European inspection Programme for passenger ships – inspection grading system
EU Healthy GateWays Joint Action
To prepare the authorities and the transport sector for immediate response to cross-border threats to health.
Barbara Mouchtouri, Leader of Work Package 7-Maritime transport
In the framework of work package 7 of the EU HEALTHY GATEWAYS joint action, inspections on passenger ships are conducted by inspectors working at the competent authorities of EU Member States, following the procedures described in theEuropean Manual for Hygiene Standards and Communicable Disease Surveillance on Passenger Ships and in Deliverables 1 and 6 of the EU SHIPSAN ACT joint action (www.shipsan.eu), as updated during the EU HEALTHY GATEWAYS joint action.
A common inspection schedule based on target factors (considering historical inspection results and giving priority to ferries and inland navigation vessels) at an EU level is composed annually and agreed to by all participating authorities, to avoid duplicate inspections in the EU ports.
Shipping companies receive a 24 hours’ notice prior to the inspection either from the competent authority or the work package 7 administration team.
The inspection team consists of one ormore inspectors fulfilling the criteria andconducting an inspection according to theEuropean Manual for Hygiene Standards and Communicable Disease Surveillance on Passenger Ships. The inspection team may be supported by observers or technical experts, depending on availability and resources.
Inspection team prepares the inspectionreport where inspection findings andcorrective actions are included and basedon these findings, each inspection receives aletter grade “A”, “B”, “C”, or “D”.
The grading system was introduced with the purpose to both encourage compliance with EU health and hygiene standards, and to inform the public about the level of hygiene standards on board cruise ships and ferries. The overall objective is to contribute to a high level of public health protection in the European Union. Up to now, 18 inspection grades of seagoing and inland cruise ships and ferries have been published on the website of the joint action.
The grading system methodology
An inspection grading system methodology was designed and pilot tested, and is applied as of June 2019. The European Manual for Hygiene Standards and Communicable Disease Surveillance on Passenger Shipsconsists of 526 items, which describe the inspection standards. Each item in theManual has been given points (1-5) based on a risk analysis method. When an inspection is conducted on board a passenger ship according to the Manual, inspectors check compliance with the standards of this Manual.Inspectors may decide to give points in theinspection findings of non-compliance. As ofJune 2019, the inspection results are graded with a letter grade “A”, “B”, “C”, or “D”. The letter grade corresponds to the total sum ofthe points given to the inspection findings.The higher the point score, the lower the inspection will be graded.
More in the Newsletter Issue 5
https://www.healthygateways.eu/Newsletters/newsletter-issue-5-august-2019