scope:

Scope and Application

The ABS Guide for Marine Health, Safety, Quality, Environmental and Energy Management or the ABS Guide for Marine Management Systems in short, has been developed with the objective of assisting shipowners, managers, and operators to improve the safety, environmental and energy performance in the management and operation of ships. ABS recognizes the positive impact that sound management practices may have upon these areas of concern. This Guide provides the maritime industry with a model for implementation of an Integrated Management System covering these key issues.

This Guide is intended for the use of Companies operating all types of ships. Its requirements have been stated in general terms in order to have application to a wide variety of ship operations and management styles. (ISM Code 1.3)

The requirements of this Guide have been largely derived from the sound management system principles reflected in the requirements of the:

● ISM Code - International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention (also known as the "International Safety Management Code"),

● ISO 9001:2015 - Quality management systems - Requirements,

● ISO 14001:2015 - Environmental management systems - Requirements with guidance for use,

● ISO 50001:2018 - Energy Management Systems - Requirements with guidance for use

● ISO 45001:2018 - Occupational health and safety management systems - Requirements with guidance for use.

Though the requirements of this Guide have been intended to encompass the requirements of these referenced standards, users of this Guide are encouraged to obtain for themselves copies of these standards for reference. These standards and others associated with them, contain valuable information and guidance useful in understanding the fundamentals and implementation of viable management systems.

Though this Guide has been developed principally as a management system model for occupational health, safe operation, prevention of pollution, preservation of the environment, and improved energy performance, quality concerns are also addressed. While quality management focuses principally upon enhancing customer satisfaction and encouraging fulfillment of customer requirements for quality, ABS considers that the employment of quality principles can have a significant positive impact on achieving goals and objectives in the areas of safety and environmental management. The quality system requirements of this Guide provide prescriptions that are intended to help enhance a health, safety, environmental, and energy management system's effectiveness.

Note: This Guide has excluded section 8.3 of the ISO 9001:2015 standard, Design and Development of products and services. It is recommended that this element of the ISO standard should not be excluded from the Company's management system if they have any input to the design of a vessel they are building, intend to build or a vessel they are modifying to their specific requirements. Companies applying for certification to this Guide may not be required to have this element in the scope of their audit. No other exclusion to the requirements of this Guide is permitted.

This Guide is designed to facilitate a progressive approach to an integrated management system of occupational health, safety, quality, environmental and energy concerns. The Guide identifies requirements in five categories. The categories are identified to the left of the corresponding requirement by an "s", "q", "e", "h" or "En" and are explained below.

Requirements identified by an "s" are safety management requirements. These requirements are based mainly upon the requirements of the ISM Code but also include additional prescriptive requirements that ABS considers will enhance the goals and objectives to be achieved within this area. Safety management requirements provide the baseline requirements of this Guide and contain a number of requirements also applicable to quality, environmental, occupational health & safety, energy management. These "s" requirements are the baseline and must be implemented regardless of the notation(s) requested by the client.

Requirements identified by an "h" are occupational health & safety management requirements that shall be implemented together with the "s" requirements in order to properly manage both occupational health and safety management concerns. Occupational health requirements, in combination with a number of the safety requirements, address issues of concern embodied by ISO 45001:2018. Additionally, prescriptive requirements have been included that ABS considers can enhance the goals and objectives to be achieved within the combined areas of occupational health and safety management.

Requirements identified by a "q" are quality management requirements that shall be implemented together with the "s" requirements in order to properly manage both safety and quality management concerns. Quality management requirements in combination with a number of the safety requirements address issues of concern embodied by ISO 9001:2015. Additionally, prescriptive requirements have been included that ABS considers can enhance the goals and objectives to be achieved within the combined areas of safety and quality management.

Requirements identified by an "e" are environmental management requirements that shall be implemented in addition to the "s" requirements in order to properly manage both safety and environmental management concerns. Environmental management requirements in combination with a number of the safety management requirements address issues of concern embodied by ISO 14001:2015. Additionally, prescriptive requirements have been included that ABS considers can enhance the goals and objectives to be achieved within the areas of safety and environmental management. These requirements address environmental concerns from the perspectives of both regulatory compliance and proactive continual improvement of the management system and environmental performance.

Requirements identified by an "En" are energy management requirements that shall be implemented in addition to the "s" requirements in order to properly manage both safety and energy management concerns. Energy management requirements in combination with a number of the safety management requirements address issues of concern embodied by ISO 50001:2018. Additionally, prescriptive requirements have been included that ABS considers can enhance the goals and objectives to be achieved within the areas of safety and energy management.

Companies may choose to implement the combination of requirements suitable to their Company's goals, objectives and concerns. ABS encourages all companies to consider implementation of the Guide's requirements in their entirety as a comprehensive approach to health, safety quality, environmental and energy management.

The scope of certification chosen for the Company office should be implemented across all vessels in the fleet (see section 1.2 below). At least one vessel of each type within the scope of Company certification should be presented as a sample and should maintain certification to the same scope of certification as the Company's office.

As an aid to assisting clients with the implementation of a comprehensive approach, ABS has also produced the ABS Guidance Notes for the Investigation of Marine Incidents. While one goal of effective safety management is to reduce or eliminate incidents, accidents or near-misses, events may occur from time to time. Under such conditions, a Company is well served when it can learn from such events and use the lessons to minimize the potential for future losses. The ABS Guidance Notes for the Investigation of Marine Incidents outline how incidents can be investigated and their root causes determined. These Guidance Notes also provide forms and checklists for use during an investigation. These Guidance Notes can be downloaded from the ABS website at. Together with the Marine Health, Safety, Quality, Environmental and Energy Management Guide, the ABS Guidance Notes for the Investigation of Marine Incidents can be used to address a range of objectives of health, safety, quality, environmental and energy management programs.

Where the text in this Guide is taken directly from the cited standards, the word "shall" or "should" is to be taken to mean the same as "is to be" when certification to applicable notation(s) is requested.