UNIT LEVEL EVIDENCE AND RESEARCH STRATEGY – MCA EVIDENCE AND RESEARCH PROGRAMME 2008-9
This strategy updates and supersedes the MCA’s 2007-8 Evidence and Research Strategy. It seeks to give an overview of the management and direction of the MCA’s Maritime Research Programme. Why do we have a Maritime Research Programme? MCA’s Evidence and Research Programme aims to:
MCA seeks to achieve those aims through a strategically managed Programme.
OBJECTIVES The MCA Evidence and Research Programme flows from and feeds into the wider context of transport related research as set out in DfT’s Evidence and Research Strategy. Included in that wider context are cross-cutting issues (for example safety & security, climate change, integrated systems). Research programmes need to reflect the impact of the Eddington and Stern agenda and to be managed in such a way as to ensure close coordination, efficient communication and effective cooperation. The MCA needs research evidence in order to achieve its business objectives of working towards safer lives, safer ships and cleaner seas, securing the knowledge and credibility needed to develop effective marine safety policies and standards. (For examples of Ministerial/business plan targets, see under ‘Evidence Needs/Meeting Targets’ below.) The Programme seeks collaboration where appropriate with other Government Departments and national organisations and EU member states as part of our strategy of spreading the contributor base, sharing benefits and reducing duplication of effort. Evidence and Research drivers The MCA’s Programme of projects serves to address the needs of one or more of the following drivers:
Types of evidence These priorities and drivers demand evidence to be gained from a range of sources and a variety of means. The evidence may be:
Monitoring of objectives The MCA seeks high standards and quality outcomes. It is important to ensure that the Programme deals effectively with the objectives and drivers; the Research Advisory Committee (RAC), supported by the Research Steering Committee, provides the ‘oversight and audit’ on the Programme’s objectives and our ability to fulfill policy or Ministerial targets effectively. The RAC, with its external membership, enables regular, objective review of MCA’s evidence needs, research strategy and objectives, and performance. EVIDENCE NEEDS The MCA’s evidence needs are triggered by the drivers already described and existing evidence relating to those needs is explored by whatever means is appropriate (through networking, Internet etc) at the point when the need arises. Where it is clear that work has already been conducted in a particular area, research will begin with a study or search of existing data/results so as to determine the scope of the proposed research. A number of the evidence and research projects may be linked to a particular incident or policy area where the extent of the existing evidence and research is known to have gaps (e.g. cargo lashings for cargo carried on deck), or where proposed legislation needs to be tested out (e.g. stability and passenger evacuation times). MCA Evidence and Research Programme priority areas MCA’s Research Programme supports the achievement of the DfT corporate aims, as set out in the Evidence Research Strategy (ERS). Five strategic themes have been developed from those corporate aims and MCA’s research supports in particular the themes of a) safety and security Research priority areas therefore reflect both the MCA’s primary functions and the DfT’s strategic themes. They are:
Safety and environmental impact, identified in the Evidence Research Strategy (ERS), as key to the work of the Department as a whole, are equally fundamental to the maritime sector. We have a duty to help improve safety and thereby reduce the number of maritime accidents that contribute to pollution. Of the six primary functions listed above, research over the past three years has addressed needs identified mainly in the areas of accident prevention, vessel safety and environmental protection. These trends look set to continue for 2008-9, as indicated below. Meeting targets and short / long term needs Short to medium term planning is done through the Annual Plan, which includes Ministerial targets. The MCA Business Plan is drawn from the Agency’s Framework Document for long term objectives, and the Government’s CSR07 Service Transformation Agreement and PSA Delivery Agreements 5, 27 & 28. These in turn frame the DfT Business Plan. A DfT MCA White Paper is due in May 08 but not in time to be reflected here. Ministerial targets and other work strands are framed in a way that means they can be rolled forward over several years, moving away from the one year targets previously set and which were difficult to meet and implement in just 12 months. For 2008-9, Ministerial Development Targets are: MT1. Maintain the quality of the maritime emergency coordination and response by the Coastguard. MT2. Helicopters tasked to respond to incidents will be airborne within 15 minutes during daylight hours and 45 minutes at night in at least 98% of cases. MT3. Meet the internationally required target to inspect 25% of foreign vessels in UK ports under PSC arrangements, with an increasing emphasis on