Water Safety Plans (WSPs) represent a holistic and proactive strategy for managing risks throughout the entire drinking-water supply chain. Through systematic hazard identification, establishment of robust control measures, and continuous monitoring and verification of associated risks, a WSP serves as a beacon of assurance. Its mission: to protect the safety and acceptability of one of Earth’s most vital resources. By preventing contamination at source, mitigating or eliminating contaminants through treatment processes, and safeguarding against recontamination during storage and handling, the WSP ensures a consistent flow of safe, life-sustaining water both on land and at sea.
Maritime vessels rely on uncontaminated water supplies to sustain a multitude of vital functions, including drinking, handwashing, food preparation, sanitation, and laundry. Whether produced from seawater using reverse osmosis units or bunkered from shoreside supplies while in port, potable water—our previous article “How Safe Is Your Ship’s Water?” addresses the terminology—remains indispensable for the smooth operation of a ship, accounting for approximately 90% of the total water usage.
Across the potable water supply chain, contamination hazards persist. Norovirus, Escherichia coli (E. coli), and Legionella bacteria stand out as the primary sources of waterborne disease outbreaks associated with ships; however, they are not the only pathogens of concern. In addition, chemical or physical pollutants pose ongoing risks. By systematically addressing these potential hazards, a Water Safety Plan significantly reduces the likelihood of contamination events. Consequently, it not only ensures the reliable provision of safe drinking water but also contributes to the overall health and well-being of everyone on board.
In this article, we explore the advantages of adopting a Water Safety Plan and emphasize why all maritime companies should prioritize their implementation. To paraphrase the words of Ralph Nader, a prominent American consumer advocate, lawyer, and author: “There’s no better policy in maritime business than pursuing the health and safety of those that matter the most: your crew and passengers.”
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The History of Water Safety Plans
The concept of Water Safety Plans traces its origins back to the early 1900s when routine sanitary inspections of water supply systems began. Over the course of the 20th century, the philosophy evolved, drawing inspiration from risk management frameworks such as the hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) process first utilized in food production during the 1960s. While initially developed for large-scale water utilities, the underlying principles of WSPs are adaptable to various other systems, including those managed by hotels, hospitals, residential buildings, and maritime vessels.
In 2004, the World Health Organization (WHO) formally endorsed WSPs as a global public health intervention. Beyond water quality improvement, WSPs enhance regulatory compliance, operational performance, and disease prevention. Chapter 4 of the WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality (4th edition) succinctly captures the essence of the WSP methodology:
“The most effective means of consistently ensuring the safety of a drinking-water supply is through the use of a comprehensive risk assessment and risk management approach that encompasses all steps in the water supply from catchment to consumer. In these Guidelines, such approaches are termed water safety plans (WSPs). The WSP approach has been developed to organize and systematize a long history of management practices applied to drinking-water and to ensure the applicability of these practices to the management of drinking-water quality.”
WHO Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality (4th edition)
In 2009, the WHO and the International Water Association (IWA) jointly released the inaugural edition of their Water Safety Plan Manual. Since the turn of the 21st century, the adoption of WSPs has witnessed significant growth, with implementation reported in 93 countries worldwide as of 2017. Within the maritime industry, Water Safety Plans play a crucial role and are referenced in various regulatory guidelines, including the International Health Regulations (IHR), WHO Guide to Ship Sanitation, WHO Handbook for Inspection of Ships and Issuance of Ship Sanitation Certificates, and the EU SHIPSAN ACT Joint Action European Manual for Hygiene Standards and Communicable Disease Surveillance on Passenger Ships.
Crucially, there is no “one-size-fits-all approach” to implementing a Water Safety Plan. Instead, the methodology is intentionally flexible, accommodating the diverse array of vessel types and sizes, irrespective of the complexity of their on board water systems. Rather than introducing unnecessary bureaucracy, a WSP functions as a dynamic and practical framework that informs an organization’s holistic approach to water safety.
The Benefits of Water Safety Plans
The successful implementation of a Water Safety Plan relies on active engagement and support from an organization’s leadership. Without buy-in from senior management, obtaining the necessary resources for meaningful changes in operational practices can prove elusive. As the renowned Austrian-American management consultant Peter F. Drucker aptly stated, “Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans.”
However, commitment must transcend the executive level. To foster evidence-based decision-making, all organizational tiers must recognize the critical significance of water safety on board. Communicating this importance can be challenging, particularly for maritime companies that have historically operated their vessels without a formal Water Safety Plan.
As highlighted in our previous article, “The Covert World of Waterborne Pathogens,” there exists considerable variability in individual risk perceptions. Therefore, effective communication about the benefits of adopting a Water Safety Plan becomes crucial in garnering commitment. It’s essential to acknowledge that the absence of incidents or near misses does not necessarily indicate effective potable water management if the processes needed to identify issues are inadequate. An effective WSP proactively reveals potential problems before they escalate into serious health events.
Further benefits of Water Safety Plans include:
- Enhancing Operational Efficiency: A well-structured WSP plays a pivotal role in optimizing potable water management processes. Through the identification of critical control points and the refinement of operational procedures, maritime companies can enhance overall efficiency in on board water systems. Rather than imposing additional burdens on operations, WSPs provide an effective framework grounded in risk assessment, leading to significant improvements in asset management.
- Reduced Health Risks: A robust Water Safety Plan prioritizes regular monitoring of control measures to detect deviations from operational limits, which serve as indicators of whether control measures are functioning as intended. By adhering to best practices, continuously monitoring water quality, and promptly addressing any deviations, ships consistently provide high-quality potable water to crew and passengers, effectively preventing waterborne diseases and outbreaks.
