Achieving and maximizing ISM code compliance with ISO 14001

Abstract

AbstractThis summer, July 1, 1997, to be exact, marks the deadline for compliance with the International Code for the Safe Management of Ships and Pollution Prevention (ISM Code or simply the Code) as set forth in Chapter IX of the Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS). As widely reported, enforcement officials in the United States, Australia, and other major flag and port states are promising stepped‐up criminal enforcement of marine pollution laws and “zero tolerance” for non‐compliance with the ISM Code. The Department of Justice has highlighted this area in enforcement policy announcements, including a statement by the Assistant Attorney General last autumn.1 Especially given Justice's recent indictments of vessel owners for modest pollution events and these new admonitions, prudent vessel owners will be striving to meet the SOLAS timetable. For shipping firms discerning enough to have successfully navigated a course to certification, the issue instead will be how to sustain safety and environmental management improvement and build on this excellence to advance a broader range of objectives. This article will show how firms in either position may find inspiration in ISO 14001—the environmental management system (EMS) specification developed by the International Organization for Standardization.