inspecting available ships judged to be high risk. MT4. Maintain the quality of the UK Ship Register by reducing the level of deficiencies recorded on UK ships inspected abroad, and maintain a position on the Paris MOU white list which is comparable to registers of a similar size and reputation. MT5. As a category 1 responder, continue to meet the provisions of the Civil Contingencies Act, including increased engagement with Local Resilience Forums. MT6. Respond promptly to potential and actual pollution from ships around the UK coast. These are high level and operational targets, which address our commitment to service delivery. The role of our research programme is to ensure that any evidence gaps identified in these areas are filled. In addition, the MCA has a number of three year work strands, cross-cutting priorities agreed with Ministers. These include seafarer fatigue, improved attitudes and behaviour in the fishing industry, safety awareness in the sport, leisure and recreation sectors (including a coherent approach to promoting the wearing of lifejackets), and a long term strategy for vessel traffic management. The scope of the 2008-09 Programme therefore aims to begin addressing these work strands, while ensuring that we remain committed to protecting the environment. The UK is proud of its safety record of ships on the UK Ship Register, but in order to maintain those standards, we need to ensure that design innovations meet safety standards, and that safety standards are in turn appropriate and relevant to new vessel design developments, without stifling technological advances and improvements. For example, we are investigating the safety of ro ro passenger ships fitted with long lower holds against the new SOLAS regulations. Another project is looking to produce an industry standard for the survey, inspection and maintenance of composite structures used in the masts and spars of large yachts. Preventing accidents is key to meeting the targets listed above. Aware of the role of the ‘human element’ in accidents, we continue to commission research into such areas as the cause of navigational errors leading to incidents and accidents at sea. Government encourages the use of risk assessment in determining how, when and where to regulate. MCA is working toward ensuring that approach underpins its policy and regulatory work. As well as continuing to collect statistics in connection with the maritime leisure industry in order to improve the targeting of our search and rescue and education resources, we are working on a assessment of the risk of introducing marine non- native species via biofouling on vessels entering our waters. Further evidence gaps, to be tackled through research in 2008-9, include, in the area of environmental protection/counter pollution, a perceived gap in understanding the Review of currently available models and monitoring techniques for hazardous and noxious substances in the marine environment. There are possibilities for collaboration (Energy Institute, ITOPF, OSRL). This is in addition to the ongoing project on Control of the Spread of Non Indigenous Species through Ballast Water. We are also undertaking research into the development of a protocol for the design, build and operation of an Oily Waste Processing Plant. Focus on climate change and the need to find more environmentally friendly means of propulsion have led to a proposal to quantify environmental benefits and safety issues of fuel cell propulsion and deliver evidence that would inform the regulatory process for vessels using fuel cells and other systems requiring the carriage of hydrogen. Under vessel safety, the current review of Domestic Passenger ships has triggered a proposal to develop an equivalent standard for FRP and wooden structures under Directive 98/18/EC. Research into intact and damaged stability and the safety of RO-RO passenger ships continues. Further evidence is needed to inform the work being carried out on SOLAS 2009, introducing the requirement for new ships to have probabilistic damaged stability rather than deterministic damaged stability assessments and research to support the UK contribution to the debate will be proposed. In January 2008, the ‘ICE PRINCE’ grounded and its cargo of timber shifted, making the vessel even more unstable. A collaborative project on Cargo Lashings is already underway, working with MARIN of the Netherlands. The first quarter of 2008 has seen an unprecedented number of serious incidents affecting commercial vessels in UK waters, stressing the vulnerability of shipping and emphasising the increasing need for research into vessel safety which will protect the environment, ecology and the UK economy. Longer term evidence needs may also be determined by surveys that reveal a gap in our information or a weakness in policy. For example, although we have identified that a significant cause of accidents is machinery failure, and MCA will continue to work toward particular prevention strategies in that area, man and machine need to work together effectively. Where that does not happen, accidents may occur and they may be as a result of human error. Much has been done to identify best practice, develop strategies and training etc, but the information is