Kit to help commercial vessel owners meet safety deadline

A resource kit to assist industry and commercial vessel operators comply with revised operational safety requirements has been launched by The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) and the University of Tasmania's Australian Maritime College (AMC).

From 1 July 2015, operators of all passenger and hire and drive vessels will need to have a safety management system (SMS) and comply with the revised standard under the National System for Domestic Commercial Vessels, which was introduced in 2013. For operators of non-passenger and fishing vessels, they will not be affected until July next year.

AMSA Deputy CEO Gary Prosser said the safety requirements would be the same across the commercial vessel industry in every state by next year and it is therefore important and timely to develop an SMS now.

"Developing an SMS is about identifying and controlling risks, and providing assurance the risk controls are effective," said Prosser.

AMSA and AMC have together created the Commercial Vessels Risk and Safety Management workshop, which provides hands-on training on how to create and implement a tailored SMS.

"The workshops provide vessel operators and their crews the information they need to create an SMS that works for their vessel and their business,” said Prosser.

AMC Safety and Survival Instructor Phillip Lenthall said the collaboration in developing the training resource kit would be particularly beneficial for smaller operators.

"For some vessels, with company support and infrastructure behind them there are resources to create a safety plan, but for smaller operators it can be a more difficult task," Lenthall said.

AMC is delivering the workshop through relevant courses at its Launceston campus.

"Including SMS requirements in our course materials helps to build a safety culture in the domestic commercial vessel industry."

Industry bodies can nominate people interested in delivering the new workshop, who can be trained by participating in a train-the-trainer development session conducted by AMSA or AMC. For more information on the National System for Domestic Commercial Vessels, visit www.amsa.gov.au/domestic/.