Procedure Governing Accreditation

29 C.F.R. Part ..., Subpart B
in effectEffective: 2024-07-01

29 C.F.R. § 1919.3 Application for accreditation.

(a) Application. Any person seeking accreditation shall file an original and duplicate copy of an application for accreditation with the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, United States Department of Labor, Washington, D.C. 20210, on a form provided by the Administration for this purpose. Each application shall be signed and certified by the applicant and, if the applicant is an agency or organization, by a responsible officer of such agency or organization. (b) Contents of application. The application form shall include the following information: (1) A statement detailing the applicable types of work performed by the applicant in the past, noting the amount and extent of such work performed within the previous three years, listing representative vessels involved, and including representative job orders, if available, or equivalent evidence; (2) Descriptive details concerning any testing instruments and heat treatment furnaces which are to be used in conducting required tests or heat treatments. Test reports indicating that instruments meet the accuracy standards set forth in this part shall be included; (3) A list setting forth the ports in which applicant currently conducts his business as well as those in which he proposes to conduct gear certification activities; (4) A list of the applicant's responsible qualified personnel, both supervisory and managerial and including any surveyors, with resumes of their individual experience in the testing, examination, inspection and heat treatment of cargo gear. Such list shall include any branch office personnel or surveyors appointed to act in the applicant's behalf in any of the ports of the United States: Provided, however, That where the submission of individual resumes would be unduly burdensome because of the large number of persons engaged in the applicant's behalf, the applicant, after stating this fact, need only submit a list of its personnel together with a detailed statement of the qualifications upon which the appointment of surveyors is based; (5) A detailed schedule of the fees proposed to be charged for the various gear certification services; (6) Evidence of financial stability; (7) Names of at least three business references who will furnish information regarding work performed by applicant; (8) Any additional information the applicant deems to be pertinent.

29 C.F.R. § 1919.4 Action upon application.

(a) Upon receipt of an application for accreditation, the Assistant Secretary shall approve or deny the application. The Assistant Secretary may conduct an investigation, which may include a hearing, prior to approving or denying an application. To the extent he deems appropriate, the Assistant Secretary may provide an opportunity to other interested persons to present data and views on the application prior to approval or denial. (b) Any application which fails to present the information required by the prescribed form may be returned to the applicant with a notation of deficiencies and without prejudice to submission of a new or revised application. (c) If the application is approved, notice of approval shall be mailed to the applicant. If the application is denied, notice of such denial shall be mailed to the applicant and such denial shall be without prejudice to any subsequent application except where such action is deemed to be in the public interest. In the event an application is denied with prejudice, the provisions of § 1919.9 shall be applicable. (d) A copy of the notice of accreditation shall be kept on file by applicant at the applicant's place of business.

29 C.F.R. § 1919.5 Duration and renewal of accreditation.

The period of accreditation shall not exceed three years. Applications for renewal of accreditation shall be made on the same form as described in § 1919.3. No accreditation shall expire until action on an application for renewal shall have been finally determined, provided that such application has been properly executed in accordance with § 1919.3 and filed with and received by the Assistant Secretary not less than 15 nor more than 60 days prior to the expiration date. A final determination means either the approval or initial denial of the application for renewal. The procedure specified in § 1919.4 shall be applicable to all applications for renewal.

29 C.F.R. § 1919.6 Criteria governing accreditation to certificate vessels' cargo gear.

(a)(1) A person applying for accreditation to issue registers and pertinent certificates, to maintain registers and appropriate records, and to conduct initial, annual and quinquennial surveys, shall not be accredited unless that person is engaged in one or more of the following activities: (i) Classification of vessels; (ii) Certification of vessels' cargo gear; (iii) Shipbuilding or ship repairing, or both insofar as related to work on vessels' cargo handling gear; (iv) Unit and loose gear testing of vessels' cargo handling gear. (2) Applicants for accreditation under paragraph (a)(1) of this section for operations in coastal or Great Lakes ports who come within paragraph (a)(1) (ii) or (iv) shall not be accredited unless they conduct at least 1,500 hours of cargo gear certification work per year. (b) A person applying for accreditation to carry out tests of loose gear or wire rope, or both, or to carry out heat treatments, and to issue the related certificates, shall be engaged in one or both of the following activities: (1) Testing of loose gear or wire rope, or both; (2) Heat treatment of chains and loose cargo gear. (c)(1) A person applying for accreditation shall be staffed by individuals technically qualified to conduct the inspections and examinations and to conduct or supervise tests and heat treatments prescribed in this part. Any representatives, agents or surveyors acting on behalf of a person applying for accreditation in ports in which such operations are conducted shall be similarly qualified. (2) Accreditation to conduct such nondestructive examination as may be a part of any certification activity may be granted to applicants found competent and equipped to carry out this activity. (d) Except as noted in § 1919.1(c), and unless exemptions are granted under § 1919.10(h), a person applying for accreditation as specified in paragraph (a) of this section shall be prepared to carry out all of the requirements of subparts C, D, and E, of this part except that loose gear and wire rope tests and heat treatments may be carried out by the manufacturer of the gear concerned or by another person accredited specifically for this purpose. (e) A person applying for accreditation shall have a satisfactory record of performance, and shall be in sound financial condition.

29 C.F.R. § 1919.7 Voluntary amendment or termination of accreditation.

The accreditation of any person may be voluntarily amended or terminated upon written request filed with the Assistant Secretary.

29 C.F.R. § 1919.8 Suspension or revocation of accreditation.

The Assistant Secretary may suspend or revoke the accreditation of any person for cause. Except in cases of willfulness or cases in which the public interest requires otherwise, before any accreditation is suspended or revoked, facts or conduct which may warrant such action shall be called to the attention of the person involved in writing and that person shall be afforded an opportunity to achieve or demonstrate appropriate compliance.

29 C.F.R. § 1919.9 Reconsideration and review.

(a) Any person aggrieved by the action of the Assistant Secretary or his authorized representative in denying, granting, suspending or revoking an accreditation under this part may within 15 days after such action, (1) file a written request for reconsideration thereof by the Assistant Secretary or the authorized representative of the Assistant Secretary who made the decision in the first instance, or (2) file a written request for review of the decision by the Assistant Secretary or an authorized representative of the Assistant Secretary, who has taken no part in the action which is the subject for review. (b) A request for reconsideration shall be granted where the applicant shows that there is additional evidence which may materially affect the decision and that there were reasonable grounds for failure to adduce such evidence in the original proceedings. (c) Any person aggrieved by the action of the Assistant Secretary or authorized representative of the Assistant Secretary in denying a request for reconsideration may, within 15 days after the denial of such request, file with the Assistant Secretary or his authorized representative a written request for review. (d) Any person aggrieved by the reconsidered determination of the Assistant Secretary or authorized representative of the Assistant Secretary, may within 15 days after such determination, file with the Assistant Secretary a written request for review. (e) A request for review shall be granted where reasonable grounds for the review are set forth in the request. (f) If a request for reconsideration or review is granted, all interested persons shall be afforded an opportunity to present their views. (g) No cargo gear certification function shall be performed by any person seeking reconsideration or review under this section pending the final decision with respect to such reconsideration or review.

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