- Cost Savings: Contrary to common misconceptions, risk-based approaches to water safety do not inevitably lead to increased costs. While there may be an initial capital investment required for implementing a Water Safety Plan, the long-term benefits yield economic savings. These savings result from optimized water treatment processes, improved operational and maintenance protocols, and a reduction in over-reliance on microbiological monitoring—often used as a substitute for adequate control measures—to assess water quality.
- Improved Company Processes: In the maritime industry, particularly the cruise sector, the sole use of supplementary chlorination to address water safety issues (such as positive Legionella water sampling results) remains widespread. However, this short-term solution often overlooks inherent weaknesses in operational protocols and systems. By implementing a Water Safety Plan, companies demonstrate to crew, passengers, and health authorities their commitment to best practices in ensuring the safety of shipboard water supplies. This commitment not only fosters an improved public health culture within maritime organizations but also enhances a company’s brand and reputation.
- Advancements in Environmental Sustainability: When addressing water contamination events on ships, remedial actions often require additional water usage (e.g., shock chlorination). Recognizing this, prevention becomes crucial. By implementing effective Water Safety Plans, companies actively contribute to their environmental sustainability goals and positively impact global water conservation efforts.
The adoption of Water Safety Plans offers a range of advantages for vessel owners and ship management companies. By enhancing operational efficiency, mitigating health risks, achieving cost savings, elevating company processes, and contributing to environmental sustainability, WSPs emerge as a strategic imperative within the maritime industry.
The Challenges in Developing Water Safety Plans
Despite their obvious benefits, developing a Water Safety Plan can be daunting, especially for those without prior experience. Consider the cruise sector, where numerous cruise lines and ship management companies operate without dedicated shoreside public health personnel. Consequently, the responsibility for overseeing fleetwide water safety tends to rest on a collaborative effort involving key individuals such as the Designated Person Ashore (DPA), Technical Superintendents, and Marine Operations Managers.
The multifaceted nature of a WSP necessitates expertise across various domains, ranging from water quality management to risk assessment. However, assigned staff may lack specialized knowledge in all these critical areas, amplifying the challenge. As a result, many companies default to relying on established industry public health standards, such as the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP), as their guiding framework. It’s crucial to recognize that these standards primarily focus on mitigating the risk of acute gastroenteritis and do not comprehensively address the controls needed to prevent, for instance, the proliferation of opportunistic waterborne pathogens—such as Legionella spp. and Pseudomonas aeruginosa—within a vessel’s water systems.
Moreover, the initial creation of a ship-specific Water Safety Plan requires considerable time and resource allocation, both of which are often scarce within maritime organizations. The term “damage control” resonates within shoreside offices, where employees continually shift their focus to address shipboard inquiries and tackle the daily challenges inherent to our dynamic industry.
While the factors mentioned above undoubtedly contribute to the widespread absence of formalized Water Safety Plans in the maritime sector, it’s important to note that WSP development promotes a continuous and gradual approach. Enhancements can occur incrementally, aligning with the significance of risks and the availability of resources. Rather than requiring an “all-in” approach, taking initial actions to improve operational processes can already yield positive effects in mitigating water safety risks. As Martin Luther King Jr. wisely said, “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”
MHS Water Safety Plans: Elevate Your Public Health Standards
“There’s no better policy in maritime business than pursuing the health and safety of those that matter the most: your crew and passengers.”
Maritime Health Services offers expert support to maritime organizations. One of our key solutions is the creation of customized Water Safety Plans tailored specifically for cruise ships. These plans go beyond mere compliance with basic industry standards, providing enhanced water safety protocols to safeguard the health of your crew, passengers, and business more effectively. Our WSPs can be easily adapted by our team to meet the unique requirements of individual vessels and companies at no extra cost.
Crafted in collaboration with water safety experts, our Water Safety Plans incorporate a comprehensive risk assessment that addresses microbiological, physical, and chemical hazards associated with on board water supply and management. Just like our WSPs, this risk assessment is customized to the unique characteristics of each vessel. Additionally, we include bespoke supplementary logs with all our WSPs to document critical water safety operations, in accordance with cruise industry public health requirements.
The WSPs consist of three main components:
- Potable Water Safety: These sections outline the routine operational requirements for sourcing, bunkering, producing, and distributing potable water on board to ensure its safe management and provision.
- Recreational Water Safety: Within these sections, the operational requirements for various types of recreational water facilities (RWFs) found on cruise ships are addressed to establish appropriate measures mitigating the health risks associated with their use.
- Annexes: The Annexes provide additional guidance related to potable water and RWFs, ranging from the collection of water samples to detailed instructions for conducting a shock disinfection of the entire potable water distribution system.
Our Water Safety Plans feature intuitive visual aids, such as tables and flow charts, to enhance clarity and provide an improved reading experience. Each section is meticulously designed to align with ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System standards. This includes purpose and scope definitions, process responsibilities, record-keeping requirements, and relevant references—both within the WSP itself and to external sources.
Ensuring safe potable water is crucial for maritime operations, with significant implications for the well-being of seafarers, travelers, and the communities visited. Moreover, it reconciles with broader environmental sustainability goals. Water Safety Plans offer a practical and effective strategy for managing associated hazards and risks. Given the potential impact on both human health and the marine environment, the exploration and adoption of Water Safety Plans deserves industry-wide consideration. At Maritime Health Services, we’re fully prepared to contribute to this essential endeavor.