Maritime Industry Drug Testing

drug AND ALCOHOL TESTING IN THE MARITIME INDUSTRY -What do you need to know to perform drug and alcohol test in the maritime industry ?
What are the Federal regulations that are applicable to the US flagged vessels in the nautical industry ?
The regulations are as follows and apply to all US flagged commercial vessels worldwide. It is estimated that at any given target in clock, there are over 125 US flagged commercial overhaul vessels in a diverseness of locations cosmopolitan engaged in carrying cargo or doing occupation with the petroleum industry. Vessels that are owned and operated by the US Navy or the military Sealift Command ( MSC ) are not in commercial avail. One rule ( 46 CFR Part 4 ) besides applies to alien flagged commercial vessels when they are in US or US Territorial waters. The applicable regulations :
There are several questions to be answered and facts that a C/TPA should be mindful of if providing avail to marine employers.

The first question : What is considered commercial service? It is those vessels that charge to carry cargo and or passengers. This can range from the big passenger vessels to tankers or freighters. This does include US fishing vessels** who catch pisces and render to shore to sell those fish or pediculosis pubis as that is considered a commercial transaction. Many of the “ improbable ships ” are in commercial service and those captains have a sweep endorsement on their licenses. Most of these vessels are required to have a US Licensed Captain or Master in bang of the vessel .
Vessels that carry passengers to go sport fishing on a travel survive from a half-day to multiple days are required to meet the regulative requirements. There are several different types of vessels and licensees required for sport fish vessels. In cosmopolitan, these sportfishing boats carry 7 or more passengers .
A bombastic number of vessels in commercial service are what are called 6-PAX operators. These are uninspected vessels where the vessel owner/operator has a Captains ’ License allowing that person to operate a vessel and can carry up to 6 paying passengers. There are a great number so these on the Great Lakes, the Eastern Seaboard, along the Gulf Coast, and with a large numeral in Alaska. There are a ten thousand of other vessel types and for an equally ten thousand act of purposes or uses .
The other question : What waters are considered US waters and what are the boundary lines for US waters ? It used to be 3 miles from the seashore. That was determined in another long-ago long time when that was the range of effective cannon fire and how far they could fire. That 3-mile limit still applies to states with ocean coast lines and how army for the liberation of rwanda into ocean waters their country legal power applies. Per external agreement, the range for uranium government jurisdiction is 12 miles from the coastline. There is besides a well-known and defined Exclusive Economic Zone ( EEZ ) which extends 200 miles out from the coastline .
The early criteria to determine US waters subject to Federal and Coast Guard legal power is all navigable waters. This does include waters/rivers that form a limit wrinkle between states. All waters that are wholly within a state and do not flow into a river are not considered Federal navigable waters. Some examples where the waters are not considered Federal or fall under Coast Guard regulations are the lakes at Disney World with the ferry boats that carry passengers. Another example is Lake George in New York State which is wholly landlocked. There is a 1200 passenger vessel in New Hampshire that operates on state owned waters and does not fall under Coast Guard regulations. other examples of waters and vessels that are within USCG legal power are a ferry gravy boat that operates on the Potomac River north of Washington D.C. that operates between two states. Lake Champlain is another case of commercial service vessels that operate between New York State and Vermont. Lake Texoma which is the boundary between Texas and Oklahoma and is part of the Red River is another exercise of being a Federal navigable waterway .
To add complexity to this are vessels in commercial service that operate entirely within National Park Service lands. Some examples of this are lease sightseeing boats that operate within the Grand Tetons or the Crater Lake. National Park Service has legal power and requires that these vessels comply with US Coast Guard regulations .
There are casino vessels that go on voyages to nowhere. What that means is that they will leave a port, go on a voyage going more than 3 miles but staying within the 12-mile limit. Between the 3- and 12-mile limit, they can have gambling for paying passengers as there is no Federal law against gambling .
Let us add one early fact into this shuffle particularly, with the second coming of states allowing the function of marijuana for medical or recreational purposes. The use of marijuana for medical or refreshment purposes is not permissible on all Federal navigable waterways. Within the State of Washington, this was met with some alarm by the private boaters who utilize Puget Sound waters for boating .
** Commercial fish vessels under 200 gross regulative tons are not required to be operated by a credentialed captain .

