Enforcing the ISM Code, and Improving Maritime Safety, with an Improved Corporate Manslaughter Act: A Safety Culture Theory Perspective

Abstract

The International Safety Management (ISM) Code was introduced in 1998 in response to a number of high-profile maritime disasters, with the aim of establishing minimum standards for the safe operation of ships and creating an enhanced safety culture. It was the first piece of legislation introduced by the International Maritime Organisation that demanded a change in the behaviour and attitude of the international maritime community. Whilst there is no doubt that the ISM Code has been successful at improving maritime safety, there is now an increasing problem with complacency. The aim of this thesis is to consider how complacency with the ISM Code in the UK can be tackled by using reformed corporate manslaughter legislation.

This thesis adopts a Safety Culture Theory approach and uses a multi-model research design methodology; a doctrinal model and a socio-legal model. The thesis hypothesis and the author's proposed corporate manslaughter reforms are tested through case studies and a survey.

The thesis proposes the introduction of secondary individual liability for corporate manslaughter, in addition to existing primary corporate liability. If the proposed provisions were to be implemented, a gap in the law would be filled and, for the maritime industry, both the ship company and its corporate individuals would be held accountable for deaths at sea that are attributable to non-implementation of the ISM Code. It is suggested that this would deter further ISM complacency and so encourage the ISM Code’s intended safety culture.
This thesis contributes to the intellectual advancement of the significant and developing interplay between criminal and maritime law, by adding to the scholarly understanding of the safety culture operating within the international maritime community, and examining how corporate manslaughter legislation could be used to improve implementation of the ISM Code. It offers sound research for consideration by legal researchers and scholars, and also by those working within the field of maritime safety regulation.