TankerManagementSelfAssessment(TMSA)

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Contents
1Introduction
2Theselfassessmentprocess
3TMSAObjectives
4References

Introduction
OCIMF(TheOilCompaniesInternationalMarineForum),throughitsbestpracticeguideTanker
ManagementandSelfAssessment(TMSA),haschallengedtankerownersandoperatorstoevaluate
theirapproachtotheISMCode,toimprovetheirmanagementsystemsandtodemonstrateastrong
commitmenttosafetyandenvironmentalexcellence.TheTMSAguideprovidesastandardframework
toassessashipoperatorsmanagementsystems.TheTankerManagementandSelfAssessmentguideisa
toolcreatedbytheOCIMFtohelpshipoperatorsmeasureandimproveontheirmanagementsystems.
TheTMSAprovidesastandardframeworktoassessashipoperatorsmanagementsystem.Themain
conceptisforthetankeroperatortoaudittheirownoperationalsafety,qualityandenvironmental
procedures.TheOCIMFhasdetailed12selfassessmentelementsthatcompaniescanfollowto
demonstratetheircommitmenttocontinuousimprovementinsafetyandenvironmentalexcellence
withinthetankerindustry.
The12elementsare:
management,leadershipandaccountability
recruitmentandmanagementofshorebasedpersonnel
recruitmentandmanagementofshipspersonnel
reliabilityandmaintenancestandards
navigationalsafety
cargoballastingandmooringoperations
managementofchange
incidentinvestigationandanalysis
safetymanagement
environmentalmanagement
emergencypreparednessandcontingencyplanning
measurement,analysisandimprovement.
Companieswhicharecompliantandconsistentwiththeirreportingshouldseebeneficialresultsfrom
charterersandareductioninsomeinspectiontimes.Charterersarelookingforeverincreasingstandards
andparticularlyduringdifficulteconomictimes,theyhavealotofchoiceofsuppliers.Wherethereisa
choice,thereneedstobecleardifferentiators.Highevidencebasedstandardsareoneofthekey
differentiatorsandallowsomemovementawayfrompurelypricebasednegotiations.

Theselfassessmentprocess

Reportingandpracticemustbeconsistent!Thereisariskandthishappensinotherindustriestoo
thattheselfassessmentprocessisflawedbybeingviewedasasoftoption.Theassessmentis
sometimes,whatcanwegetawaywith?orwhatstherightanswer?ormaybewhatsanassessor
mostlikelytoassess?Noneofthesequestionsaretruetothespiritoftheselfassessmentprocess.
TheTMSAhasnowbeenaroundformorethan6yearsandduringthattimetherehasbeenanhuge
amountofextraadministrativeandlegislativeburden,sothetemptationmaybestrongtofillinthe
rightanswersandhope:Almostasatimemanagementissueasmuchasanythingelse.Oneofthekey
benefitsoftheselfassessmentsystemisthatitshouldleadtoasimplertypeofinspectionwherethe
assessorchoosesoneortwoitemsforinspectionandexaminesreportedselfassessmentagainst
observablepracticeandevidence.Aslongasthereisconsistencytheassessorismostlikelytobe
satisfied.Shouldtherebeagapbetweenthereporteditemsandwhatisobserved,itismorelikelytolead
tomoreindepthassessmentandnoncompliances.
ThehumanelementofpeoplemanagementanddevelopmentiskeytoanumberoftheTMSAelements
andthathasbeenwhereIhavehelpedcompaniestraintheirleadershipgroups,shipsstaffandshore
basedteams.Acommonthemethatrunsthroughmanyofthesegroupsisthattheyaremainlycommand
andcontrolstructures.Whilstanumberofcompanies,andcertainindividuals,wouldagreethatthatis
THEwayitshouldbe,thereareunintendedconsequences.
Therehavebeenanumberofdisastersandincidentsovertheyearswheretheimpacthasbeengreater
thanitneededtobe.Inonecasewherethereweremanysoulslost,theinvestigationheardreportsthat
'thewordofthecaptainwaslikethewordofGod',meaningthatitwasneverquestioned.Properand
maturemodernmanagementmethodsallowforall'words'tobequestioned.Particularlyifthereexists
anydoubtinunderstandingorifthetechnicianisawareofanissuewhichmaycausetheinstructionto
beunsafe.
Acommandandcontrolenvironmentworksbestinemergenciesandcrises.Itisnottherighttimeto
haveadiscussionduringthosetimes.Itliterallyis'allhandsondeck'.Thetimeofcrisis,however,can
beplannedfor:Withdrills,asitiswithissuessuchasevacuationandwithskillstrainingboth
technicalandsoftskills.Inthiswaycommandisstillrespectedbutcontrolisexercisedwithafuller
understandingandpracticeoftherights,rolesandresponsibilitiesofallstaffandcrew.
Sometimestheissueisoneofnationalorgroupcultureandtherelationshipithaswithanothergroup.
Themodernmanagementofthehumanelementhastolookforanddemonstratewaysthatallcultural
groupsandrelationshipshavebeenencouragedtodevelopandcooperate.Thisofcoursemake
completesense.Betterdevelopedandcooperativestaffbringbetterresults,havefeweraccidentsand
contributetothewellbeingoftheirfellowcrew.

TMSAObjectives
Tomakeastandardframeworkforassessmentsoftheoperatorsmanagementsystemandtobeconsistent
aboutit.Toprovideclarityinthecompanyspolicies,streamlinetoensurethatthesesystemsareknown
&implementedthroughouttheorganization.i.e.everylevel.Tomakeplans,procedures&systemsto
achievetheorganizationsobjectives.Tocheck,toevaluateandtocreatefeedbacksystemsfromresults
obtained.Todefinetargetsandfocustheeffortsonareaswheremaximumbenefitsandimprovements
canobviouslybeobtained.Toreducetheriskofincidentsandaccidentsinvolvingthreattohumanlife,
theenvironment,thecargoandtheshipandherequipment
ElementsfromISM,ISO9001,ISO14001&OHSAS18001areintegratednewrequirementsaresetor
existingareenhancedpersonnelqualificationsarereenforcedbenchmarking,performancetargetsand
progressmeasurementarerequestedmanagementofchangeishighlighted

References
AnoverviewanddiscussionbyMossWestwood(http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/moss
westwood/11/2b6/b1b),UKbasedLearningandOrganisationalDevelopmentConsultantandSkills
Trainer,whohasworkedwithsomeoftheleadingTankerandMarinecompaniesintheworld
mosswestwood@yahoo.co.uk(mailto:mosswestwood@yahoo.co.uk)
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