MSN 1883 (F) - Amendment 5 Work in Fishing Convention (No. 188) Medical Examination and Certification for Fishers

Notice to all shipowners and masters.

This notice should be read with MSN 1886 and replaces MSN 1883 Amendment 4

This notice contains guidance on the application and provisions of the Merchant Shipping (Work in Fishing Convention) (Medical Certification) Regulations 2018, including:

• why medical fitness examinations are important and the responsibility of fishers, owners and skippers to comply with the requirements
• how to obtain a medical certificate
• validity of a medical certificate
• categories of medical fitness
• the medical review (“appeal”) system
• the requirement for a fisher to report a significant change in their medical condition, or an absence from work of 30 days or more
• the right of approved doctors to make an administrative charge for the issue of duplicate certificates

This notice contains information on:

• the medical certificates which are valid medical certificates as required under Regulation 5
• what will happen at a medical examination (Annex A)
• the dates when fishers are required to have a valid medical certificate

The statutory medical fitness standards are published in MSN 1886 Amendment 2 MLC and ILO 188 medical standards

The guidance has been updated to reflect the 10m or less fishers’ medical exemption as outlined within MSN 1915(F) Merchant Shipping (Work in Fishing Convention) (Medical Certification) Regulations 2018 Exemption.

Amendment 5 clarifies the review process for ML5 Medicals.