Excerpt from U.S. Coast Guard Proceedings of the Marine Safety & Security Council magazine by Mr. Alston Colihan, Technical Writer
The Office of Auxiliary and Boating Safety administers a variety of educational outreach programs to help reduce the numbers of boating accidents, fatalities, injuries, and property damage involving recreational boats. Some examples include:
The Boat Factory Visit Program
Requires recreational boat manufacturers to self-certify compliance with U.S. Coast Guard safety standards.
The credibility of that certification process is maintained by:
visits to domestic boat manufacturing plants to educate boat builders,
the authority to assess penalties against boat builders who are willfully non-compliant.
This program requires the manufacturer or importer to certify that each of its boats complies with federal safety standards. The Coast Guard does not require specific procedures to determine compliance, so the manufacturer may employ a third-party certification service, use an independent laboratory, or use the company’s in-house technical staff.
National Marine Manufacturers Association Yacht Certification Program
Offers member manufacturers’ boat inspections by third-party inspectors to certify compliance with Coast Guard safety standards and voluntary American Boat and Yacht Council standards.
Educational Efforts: New boat manufacturers are provided with a “Boatbuilder’s Handbook” CD, which contains information regarding the laws, regulations, and safety standards applicable to builders of recreational boats; copies of compliance guidelines and explanations for test procedures for each of the safety standards; and a variety of references concerning boat manufacturing, compliance testing, and the recreational boating product assurance program.
Visit Schedule: The Recreational Boating Factory Visit Program employs “compliance associates,” most of whom were former inspectors in the Coast Guard commercial vessel safety program.
The visit schedule is as follows:
annual visits to manufacturers whose boats are subject to most of the standards;
biennial visits to manufacturers whose boats are subject to some of the standards;
manufacturers of other boats that are excepted from the standards, such as canoe and kayak manufacturers, are visited at least once every three years.
These visits ensure that manufacturers understand the safety standards, know how to comply with them, and can inspect any boats under construction for compliance. In addition, boat manufacturers are also made aware of voluntary safety standards such as those published by the American Boat and Yacht Council.
Product Assurance Enforcement: The Coast Guard is exploring better coordination between the boating safety program and local Officers in Charge, Marine Inspection in the enforcement of civil penalties for recreational boat manufacturer violations.
The Recreational Boating Safety Visitation Program
Formerly known as the Marine Dealer Visitor Program, the program’s goal is to build long-lasting relationships with the recreational boating safety community as a whole.
The Office of Auxiliary and Boating Safety administers a variety of educational outreach programs to help reduce the numbers of boating accidents, fatalities, injuries, and property damage involving recreational boats. Some examples include:
The Boat Factory Visit Program
Requires recreational boat manufacturers to self-certify compliance with U.S. Coast Guard safety standards.
The credibility of that certification process is maintained by:
visits to domestic boat manufacturing plants to educate boat builders,
the authority to assess penalties against boat builders who are willfully non-compliant.
This program requires the manufacturer or importer to certify that each of its boats complies with federal safety standards. The Coast Guard does not require specific procedures to determine compliance, so the manufacturer may employ a third-party certification service, use an independent laboratory, or use the company’s in-house technical staff.
National Marine Manufacturers Association Yacht Certification Program
Offers member manufacturers’ boat inspections by third-party inspectors to certify compliance with Coast Guard safety standards and voluntary American Boat and Yacht Council standards.
Educational Efforts: New boat manufacturers are provided with a “Boatbuilder’s Handbook” CD, which contains information regarding the laws, regulations, and safety standards applicable to builders of recreational boats; copies of compliance guidelines and explanations for test procedures for each of the safety standards; and a variety of references concerning boat manufacturing, compliance testing, and the recreational boating product assurance program.
Visit Schedule: The Recreational Boating Factory Visit Program employs “compliance associates,” most of whom were former inspectors in the Coast Guard commercial vessel safety program.
The visit schedule is as follows:
annual visits to manufacturers whose boats are subject to most of the standards;
biennial visits to manufacturers whose boats are subject to some of the standards;
manufacturers of other boats that are excepted from the standards, such as canoe and kayak manufacturers, are visited at least once every three years.
These visits ensure that manufacturers understand the safety standards, know how to comply with them, and can inspect any boats under construction for compliance. In addition, boat manufacturers are also made aware of voluntary safety standards such as those published by the American Boat and Yacht Council.
Product Assurance Enforcement: The Coast Guard is exploring better coordination between the boating safety program and local Officers in Charge, Marine Inspection in the enforcement of civil penalties for recreational boat manufacturer violations.
The Recreational Boating Safety Visitation Program
Formerly known as the Marine Dealer Visitor Program, the program’s goal is to build long-lasting relationships with the recreational boating safety community as a whole.
PICTURED: A compliance associate inspects a boat’s wiring harness.
Subscribe online at http://www.uscg.mil/proceedings/subscribe.asp.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comment Policy
We welcome your comments on postings at all Coast Guard sites/journals. These are sponsored by the U.S. Coast Guard to provide a forum to talk about our work providing maritime safety, security and stewardship for the American people to secure the homeland, save lives and property, protect the environment, and promote economic prosperity.
Please note: Anonymous comments have been disabled for this journal. It is preferred that you use your real name when posting a comment. WE WILL POST THE NAME YOU ENTER WHEN YOU SUBMIT YOUR COMMENT. Also, you are welcome to use Open ID or other user technologies that may be available.
All comments submitted are moderated and will be reviewed before posting. The Coast Guard retains the discretion to determine which comments it will post and which it will not. We expect all contributors to be respectful. We will not post comments that contain personal attacks of any kind; refer to Coast Guard or other employees by name; contain offensive terms that target specific ethnic or racial groups, or contain vulgar language. We will also not post comments that are spam, are clearly off topic or that promote services or products.
We will make our best effort to promptly post those comments that are consistent with the Comment Policy, but given the need to manage federal resources, moderating and posting of comments will usually occur only during regular business hours, Monday through Friday. Comments submitted outside of business hours will be read and posted as quickly as possible.