1. Drug and Alcohol Policy
The US Coast Guard’s chemical testing regulations mandate that vessel operators develop and implement a written drug and alcohol testing policy. The policy must be signed by the vessel operator and posted in a conspicuous area on board the vessel
(USCG regulation, 46 CFR Section 16.401)
2. Reports and Recordkeeping (MIS)
All marine employers must collect drug and alcohol testing data and submit this data to the US Coast Guard by March 15 of the following year. AMS maintains the statistical records and submits the annual MIS reports to the USCG on behalf of each member (USCG regulation, 46 CFR Section 16.500)
3. Employee Assistance Program [EAP]
Vessel operators must have a written employee assistance program (EAP), and conduct one hour of drug and alcohol awareness training. Our Shipboard Drug and Alcohol Videotape and EAP material for crewmembes and vessel supervisors satisfies this regulatory provision (USCG regulation, 46 CFR Section 16.401)
4. Pre-Employment Drug Testing
No AMS member shall engage or employ any individual to serve as a crewmember unless the individual passes a chemical test for dangerous drugs. All applicants must be tested for drugs before they join the AMS Consortium, unless they submit proof of having passed a periodic or pre-employment drug test within the past six months, or unless they were subject to random testing for the past 60 days in the previous 185 days (USCG regulation, 46 CFR Section 16.210)
5. Serious Marine Incident Drug Testing
All crewmembers must be tested for drugs and alcohol following a "serious marine incident", as defined by the US Coast Guard. Alcohol testing must be completed within 2 hours and drug testing must be completed within 32 hours following a serious marine incident (USCG regulation, 46 CFR Subpart 4.06)
6. Reasonable Cause Drug Testing
The marine employer must require any crewmember who is reasonably suspected of using dangerous drugs to be chemically tested. The marine employer’s decision to test must be based on a reasonable and articulable belief that the individual has used dangerous drugs based on direct observation of specific, contemporaneous physical, behavioral or performance indicators of probable use (USCG regulation, 46 CFR Section 16.250)
7. Periodic Drug Testing
An applicant for a license or merchant mariner’s document shall be required to pass a chemical test for dangerous drugs. The applicant shall provide the results of the test to the US Coast Guard Regional Examination Center (REC) at the time of submitting an application (USCG regulation, 46 CFR Section 16.220)
8. Random Drug Testing
The selection of crewmembers for random drug testing must be made by a scientifically valid method. Under the testing frequency and selection process, each covered crewmember must have an equal chance of being selected and tested each time selections are made and a crewmember’s chance of selection must continue to exist throughout his or her employment. The minimum annual percentage rate of random drug testing shall be 50% of covered crewmembers. The AMS random selection program complies with this regulatory provision (USCG regulation, 46 CFR Section 16.230)
9. Medical Review Officer [MRO]
The MRO is the physician/toxicologist who reviews and verifies the drug test results. Our MRO reviews and interprets test results and, in the case of positive tests, interviews each crewmember by telephone.
10. Crewmember Background Checks
Marine employers must conduct background checks and acquire drug and alcohol testing information on each applicant for employment (49 CFR§40.25) |