available from a variety of sources in disparate forms. One proposed project is set to explore the feasibility of Consolidated Human Element Guidance for the Maritime Industry. THE CONTEXT OF MCA RESEARCH In the context of the whole knowledge base, research is proposed when the technical expertise or equipment is not available in-house. Our own experts gain an overview of the wider context through their membership of EU/international expert groups and are able to use the knowledge gained to assess the significance of the evidence need beyond the national framework. This is particularly so in the area of Shipping Safety where many evidence gaps are identified through working with the IMO. International standards are especially under scrutiny and we are seeking to undertake a number of research projects that challenge existing standards, explore the validity of goal-based standards, and test equivalents in design to statutory provisions. In addition, the Research Advisory Committee has external members from another Government Department (DEFRA), the academies, industry, Chamber of Shipping and a maritime Trades Union, thereby contributing to our knowledge of the wider context and alerting to potential duplication. COMMUNICATION MCA’s research communication/dissemination strategy is based on ensuring the most appropriate means to achieve the most effective result. Raising awareness of the research undertaken and its outcomes is a significant factor in the strategy. 1 Publication Publication is important as a means of fulfilling our obligations under the FoIA (MCA follows the DfT’s publication policy), of advertising to a wider audience the direction that our Evidence and Research Programme is taking and of publicising what has been achieved. Our strategy of multi-media communication results in publication:
In an attempt to ascertain how effective our publication methods are, we sent out a questionnaire through our website and a Maritime Information Note. The response was meagre, but those who responded indicated satisfaction with the current publication means and accessibility. The MCA’s web-site has been redesigned and research reports, from end March 2008, are under the heading ‘About Us’, then ‘What we do’. 2 Consultation external/peer group review We aim to make increasing use of consultation and peer group review at appropriate times during the inception and life of a project. For example, our proposed research is subject to consultation through expressions of interest, and tentative specifications sent out to prospective tenderers who can make suggestions regarding feasibility, timescale and costing. We seek to achieve enhanced cross-fertilisation of ideas and views through the Research Advisory Committee, whose members include representatives from OGDs, industry and academe, along with our own technical experts. Although those representatives represent a cross-section of stakeholders, it is part of our strategy to make direct contact with known interested parties/stakeholders where the necessary expertise lies outside the Committee or the Agency. Much of the identification of evidence needs derives from our Research Managers’ work with expert committees, such as the Fishing Industry Safety Group (FISG), Domestic Passenger Ship Steering Group (DPSSG), and EU/international fora such as IMO. Likewise, the outcomes of the research are discussed with those groups prior to dissemination of results 3 Internal Our communication strategy would not be complete without consideration of internal communication. We have already mentioned the Research Advisory Committee and Research Steering Committee - each meets 2 times a year and they act as the focal point for the Evidence and Research Programme, giving the Directors an overview of the programme and allowing discussion of any wider issues. Feeding into this is the Research Managers’ Working Group which meets as needed to take forward issues raised directly by the Research Managers. It works on improving the process, in particular communication between internal stakeholders. COLLABORATION We recognise that TaSTS now frames much urgent work on integrated and sustainable transport systems and that transport policy objectives will have an impact on or need to be reached through collaboration with other Government Departments. Financially, collaboration also makes sense, and indeed a limited budget may mean that some projects are unable to proceed without collaboration. Counter Pollution and Environmental Protection are the areas that to date have best lent themselves to inter-Departmental collaboration, in particular with DEFRA and the Environment Agency. However, the range of collaborators is increasing to include industry associations and other bodies and the Branch brings together technical MCA colleagues with other bodies where collaboration might be possible, for example NERC, Lloyds Register and Faraday Advance. A good example of recent collaboration is the research into the ecological effects of chemically dispersed oil, where DEFRA, DTI and the Minerals and Management Service all contributed to the project. Appraisal of this project led to the introduction of tighter financial monitoring for future collaborative work. There are also