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General safety obligation

As the fundamental principle of the Transport Operations (Marine Safety) legislation, the general safety obligation transfers the responsibility of safety to owners and operators and encourages risk management. The Transport Operations (Marine Safety) Act 1994 imposes general safety obligations on:

• ship designers, builders and surveyors about the condition of ships
• persons involved with the operation of a ship to operate it safely
• owners and masters about safety equipment.

All owners and operators, masters and crew members must ensure the ship is:

• safe
• properly equipped and crewed
• operated in a safe manner.

These general safety obligations prohibit a ship from going to sea if it is not properly built and maintained, equipped, crewed and operated in accordance with its proposed operating environment.

The Transport Operations (Marine Safety) Act 1994 provides penalties for breach of safety obligations.