SMS
The vessel's Safety Management System — controlled documents crew read and confirm on board, plus the safety forms and drills they file.
- Management
- Captain & crew
SMS is the vessel's Safety Management System area. It brings together two different kinds of record:
- Documents — the procedures, manuals and safety paperwork the crew read on board.
- Forms — the records the crew fill in and file against those procedures: checklists, drills, inspections and similar.
Open it from the vessel sidebar under SMS. Risk assessments and permits to work live in their own Risk Manager section in the sidebar.
What you see under SMS
Apart from Overview, the sub-items under SMS are categories named by your company, so they differ from one company to the next. In the order they appear:
- Overview — a combined view of the vessel's controlled documents (with their reading status) at the top and every SMS form submission on the vessel below.
- Uploaded document categories — categories of files uploaded on the vessel itself, with the number of documents in each.
- Controlled document categories — categories of controlled documents published by the company office, with the number assigned to the vessel. A category only appears once at least one of its documents has been assigned to the vessel.
- Form categories — one entry per SMS form category that has a template assigned to the vessel or past submissions in it. The number beside it counts the submissions filed there.
The two kinds of document page are easy to tell apart: an uploaded-document list has expiry dates, filter tabs and an Add New button, whereas a controlled-document list has All, Confirmed Reads and Missing Reads tabs and View and PDF actions on each row.
Who can see it
SMS only appears if the vessel's subscription includes the full ISM module, and only if there is something inside it for you. For crew members, visibility is then per category: you see a category only if your permissions cover that particular category, so two crew members on the same vessel can see a different set of entries. Captains, company users and viewers see every category.
Where the content comes from
Controlled documents and form templates are created and approved in the company office, not on the vessel, and then assigned to individual vessels. On the vessel, crew read the approved revision of a controlled document, confirm required reading when a policy asks for it, and file and sign form submissions.
Articles in SMS
- Comparing and Restoring Document VersionsHow to compare two versions of a controlled document side by side, step through the changes, and restore an older version as a new draft.
- Creating and Managing Controlled DocumentsCreating a controlled document, choosing its content type, editing its details, duplicating, moving or archiving it, and assigning it to vessels.
- Filing SMS Forms and DrillsCreating, editing and closing SMS form submissions, and using the Drill Matrix and its PDF export for drill forms.
- Missing SMS FormsHow the Missing tab decides that a required SMS form or drill is due or overdue, and how to file the one it is asking for.
- Password-Protected Controlled DocumentsWhy some controlled documents ask for your account password before they open, and how long the unlock lasts.
- Reading Controlled Documents on the VesselHow crew open, search, read, download and confirm required reading of the approved revision of a controlled document under SMS.
- Revisions and Approval of Controlled DocumentsThe draft, review and approval cycle that turns an edit into the revision crew see on board, and who is allowed to approve.
- Signing SMS FormsHow signature fields work on a form submission and what the Awaiting Signature tab is telling you.
- SMS Documents Uploaded on the VesselThe SMS categories that hold ordinary uploaded files with expiry dates, and how they differ from controlled documents.