Detailed Information on What you Need to Know – USCG Testing

One of the confuse aspects about the nautical diligence are the issues related to obtain and maintain a certificate. A certificate, normally referred to as a license, is required to operate or work on most vessels that are in commercial service .
federal licenses, credentials and certificates are issued only by the US Coast Guard and the FAA who issue licenses and certificates for airmen ( pilots ) and mechanics .
The license terms that are used are as follows :

• License (Officers)
• Merchant Mariner Document (MMD) (Crew)
• Certificate of Registry (COR) (Staff Officers)

The above terms have been combined and are now called certificate .
STCW (Standards of Training, Certificate and Watchkeeping ) Certificate ( International ) was recently added. This is a requirement as established by the International Maritime Organization ( IMO ) which is share of the United Nations with 133 countries signer to the STCW requirements. All personnel that serve on commercial avail vessels on international routes are required to have a STCW certificate .
One of the requirements to be in the possession of the license applicant is to have a Transportation Worker Identification Card ( TWIC ). The TWIC can be obtained through the Coast Guard or Transportation Security Administration ( TSA ). This prerequisite is not mandatary if a mariner will be employed on a vessel that is not required to have a vessel security design .
A drug test, when required, must be completed in accordance with 49 CFR part 40. The shape CG-719P can be used to report the drug quiz to the National Maritime Center ( NMC ) for license application or refilling. Besides using the CG-719P, the drug test report can besides be done by one of the follow :

• Utilizing the Federal CCF MRO Copy; or 
• A letter on company letterhead; or 
• C/TPA letterhead.

The datum to be included for letters should include the name of the mariner, Social Security Number, date of the test, test resultant role, diagnose and address of the SMHSHSA accredited testing ground and the name and registration number ( issued by American Association of Medical Review Officers ( AAMRO ) or medical Review Officer Certification Council ( MROCC ) ) of the MRO .
All non-negative drug tests should be reported to the National Maritime Center ( NMC ). The argument has been brought up before by checkup professionals that reporting non-negative drug tests to Coast Guard would be a trespass of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ( HIPAA ). It is not a misdemeanor of HIPAA as HIPAA applies to clinical medicine and not to workplace drug testing. Workplace drug screen is not clinical but preferably a fitness for duty interrogation as stated by the adequate Employment Opportunity Commission ( EEOC ) in 1992 .
A periodic drug test is not required if the mariner can document they can meet one of the exemptions in 46 CFR separate 16.220 stated below :
( hundred ) An applicant need not submit evidence of passing a chemical test for dangerous drugs required by paragraph ( a ) or ( b ) of this section if he or she provides satisfactory evidence that he or she has—
( 1 ) Passed a chemical screen for dangerous drugs required by this part within the previous six months with no subsequent positive chemical tests during the end of the 6-month period ; or
( 2 ) During the former 185 days been discipline to a random testing plan required by §16.230 for at least 60 days and did not fail or refuse to participate in a chemical test for dangerous drugs required by this share .
( five hundred ) Except as provided by paragraph ( boron ) of this incision, an applicant is required to provide the results of lone one chemical test for dangerous drugs when multiple transactions are covered by or requested in a single lotion .
Use of the Federal CCF for periodic testing:
A Federal CCF is to be used for periodic drug test as it is a ask Federal Drug Test. Because that there is no note on the CCF for Periodic, the “ early ” blocking on the Federal CCF should be checked and Periodic written in the quad after the “ early ” block .
There are other requirements to be completed that include an across-the-board medical interrogation ( Form CG-719K Merchant Mariner Credential Medical Evaluation Report ) along with a criminal background check. The criminal background confirmation is performed using a database maintained by the FBI. A discipline is besides made of the mariner applicant using the National Driver Registry ( NDR ) .
There are many different licenses and grades within a license. This is due to the different vessel types and requirements to operate vessels in a safe and effective manner. The cosmopolitan license categories are :
Deck Officers:
There are a variety of licenses for deck officers, some with geographic and/or tonnage restrictions. There are licenses without any restrictions, and they are termed outright. The tonnage restriction ranges from 25 tons up to 1600 tons. After 1600 tons, the license is considered outright .
An exemplar of licenses with geographic limitation would be certain licenses that permits a vessel victor to operate a vessel strictly along certain stretches of the Colorado River. The license is not valid in any other geographic venue .
A especial license is required for operators of vessels who do not carry more than six passengers. These vessels are uninspected and are permitted to carry no more than 6 passengers, therefore the term, 6-packs. These vessels ( approximately 25,000 nationally ) operate on rivers, lakes and near the coastline and do half to three-quarter day trips .
Sailing vessels that engage in commercial service are required to have a license dominate in charge. In addition to the other requirements they have to earn and receive a sail endorsement. That implies that these masters know the names and types of sails, plus names of the riggings associated with each sail. There are respective sailing vessels in commercial service that carry passengers. An exemplar are schooners that carry students for a semester at sea .
Engineers:
Licenses are required for personnel who work on the engines or in the engine board on board freighters and other big size vessels and includes ferries on domestic routes. Engineers on uninspected commercial fishing vessels are required to have an engineer license .
Certificate of Registry:
Staff shipboard officers such as pursers and checkup personnel, are issued a Certificate of Registry ( COR ) .
Other Licenses:

