The committee of experts were invited to rate their company’s SMS harmonization level with an extract of questions provided by Prevention at Sea from the H.EL.M.E.T. framework. This exercise, was based on the Delphi method and aimed to measure the industry’s current SMS manuals’ alignment with the H.EL.M.E.T. framework which entails the following:

1. availability of appropriate mechanisms / processes
2. SMS is fleet specific
3. responsibilities / accountabilities are clearly communicated
4. dissemination of information amongst the organisation (office/fleet) is successful
5. critical thinking / “open” dialogue is promoted
6. building awareness and skills evaluation
7. continuous improvement
8. recognition of the importance of the human element in promoting a safe business culture within the organisation
   The results were converted to weights and have been implemented in the H.EL.M.E.T. questionnaire.