examples of collaboration with bodies that do not necessarily contribute financially but who have access to information that is essential to the project. One such was a project to conduct a gap analysis of the UK’s incident data in conjunction with the National Water Safety Forum. This sort of collaboration ensures the project does not take place in a vacuum and that the beneficiaries sharing the outcomes are able to help ensure meaningful results. The results of this particular project appeared on both the NWSF website as well as MCA’s. As many projects look to produce informed papers in international fora such as the IMO, we also encourage research managers to explore collaboration with other countries, which is successfully happening in a ballast water project. In addition, we may seek to collaborate in projects backed by other funding sources, such as the EU Framework Programme or Interreg. In those circumstances, we would work peripherally on a project with other bodies or countries, but gain through sharing the outcomes and being part of a network of experts. MCA has been involved with Qinetiq in an FP6 funded project, MarNIS, on a work package, where part of our contribution will be to offer one of our Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres to demonstrate a particular approach to vessel traffic monitoring. It is part of our strategy to assess the performance of collaborators and proactively look for new collaborative partners. This year MCA intends to explore closer working with research councils, the Inter-Agency Committee on Marine Science and Technology (IACMST) and universities to reduce the tax burden, duplication and overlap in research and improve effectiveness. We have identified a knowledge gap as regards an up to date overview of the availability of research expertise in the maritime sector, and started a project to address that gap in 2007-8. The results of this are intended to help increase our knowledge of research being undertaken by others and the number of potential collaborators. In our accident prevention work, we are constantly seeking to work with other organisations collecting data on water-related incidents, e.g. the National Water Safety Forum. As for environmental issues, and in the light of the Marine Bill, collaboration with DEFRA is likely to intensify. [See also the ‘Meeting targets’ section under EVIDENCE NEEDS above.] The MCA is actively involved in other areas of European research, namely the European Technology Platform WATERBORNE which is a forum where all stakeholders from the waterborne (sea & inland) sector define and share a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) describing the RDI initiatives necessary to materialise a long term vision. SKILLS MCA’s strategic approach to commissioning research once evidence needs have been identified is to buy in most of the skills required to deliver individual projects. The technical expertise needed to advise on evidence needs (guided as necessary by external expertise) and to manage the project and the contractor is supplied from within the MCA by the research manager. Best practice and experience sharing is achieved through Research Manager Workshops (every 1-2 years), Research Manager Working Group (meeting to address specific issues), and networking meetings with external experts. RESEARCH MANAGEMENT Strategic management The Research Programme is managed at a strategic level through the Research Advisory Committee, which is chaired by the Chief Executive. That Committee evaluates the Programme outcomes. Management of risk is addressed strategically through the Corporate Risk Register and at individual project level during the proposal review stage. Strategic management of research priorities and monitoring of any changes needed is achieved through the Committee meetings. As most of the research directly supports the work of the Agency (e.g. in fulfilling targets, formulating policy or responding to MAIB recommendations), priorities are set by those drivers. Where involvement in research may be a matter of choice rather than necessity, for example when we are approached to contribute to a consortium-run project, strategic consideration has to be given to how involvement would meet MCA’s evidence needs and whether committing resource would have a negative impact on our core work. The overall management of the whole Programme is done centrally in MCA, for the whole Agency and on behalf of DfT. Since 2002, there has been a process of continuous improvement to assess and review the service delivered. That process involves circulating the project evaluation reports to all members (including external) of the RAC and discussing quality, meeting of objectives, lessons learned and value for money. Data from the evaluations is recorded in order to provide trends data. TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION Where technical innovation could have a direct impact on safety, e.g. ship design or life saving appliance improvements, it may be considered for funding through the Research Programme. It is not the sort of research that would result in a marketable artefact; it is more likely to look at adapting or comparing existing design options and to make recommendations