radio Officers and Pilots are issued special licenses in order to perform their assign duties. Pilots are those individuals who generally pilot vessels in and out of ports. These are special licenses which are issued to certain modify individuals to allow them to operate vessels on rivers and or canals or in areas that may have potential navigational hazards. A pilot program is in charge of the vessel whose navigational orders will supersede that of the license captain on the vessel .
An important charge is a mariner is responsible for having a valid license in order to be employed in a position on a vessel that requires the individual to hold a license. A marine employer is creditworthy entirely to make sure that all personnel that working in positions have a valid license to work in that position on a vessel. The positions that require an individual to have a certificate are identified on the Certificate of Inspection ( COI ) * .
For most mariners ’ licenses are good for five years and can be renewed. Licenses for pilots are required to be renewed every year, includes taking an annual physical interrogation and taking a periodic drug test or meeting one of the drug test exemptions .
* COI is required to be displayed on all inspected vessels that can be viewed by the public. The COI lists all positions on a vessel required to be manned when the vessel is operating. The listed positions require mariners holding a valid certificate to work in each put .

SERIOUS MARINE INCIDENT (SMI) TESTING

Alcohol test must be completed within 2 hours following a serious marine incident ( SMI ), the collection of drug-test specimens of each individual must be conducted within 32 hours of when the SMI occurred
Serious Marine Incident (SMI) test, what it means and when is this examination required. This segment will cover the collection and cargo of blood specimens when these specimens have been collected to perform a blood alcohol analysis .
The governing rule is 46 CFR separate 4. This detail regulation has been in set since May 29, 1986 with the drug and alcohol helping added November 21, 1988. There was a major update December 22, 2005 for required alcohol test .
There are some terms that should be defined or clarified before proceeding further. All marine accidents are called nautical casualties. These definitions apply to all vessels except for public vessels ( vessels owned by the u Government or a foreign submit ). They besides have to occur upon the navigable waters of the United States or territories or possessions and besides applies to US ease up vessel global. It should be noted that alien flagged vessels are not excuse from SMI testing when they are in United States waters. As noted in a previous article, United States territorial waters extend 12 miles extinct from the coastline .
There are respective events that fall under the term “ Marine Casualty ”. Some of them are :
Any fall overboard, wound, or loss of biography of any person. This is very authoritative for marine fatal accident and can lead to a more serious type of incidental. The argue why this is authoritative is one of the primary missions of the Coast Guard is the preservation of life and the prevention of injury to passengers and/or crewmembers .
Any occurrences of injury or personnel casualty of life to any person while diving from a vessel and using any type of subaqueous breathing apparatus. Breathing apparatus includes Hookah, Hard Hat and SCUBA .
Besides the above type of incident there are several other occurrences involving a vessel that can result in one or more of the play along ( some of these are self-explanatory ) :

– Grounding	– Explosion
– Stranding	– Fire
– Foundering (filling with water	– Reduction or loss of a vessel’s electrical power, propulsion, or steering capabilities;
– Failures or occurrences, regardless of cause, which impair any aspect of a vessel’s operation, components, or cargo;	– Any other circumstance that might affect or impair a vessel’s seaworthiness, efficiency, or fitness for service or route;
– Collision	– Flooding
– Allision (not a collision but hitting the side of a stationary object like a bridge);	– Any incident involving significant harm to the environment.

While all of the above happen frequently, they are required to be investigated by US Coast Guard Investigating Officers. These casualties oftentimes do not involve required drug or alcohol test but if any of these events rise to a sealed level, then there is required drug and alcohol test. That floor is called dangerous Marine Incident and it is when a marine casualty as stated above has one or more of the follow events as cited in 46 CFR share 4.03-2 :

• One or more deaths;
• An injury to a crewmember, passenger, or other person which requires professional medical treatment beyond first aid, and, in the case of a person employed on board a vessel in commercial service, which renders the individual unfit to perform routine vessel duties;
• Damage to property, this damage includes the cost of labor and material to restore the property to its condition before the occurrence, in excess of $100,000; (This does not include cost of salvage, cleaning, gas-freeing, drydocking, or demurrage.)
• Actual or constructive total loss of any vessel subject to inspection under 46 U.S.C. 3301. The type of vessels are:

– freight vessels	– seagoing barge	– fish processing vessels
– nautical school	– seagoing motor vessels	– fish tender vessels
– vessels	– small passenger vessels	– Great Lakes barges
– offshore supply	– steam vessels	– oil spill response vessels
– vessels	– tank vessels	– towing vessels
– passenger vessels
– sailing school vessels

• Actual or constructive total loss of any self-propelled vessel, not subject to inspection under 46 U.S.C. 3301, of 100 gross tons or more. There are certain types of fishing vessels that operate primarily in Alaska that are exempt but the conditions for exemption are strict in interpretation. If readers are interested in seeing how these exemptions are worded please Google 46 U.S.C. 3002.
• A discharge of oil of 10,000 gallons or more into the navigable waters of the United States, as defined in 33 U.S.C. 1321.  This discharge does not have to be the result of a marine casualty but can be an accident that occurs during loading or offloading of oil or petroleum products as an example.
• A discharge of a reportable quantity of a hazardous substance into the navigable waters of the United States, or a release of a reportable quantity of a hazardous substance into the environment of the United States, whether or not resulting from a marine casualty.

When one or more of the above events happen, SMI drug and alcohol is required to be done .

USCG – Maritime Required Drug Testing

Whenever a good Marine Incident ( SMI ) event occurs, there is a requirement for the nautical employer to conduct drug and alcohol tests on personnel whose actions can not be discounted as contributing to the accident or was a causal divisor leading to the accident. This can include the vessel Master/Captain and senior ship officers .
Drug Tests:
Any and all drug tests have to be conducted with all the applicable regulations in 49 CFR 40. The CCF will be marked post-accident and shipped to the SAMHSA accredited lab for psychoanalysis. That is the lapp as for the other DOT Modal Agencies. The results of the drug test ( s ) will be turned over to the Investigating Officer after reappraisal by the MRO. Those results will become part of the Investigation Report for the SMI .
There is extra testing that may take position per USCG Authority. The Investigating Officer on scene can request that all the collected specimens to be held by the lab that received the drug test specimens, depending on the SMI. This request will be for all specimens with tests results that are negative or non-negative. If the SMI is gamey visibility or if the National Transportation Safety Board ( NTSB ) is involved doing the accident investigation, that request will happen and will be honored by the testing ground. The testing ground will retain the specimens until they have been authorized to be released. The Coast Guard Drug and Alcohol Program Manager retains this agency .
If the Investigating Officer or NTSB request that extra test be done on the retain specimens, that request is then forwarded to the Coast Guard Drug and Alcohol Program Manager. It should be noted that NTSB does not have the assurance to request that testing but they have to initiate the request through the Coast Guard Investigating Officer .
once the request is received by the Coast Guard Drug and Alcohol Program Manager, the lab holding the specimens will forward only Bottle A to another federally owned lab to do psychoanalysis for extra drugs. The DOT ODAPC Office will concur in this request and release the control of the specimens to Coast Guard. The lab receiving the specimen ( sulfur ) will test for extra drugs with their report going to the Coast Guard Drug and Alcohol Program Manager. There are no shortcut levels and a MRO will not be involved in a reappraisal of those extra tests. Because some of the readers will be concerned about the presence of drugs, there are aesculapian doctors available within Coast Guard that can assist in making a determination as to the cause and effect of any drugs that may be award .
This test is for fact-finding purposes and the report will be forwarded to the Investigating Officer and NTSB for inclusion body in the probe report peculiarly if any drugs were introduce. If present, a determination will be made about the presence of drugs and if those drugs were a causal factor contributing to the SMI .
Alcohol Testing:
Alcohol test is character of the probe into causal factors that caused or led to a SMI. Alcohol testing has to be conducted within two hours of the time of the SMI on all crewmembers whose negligence can not be discounted as contributing to the SMI .
The two-hour time exemption applies if there are guard concerns that have to be met for the preservation of life or property. If any of those circumstances exist, the alcohol test has to be conducted within 8 hours of the time of the SMI or a soon as the condom concerns have been addressed. Examples of safety concerns would be putting out a fire onboard the vessel, preventing the vessel from sinking, or saving a life sentence or lives. After 8 hours have elapsed from the time of the SMI, alcohol test is no long required .
The alcohol test can be conducted using an alcohol screen test device that is on the current adjust products list published in the Federal Register by National Highway traffic safety presidency ( NHTSA ). The list is published on an irregular basis but can be found at hypertext transfer protocol : //www.dot.gov/odapc/documents. Click on the connect titled “ Conforming Product list for Alcohol Screening Devices ” which will take you to the current tilt. You will besides see a radio link titled “ Conforming Products List for Evidential Breath Testing Devices ” .
Two of the listed devices are normally used in the nautical diligence on minor passenger vessels because they are cheap and easy to us. The two are :

• Q.E.D. A150 Saliva Alcohol Test, manufactured by Orasure Technologies, Inc., Bethlehem, PA; and
• ALCO-SCREEN .02 Detection System, manufactured by Chematics, Inc., North Webster, IN.

