IF A CRUISE SHIP FAILS CDC 'SANITATION INSPECTION'

[gadaboutgal]

Wondering what the repercussions are if a cruise ship fails the Sanitation Inspection?  For example, NCL Breakaway failed their inspection in March (received a score of 84 (85 or lower is a "Not Satisfactory,")  So what happens?  Do they get to ask for a new inspection after they have cleaned up the ship or do they have to wait until a future surprise inspection?  Do they receive a fine or punishment?  

Edited June 9, 2019 by gadaboutgal

[Donald]

The Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) is part of the United States Public Health Service (USPH), which is an arm of the US Center for Disease Congrol (CDC).

The VSP is responsible for advising, educating, and inspecting Public Health Standards on foreign flag (only) cruise vessels that call at US Ports. Their stated goal is to protect the public health of US Citizens from any health hazards possibly introduced by foreign carriers.

They try - and usually succeed - in performing surprise inspections twice yearly on all foreign cruise vessels calling at US Ports.

Every ship that is inspected must submit a Corrective Action Report on all inspection findings within 30 days of the inspection.

VSP then has the authority to re-inspect the ship to ensure that the Corrective Actions were actually taken. This rarely happens.

 

If a ship fails an inspection, they have the same 30 day window to submit the Corrective Action Report.

Then the VSP will re-inspect the ship to ensure that it can pass the inspection standards.

 

The VSP has the authority to stop the ship from sailing, or to bar it from any other US port calls - but only if they determine that their findings are an immediate danger to American Public Health. This almost never happens. Most of the rare failures are technical in nature and have little to no possible effect on public health.

 

Note that USPH health standards for foreign ships are much higher than local US Health Department standards for land-based hotels and restaurants.

Last month I attended a one-week USPH refresher course, held in one of Miami's nicer hotels. During the course, we held a mock USPH inspection in the hotel's kitchens. The hotel failed completely. If it had been a ship, it would have been barred from US port calls.

 

VSP has no authority to levy fines for health violations.

If a ship fails an inspection, or even gets a low passing score, the F&B Director, Chef, and Hotel Manager are in danger of losing their jobs.

Bad PR and the Marketplace take care of everything else.

[crystalspin]

2 hours ago, Donald said:

Last month I attended a one-week USPH refresher course, held in one of Miami's nicer hotels. During the course, we held a mock USPH inspection in the hotel's kitchens. The hotel failed completely. If it had been a ship, it would have been barred from US port calls.

 

That is interesting! Few to none would ever question the sanitation of a "nicer hotel".

[lisiamc]

8 hours ago, Donald said:

Last month I attended a one-week USPH refresher course, held in one of Miami's nicer hotels. During the course, we held a mock USPH inspection in the hotel's kitchens. The hotel failed completely. If it had been a ship, it would have been barred from US port calls.

 

Thats an eye-opener!  And not in a good way. 😳

[chengkp75]

8 hours ago, crystalspin said:

 

That is interesting! Few to none would ever question the sanitation of a "nicer hotel".

 

2 hours ago, lisiamc said:

 

Thats an eye-opener!  And not in a good way. 😳

USPH inspectors will tell you that a ship that has a failing score on their inspections is still far better than nearly all land restaurants meeting local and state health codes.  Most USPH inspectors are former state and local health inspectors.

 

The VSP covers far more of a ship's operation than a local health code.  It starts at construction, with how various spaces are constructed, and even how much of the equipment is constructed.  It also covers pools, potable water, medical facility, kids club, laundry, pest control, hazmat procedures, housekeeping, lighting, and ventilation.  How many local or state health codes care if there is a crack in a kitchen wall that you could slide a credit card into?  Or that the screws on a mixer have "regular" heads (Phillips or flat blade), since these are "hard to clean", so you have to have USPH approved fasteners.

 

And a failing score places not only the senior staff mentioned above at peril for their jobs, but at NCL the Staff Captain and Staff Chief Engineer are in jeopardy, as the Staff Captain is charged with overall USPH compliance, and the Staff Chief is charged with maintaining all equipment to USPH standards.

Edited June 10, 2019 by chengkp75

[kerryincork]

This was very interesting, thanks for the explanation 😊

[SRF]

One minor thing, US PHS is not under CDC.  Both are agencies directly under Department of Health and Human Services

 

 

[MicCanberra]

As a plumber/ gasfitter (former a career), I would never do work at any of the restaurants where we usually ate or got takeaway from, as I had seen too many restaurant kitchens to know that if I saw one of my regulars, I would never be able to eat or get food there again.

[chengkp75]

14 hours ago, SRF said:

One minor thing, US PHS is not under CDC.  Both are agencies directly under Department of Health and Human Services

 

 

True, but the CDC developed the VSP, but the USPH provides the inspectors, since it is their mandate to prevent the introduction of diseases into the US.

[dogs4fun]

Very interesting thread - I actually had no idea!

Edited June 14, 2019 by dogs4fun

[SRF]

16 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

True, but the CDC developed the VSP, but the USPH provides the inspectors, since it is their mandate to prevent the introduction of diseases into the US.

 

A lot of CDC folks are PHS, but that does not make PHS under CDC. 😄

 

 

[chengkp75]

7 hours ago, SRF said:

 

A lot of CDC folks are PHS, but that does not make PHS under CDC. 😄

 

 

I agree that they are separate, just that there is an overlap.