§3203 Safety management system

Summary

The Secretary must make rules that set up a safety management system for the people and vessels covered by this chapter, including all covered small passenger vessels (as defined in section 3306(n)(5)). The system must have a safety and environmental policy, clear operating steps that follow U.S. and international law, defined authority and communication lines between shore and ship staff, ways to report accidents and rule violations, annual training and procedures about sexual harassment and sexual assault (covering prevention, bystander intervention, reporting, response, and investigation), the list and log book required under section 3106(a)(2) and 3106(a)(3), emergency plans, and internal audits and management reviews. The rules for sexual harassment and assault training must follow the reporting rules in section 10104. During an audit required by section 10104(e), the Secretary may suspend a vessel’s Safety Management Certificate issued under section 3205 and put in a temporary certificate for a 3-month period. After the audit, the Secretary must revoke the certificate if the holder knowingly or repeatedly failed to follow section 10104 or if other safety system failures caused noncompliance. The Secretary may do the same for the responsible person’s Document of Compliance, including suspending it, issuing a 3-month temporary document, or revoking it for the same reasons. The rules must align with the International Safety Management Code for vessels covered under section 3202(a). When making rules for passenger and small passenger vessels, the Secretary must consider how the vessels are built, how they operate, their service, and, for ferries, the size of the ferry systems.