These are not the lone number alcohol screen devices but are the ones most frequently found in the maritime industry .
Some important facts about the use of these alcohol testing devices are:

1. These devices expire so the marine employer or if supplied by the C/TPA, should pay attention to the expiration dates so they can have devices on hand that are within their useful dates of use.  This item will be checked by a Coast Guard Investigating Officer at the time of the incident. If expired the marine employer can face law enforcement action.
2. The marine employer needs to keep these units in storage places that are not subject to temperature extremes, it is recommended that they be kept at room temperature.
3. If these devices are stored in a refrigerator, the devices need to be brought to room temperature prior to being used.
4. No formal training is required to use these devices. If the marine employer/captain can read a nautical map chart, they can read the directions for use on the device.
5. If the test result shows the presence of alcohol, that result is to be recorded on the CG-2692B (Report of Required Chemical Drug and Alcohol Testing Following a Serous Marine Incident).
6. No confirmation test is required.  This test is a tool for investigation with the results contributing to the accident determinations and findings.  If the test result shows the presence of alcohol, the Investigating Officer will conduct an investigation and look for other signs of alcohol use on board the vessel by the crewmember or crewmembers.

More on Serious Marine Incident (SMI)

Whenever a serious Marine Incident ( SMI ) event occurs as described in the previous article, there is a requirement for the marine employer to conduct drug and alcohol tests on personnel whose actions can not be discounted as contributing to the accident or was a causal divisor leading to the accident. This can include the vessel Master/Captain and aged embark officers .
There are required reports to be submitted to the area Coast Guard Investigating Officer. These reports are designed to aid in the probe of a unplayful Marine Incident ( SMI ) .
There are three different forms with two of them required for all SMI events. The inaugural form titled CG-2692 ( Report of Marine Casualty ) is required to be completed within 5 days and reported within 5 days to the nearest Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit or Activity. The Form is two pages in length with 3 pages of instructions on how to correctly complete the shape. This finical phase asks general logistic questions, ( Vessel diagnose and type, location, weather, and other pertinent information ). A description of how the accident occurred and damage plus other information is required to be competed. last the person making the report is required to sign and give contact data .
Another shape is the CG-2692A ( Barge Addendum ) and is used in junction with the previous imprint when there is participation with barge ( s ) that have caused damage or have sustained damage as described in CG-2692. It is never to be completed by itself .
The other command shape is the CG-2692B ( Report of Required Chemical Drug and Alcohol Testing Following a serious Marine Incident ). As described in a previous article, drug and alcohol tests are required to be conducted within certain time frames. Those screen results besides become part of the probe into the SMI .
information required on the CG-2692B includes basic vessel designation information with the identify of the vessel victor along with the name and cover of the marine employer. There are 8 boxes listing the reasons why SMI testing is required. One or more of these boxes are to be completed along with the incident location. other command information is :

• Name of personnel involved in the SMI;
• Are these personnel licensed or hold a certification;
• A checkbox for each listed mariner to attest if the drug test was provided within 32 hours;
• Was an alcohol test provided within two hours with the type of specimen provided (saliva, breath, or blood)? 
• This should be accompanied with the test results.  The test results can be a numerical value or a negative or positive response.
• The name and address of the SAMHSA accredited is required along with the name of the laboratory conducting blood alcohol tests (if blood was used) or the name of the individual conducting the breath of saliva alcohol testing.

The name and reach information of the person making this report card is required along with a key signature. A date is required to annotate when the shape was completed and signed .
If the compulsory test was not completed within the compulsory time frames, there is a block to be completed particular to the circumstances. This can besides be used if there is a test refusal or strange circumstances for testing. It should be noted that extra paper can be used as needed to complete this report.

This report is reviewed by the Coast Guard Investigative Officer and by NTSB, if they involved in the probe .
An accident investigation can take months to complete depending upon the causal factors to be investigated .
Learn more about Maritime and United States Coast Guard ( USCG ) required drug examination .

source : https://mindovermetal.org/en
Category : Maritime