accordingly that may result in a change to policy and/or a statutorily acceptable alternative. This may be an area appropriate for working with other Government departments (see ‘Collaboration’ above). We have already acknowledged the importance of networking in technical forums (see ‘Consultation/peer review’ above). Networking and membership of technical committees is undertaken as part of our Research Managers’ core remit and the knowledge gained will inevitably be beneficial to any research they may manage. Innovative research can contribute to filling a maritime safety evidence gap. The whole area of e-navigation, vessel traffic monitoring and data collection is ripe for innovative research. There are a number of EU level projects in which MCA is involved, which seek to explore the implementation and effectiveness of new technologies. MCA is well ahead of many other Member States in its application of vessel monitoring new technologies (eg the Consolidated European Reporting System) and will seek to remain so. One part of our vision of a technologically enabled future is to bring together the various reporting methods under a central Geographical Information System (GIS), where data could be mined by different parts of the Agency. This approach ensures quality assured, reliable and verified data that avoids the problem of having differing data available in different parts of the Agency. It does not preclude metadata options and comparability with other systems - the need to take account of EU-wide systems is recognised. We monitor closely innovative approaches to ship design, the use of new materials in construction etc. An important part of our role is to ensure that innovation can work in the maritime legislative context, that it is not stifled, hence our work on goal-based standards and alternative design proposals. TRANSPORT FUTURES Short to medium term Certain trends have already been identified and are included in our plans for the future. There are around 17,000 incidents annually around the UK coast and the number of people using the coast for leisure activities is 11 million and increasing. Predictions are for a continuing upward trend in tourism and water based activity. To reduce the resource demand required in responding to incidents there is a need to improve existing accident prevention tools and develop new ones. Research will be needed to better understand the root causes of deaths and incidents in order that the Agency’s prevention activity may be directed where it can have the greatest positive impact. MCA’s research forms part of the strategy for meeting the challenges of environmental pollution from shipping. An analysis of the research conducted over the past 3 years shows an increase in focus on counter pollution and environmental protection which supports our contingency planning and bears fruit especially in such incidents as the ‘NAPOLI’. Moreover, the heightened concern at the impact of global shipping activities on the environment has given impetus to efforts such as those aimed at ensuring the preservation of aquatic systems and preventing the introduction of harmful substances from ships into the marine environment. The MCA will need to be proactive in identifying and addressing shipping activities that could have an adverse impact on the environment. The increasing high level of commercial traffic around the United Kingdom coast and the continuing accidents and incidents that occur on Red Ensign Group and other shipping heighten the concerns relating to standards for ships and equipment and the safe operation of ships. Focus on standards in ship safety and design is likely to intensify. 2012-2022 Peter Cardy, who joined the MCA as its Chief Executive in May 2007, set up early in 2008 a Horizon Scanning Project, to be undertaken internally. The purpose of the project is to examine future trends for the period 2012 to 2022, with a view, ultimately, to planning appropriate responses. This work complements the recent Cabinet Office Capability Reviews of Government Departments and the Foresight Programme run by DUIS and the Government Office for Science. The project is being undertaken against a background of changes in the maritime sector, both in the UK and globally, including societal and technological changes and evolving regulatory frameworks, within economic, environmental, safety and security contexts. By examining trends, consulting experts and understanding what lies ahead, we are looking to plan for the longer term, to enable strategic planning for effective use of resources. It is acknowledged that, although some technologies may be visible over a ten year horizon, policy and regulations will be influenced by political changes and are therefore likely to be variables. The research element of that report (focusing on management and funding) came up with the following issues: Influences on priorities
Funding Widening gap between private (increasing) and public sector funding (decreasing)
Directing/Managing
Technological developments were dealt with in another part of the report, which will be completed in the course of the year, and those findings will also need to feed into the future direction of research Maritime and Coastguard Agency March 2008 |