Last May, I took a course to become a Lead Auditor for ISM and ISO9000.

The introduction to the course and indeed the course itself was fascinating. We were 15 students. I was the only woman, my classmates all male with seagoing experience and all ages and nationalities. Greek, Polish, Irish, Ukrainian, Norwegian, German, English, Israeli, we were a multinational group, a mini Babel Tower or perhaps to put it more bluntly, the typical multinational crew aboard ships nowadays. The good news is that we all understood each other very well, and amongst us, we had a vast experience to share and our discussions were always very interesting and fruitful.

During the course, I acquired knowledge on ISO9000 and the ISM Code, and began to understand the practical aspect of auditing and the responsibility involved in it. The ISM Code is a system required to be implemented in order to document and prove that all the procedures on ship management, navigation, crewing, etc. are done properly and are documented as such.

For example, it is not sufficient to see entries in a logbook indicating that every 3rd Monday of each month the fire drill was practised, and was therefore logged. We as auditors have the duty to check and ensure that these fire drills actually took place. How can this be done? Check with the crew, ask questions, see if really these drills were really done and not recorded only to satisfy a requirement of the Code. During a practical exercise, we observed that a captain was very strict and he had the Quality Manual locked away. How does the crew know what to do and what not to do if the reference manual was locked up?

In another exercise, a new crew took over a ship. They did not have time to familiarise themselves with the ship, therefore there was a major non-conformity. How would this crew be able to cope given the case that the new ship was a bulk carrier and most of the crew were experienced on tankers? It was these sort of arguments that were thrown at us.

But what are the virtues of an auditor? Well I could start by mentioning confidentiality. An auditor should never make comparisons or comments to other clients, an auditor always should be prepared and know the subject material, and should learn thoroughly about the client. An auditor should control the Audit, should assist where there is a misunderstanding, should listen to what is being said, should observe good business ethics, obtain evidence, should compliment the auditee and should be concise.

On the other side of the coin, what could be the sins of an auditor? An auditor should never be sarcastic, should never argue, never discuss personalities, drink alcohol before or during an audit, discuss the client’s company policy, never be late, be side tracked, swear, discuss religion or politics.

As you can see, an auditor should have an exemplary conduct. The responsibility of an auditor when assessing a company applying for a DOC, or a ship, for a SMC is a matter of great importance. The future of the Company will be in the result of these audits. The auditor should be a complete professional in order to be able to execute his responsibility and exercise his authority.

After gaining qualification, and before being recognised as a full IRCA member, auditors must have a practical period. I took my first assignment as an auditor, sitting on the shipowner's side. This gave me the opportunity to study in detail and learn from the lead auditor auditing the company. The company passed with flying colours, no "minor" or "major" non compliances were found, not even a recommendation was suggested...It was a definitive YES! As a consequence, a DOC was issued, and the vessel was able to trade and earn her keep.

Although I had been reading and learning extensively during the past months about the ISM Code and its implications, my knowledge was centred on the requirements of the Code itself and the requirements for companies and ships to obtain a DOC and a Certificate. It was until my first practical experience that I realised that, nobody had actually written about the difficulties, pressures, stress and anxieties that owners and operators, masters and crew are all going through, in order to obtain the document or certificate which will be the difference between trading or not.

Maria Dixon
ISM Auditor
maria@ismshipping.com