I read yesterday from a link on gcaptain forum that the CG has again pushed back the date that STCW training record books must be signed off by USCG approved Qualified Assessors & not by any officer with a license. This seems to be the reoccurring trend with this QA dilemma, not of enough QA’s & the CG extends the deadline again. Besides myself, I haven’t heard of any mariners taking the Qualified Assessor course, completing the paper work & sending it in to have their names added to the approved QA list recently so I don’t think the lack of QA problem is getting any better. Unless companies start rewarding officers to take the course & do the paperwork I think the program will stay broken & many more extensions will come. It seems to me the QA program is another bureaucratic government program that failed.
Does anyone know of any companies that pay extra for a person to be an CG approved QA?
What’s the target percentage of mariners with QA’s is the CG aiming for before they stop extending the approved QA deadline?
The QA training course and QA certification should be required for all officers.
The tugboat companies typically do not pay for courses to become a DE. They do not pay anyone extra for being a DE. They do not pay anyone for performing services as a DE. Often companies expect anyone who happens to be a DE to pencil whip TOARs for every unqualified moron employed by the company — for free.
If that is the case in your part of the towing industry then there’s more cons to being a QA/DE than pros. I only took the course & completed the paperwork because the job market was soft & I think any endorsements helps in a tight job market. If the job market didn’t bottom out, I would have never became an Assessor. I think the Qualified Assessor program will remain a failure until the CG stops issuing extensions & employers are forced to compensate officers to be QA out of necessity of QA’s. All the extensions are defeating the purpose of needing an approved QA program.
… and that’s exactly why I won’t take the QA course and become one too. The company really wouldn’t like me much if they tried to get me to do that, so I’m preventing it from happening at all.
The course isn’t required. My company at the time wanted everyone to get it, that was before there was a course. They accepted my OPITO Competency Assessor course to show history. Haven’t used it yet either.
If companies were compensating us for having it then there would be plenty more people getting the endorsement. Right now you’re using your own time and or money to get the endorsement just to help the company and some stranger out.
I agree that a good course built on uniform standards and methods would be greatly beneficial. But as long as companies aren’t hurt by not having the people needing the sign offs OR they are no longer able to get the coast guard to delay the rule, the only gain you’ll get is another useless certificate.