaluate the efficiency and when needed review the SMS in accordance with procedures established by the Company.

visited by the company’s ships where environmental operations take place ie waste transfers, drydocking activities. EMS requires a more proactive approach to identifying potential sources of non-conformity and preventing both potential and recurring problems. There are few differences between the ISM Code and ISO 14001, but the Standard requires more records. EMS audits go beyond verifying compliance of the SMS and pollution prevention arrangements. They need to verify the adequacy, effectiveness and suitability of the EMS as a means of supporting continual improvement of the EMS and enhancing environmental performance. This is the key part of the evaluation process and goes back to the starting place where top management provided commitment. It is at the management review (usually held annually)4 that performance of the EMS is reviewed, policy is revisited and confirmed as still appropriate, and general progress with continual improvement is assessed.

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This is held quarterly in our company. Page 3 of 3