46 CFR 10.409: Coast Guard-accepted QSS organizations

(a) Organizations wishing to serve as a Coast Guard-accepted QSS organization, to accept and monitor training on behalf of the Coast Guard, should apply to the National Maritime Center. An organization submitting an application may not act as a Coast Guard-accepted QSS organization until it has received its letter of acceptance.

(b) Validity of acceptance. Organizations meeting the requirements in paragraph (e) of this section will be issued a letter of acceptance valid for a maximum period of 5 years from the date of issuance.

(c) An organization wishing to become a Coast Guard-accepted QSS organization must have processes for reviewing, accepting, and monitoring training that are equal to the Coast Guard's course approval and oversight processes in §§ 10.402 through 10.410 of this subpart.

(d) Each person conducting evaluation and monitoring of the training must be knowledgeable about the subjects being evaluated or monitored and about the national and international requirements that apply to the training, and must not be involved in the training and assessment of students.

(e) The documentation submitted to the Coast Guard must contain the information listed below. An organization approved as a recognized classification society in accordance with 46 CFR part 8, subpart B, need not provide evidence of compliance with paragraphs (e)(1) and (e)(8) of this section.

(1) Identification of the organization: Name of the organization, address, contact information, and organizational structure (including the QSS department).

(2) Scope of approval: Training and assessment the organization wishes to accept and monitor.

(3) Background of the organization: Historical information outlining the organization's experience reviewing and accepting training and/or assessment activities.

(4) Staffing and support infrastructure, including—

(i) Names and qualifications of the individuals who will be involved in the review, acceptance, and monitoring of training and assessment;

(ii) Description of the training given to individuals who will be conducting review, acceptance, and monitoring activities; and

(iii) Technical and support resources within the organization that support the review, acceptance and monitoring activities.

(5) Submission guidelines: Information for client organizations to submit courses for review and acceptance, including criteria for course design, instructor/assessor qualifications, syllabi, equipment, and facilities.

(6) Review and acceptance procedures. (i) Descriptions of the methods of evaluation of the physical, administrative, and infrastructure support aspects of client organizations;

(ii) Descriptions of the methods of evaluation of the instructors or qualified assessors of a client organization and the maintenance of their records;

(iii) Descriptions of format for accepting training material;

(iv) Descriptions of the methods by which the course acceptance process responds to the client organization modifications to the training curriculum, changes to instructors or examiners, changes to the infrastructure support; and

(v) Descriptions of the renewal procedures.

(7) Audit procedures: Description of the methods for auditing accepted courses. Client organizations must be audited once in a 5-year period.

(8) Quality commitment: Provide evidence of having a quality management system that includes the following elements:

(i) A documented statement of a quality policy and quality objectives.

(ii) A quality manual.

(iii) Documented procedures and records.

(iv) Documents, including records, determined by the organization to be necessary to ensure the effective planning, operation, and control of its processes.

(f) Coast Guard-accepted QSS organizations must notify the NMC of the training they have accepted within 14 days of the acceptance date. The notification must include the name and address of the institution, the course title and the requirement the course meets, and a one-paragraph description of the course's content.

(g) Audits. (1) A Coast Guard-accepted QSS organization must conduct internal audits at least once in 5 years with a minimum of 2 years between reviews. Results of the internal audits must be available upon request to the Coast Guard within 60 days of completion.

(2) Each Coast Guard-accepted QSS organization may be audited by the Coast Guard at least once every 5 years. The results of the audit will be available to the Coast Guard-accepted QSS organization within 60 days of completion of the audit.

(3) Results of Coast Guard-accepted QSS organizations' audits to client organizations must be available upon request to the Coast Guard within 60 days of completion.

(h) Disenrollment. (1) A Coast Guard-accepted QSS organization must give each client organization it serves a 180-day notice of its intention to cease to function as a Coast Guard-accepted QSS organization.

(2) If the Coast Guard determines that a Coast Guard-accepted QSS organization is not meeting its obligations to review, accept, and monitor training and assessment, the NMC will notify the organization in writing and will enclose information about the events that led to this determination. The organization will then have a specified period of time to correct the deficiency or appeal the conclusions to the Commandant (CG-5P). If the organization appeals, and the appeal is denied, or the deficiencies are not corrected within the allotted time, the NMC will withdraw the acceptance of the Coast Guard-accepted QSS organization. The NMC will notify all client organizations affected by this decision so that they may make arrangements to transfer to another Coast Guard-accepted QSS organization or seek NMC approval for their training.

(i) A Coast Guard-accepted QSS organization may not approve courses provided by subsidiary organizations.