TECHNICAL RESOURCES

Is ISO What I Think It Is?

“ISO 9000: Practical Consideration Towards Ship Operators Classification”

Author:  James Dolan

Published:  1994

Presented at the Ship Operations, Management and Economics Symposium, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy

In the days before the Exxon Valdez and shortly thereafter it had become apparent that ship maintenance and safety was not evenly applied across the worldwide merchant marine fleet, and this topic became a subject of discussion at IMO.

IMO started thinking in terms of quality and safety management systems.  These concepts had been developed in the United States and were adopted in Japan after World War II.  They were very successfully applied in Japan and were one of the causes of the Japanese miracle of the 70’s and 80’s.  In turn, these concepts were introduced in Europe and formalized as ISO standards.  These concepts were next incorporated in what has become ISM, the International Safety Management System.

This paper by Jim Dolan, who was heavily involved in the development of these regulations, is one of the early introductions of the concept to the American Shipping community.

To download the full paper click this link:  ISO_9000