IMPLEMENTATION OF ILO MARITIME LABOUR CONVENTION PROPOSALS COVERING MEDICAL CERTIFICATION - REGULATION 1.2 & STANDARD A1.2
DRAFT MERCHANT SHIPPING (MEDICAL CERTIFICATION) REGULATIONS AND MEDICAL FITNESS STANDARDS FOR SEAFARERS,
Introduction
This consultation letter seeks your views on the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s proposals for revised Merchant Shipping (Medical Certification) Regulations, and medical fitness standards for seafarers.
This public consultation document is in three parts. Part A sets out our proposals for giving full effect to Regulation 1.2 and Standard A1.2 of the ILO Maritime Labour Convention 2006. This requires amendments to the Merchant Shipping (Medical Examination) Regulations 2002 Merchant Shipping (Medical Examination) Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/2055), as amended by the Merchant Shipping (Medical Examination) (Amendment) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/1919)., which we are proposing to replace with a new set of regulations.
We are also taking the opportunity to propose other (generally minor) changes to the regulations to rectify some weaknesses and better to reflect current procedures and policy. These proposals are in Part B.
The medical fitness standards applied by MCA approved doctors are published in a Merchant Shipping Notice – currently MSN 1765. These standards have been reviewed to take account of changes in diagnosis and treatment of certain conditions. A summary of the review and the changes is at Part C of the public consultation document, and included in the revised MSN at Annex 5. New guidance notes for Approved doctors are at Annex 6.
The intention is to bring these regulations into force on 1 October 2009, and to implement the revised standards on 1 January 2010.
A draft assessment of the costs and benefits of the proposals is in the Impact Assessment attached to this consultation document. We would welcome information (in confidence) to inform/support our estimates, and in particular:
- the administrative cost of applying to MCA for agreement in exceptional circumstances to employ a seafarer who does not hold a valid ENG1 or equivalent (para 6.2);
- the cost of evacuating or putting ashore a seafarer who is taken ill on board ship (para 7.3) and any associated costs:
- the number of seafarers who do not hold a medical certificate in English or showing a translation in English (para 6.5).
You are invited to submit any comments on these proposals.
Those which are intended to implement Maritime Labour Convention requirements have already been agreed between social partners, so comments are primarily invited on the means of implementing these requirements.
For those provisions which are additional to the requirements of the Convention (para 9) you may wish to comment on whether you consider these issues should be regulated, or should remain administrative provisions.
The documents forming part of this package are -
Annex 4 Explanatory Memorandum
Annex 5 Transposition note (required because there is an EC Directive to implement the ECSA/ETF agreement on working time which has been amended to take account of the MLC, and which includes the MLC provisions on medical fitness - not yet numbered)
Annex 6 Draft MSN (replacing MSN 1765)
Annex 6.1 New Table of Medical Standards
Additional Guidance to Approved Doctors
Annex 7.1 Pulmonary Tuberculosis (1.3)
Annex 7.2 Infections Transmitted in Body Fluids (1.5 - 1.7)
Annex 7.4 Diabetes (3.2 - 3.4)
Annex 7.7 Loss of Consciousness Altered Awareness Epilepsy and Sleep Disorders (6)
Annex 7.8 Blood Pressure (7.2)
Annex 7.11 Dental Inspection (9.1)
Annex 7.12 Urine Testing (10.1)
Annex 7.17 Physical Fitness Testing (16)
Annex 8 Code of Practice on Consultation
http://www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/annex_f_-_code_of_practice_on_consultation.doc
Annex 10 Consultation Feedback Form
http://www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/customer_feedback_form-10.doc
Comments should be sent in hard copy to -
Julie Carlton
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency
Seafarer Safety and Health Branch
Bay 1/29, Spring Place
105 Commercial Road
Southampton
SO15 1EG
or by e-mail to seafarer.s&h@mcga.gov.uk
and should be received by [ 6th September 2009]
Freedom of Information Act
Please also note that information provided in response to this consultation, including personal information, may be published or disclosed in accordance with the access to information regimes (these are primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004).
If you want the information that you provide to be treated as confidential, please be aware that, under the FOIA, there is a statutory Code of Practice with which public authorities must comply and which deals, amongst other things, with obligations of confidence. In view of this it would be helpful if you could explain to us why you regard the information you have provided as confidential. If we receive a request for disclosure of the information we will take full account of your explanation, but we cannot give an assurance that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances. An automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will not, of itself, be regarded as binding on the Department.
The Department will process your personal data in accordance with the DPA and in the majority of circumstances this will mean that your personal data will not be disclosed to third parties.
Consultation Criteria
MCA has set out to conduct this consultation in accordance with the following Cabinet Office criteria:
- consult widely throughout the process, allowing a minimum of 12 weeks for written consultation at least once during the development of the policy;
- be clear about what your proposals are, who may be affected, what questions are being asked and the timescale for responses;
- ensure that your consultation is clear, concise and widely accessible;
- give feedback regarding the responses received, and how the consultation process influenced the policy
- monitor your department’s effectiveness at consultation, including through the use of a designated consultation co-ordinator;
- ensure your consultation follows better regulation best practice, including carrying out a Regulatory Impact Assessment if appropriate;
- Should you have any comments or complaints about how this consultation has been conducted please direct them to the MCA’s Consultation Co-ordinator:
Consultation Coordinator
Office of the Chief Executive
MCA
Bay 3/29, Spring Place
105 Commercial Rd
Southampton
SO15 1EG
consultation.coordinator@mcga.gov.uk Tel: 02380329189
Yours faithfully,
Julie Carlton
Seafarer Safety and Health Manager