Waterways Business Guide
Revised October 2020
Overview
To ensure a safe environment for citizens, business owners, and business employees, the following regulations were drafted and published to help guide businesses on how to safely conduct business operations on the State of Firestone waterways. These regulations were designed to help create a better experience within the State of Firestone. It is encouraged that all upcoming waterway businesses take a close read to this to ensure that they can most efficiently get through the process to become certified. The curriculum / regulations can be found here under the list called “Maritime Business Safety Class Required Curriculum”.
Prerequisites
All businesses seeking to operate on the waters of the State of Firestone must meet all of the requirements as followed:
- Permitted by the State of Firestone Department of Commerce
- Have an outline of the businesses goals and service on the waterways
- Being in good standing with the Department of Boating and Waterways
Application
Businesses that meet the aforementioned prerequisites may then apply to become Department of Boating and Waterways certified. Certification is required for all businesses who wish to conduct business on any waterways within the State of Firestone. Businesses may apply by using the Google Forum located here. Business owners should complete all of the required information before submitting. Any questions about the forum may be directed to a member who is a part of the Maritime Safety Board.
Marine Business Safety Class
The Marine Business Safety Class is a crucial part in ensuring that all employees are aware of all the laws, regulations, and business policies. The Department of Boating and Waterways Maritime Safety Board will provide all the required material needed to be covered within the safety class. Business owners may add additional material to their curriculum that is not required by the Department of Boating and Waterways for their specific business.
Certifications from one business are not transferable to another. Each business must certify their employees and their employees only.
The Department of Boating and Waterways does not require any exam to be taken by employees in order to operate a vessel for that specific business; however, businesses are responsible for all damages done by their employees and as such may result in an investigation, suspension, or termination of their certified business if any negligence or incompetence is to be found with that business.
Instructor Certification
Upon passing the initial application, the business owner will be contacted by a member of the Maritime Safety Board. The business owner is required to become a certified instructor before moving forward.
For every 10 employees a business has, a business may have an additional instructor. Business owners will be asked for the names of the additional instructors upon passing their initial application as well as in the initial application.
Upcoming instructors are required to take an exam and score above or equal to a 85% to show their competence before being able to host their first class. The exam consists of maritime laws, maritime regulations, the required curriculum, and information about how to most effectively host a Marine Business Safety Class. Upcoming instructors have a maximum of two attempts before having a cooldown period of 30 days. Business owners who fail two times disqualifies their specific business from becoming certified. Businesses may submit an application again once the owners 30 day cooldown period is up. This is to ensure that the business owner is competent and is aware of the policies.
Optionally, the Department of Boating and Waterways offers a class for upcoming instructors so they can learn all the material that will be required of them on the waterways, classroom, and on their exam. This class is required after failing your first attempt. This class is hosted on a regular basis. To be notified about an upcoming class, ask for the “MBSC Instructor Class Notification” role.
Once an individual passes their exam they are lastly required to host their first class with a member of the Maritime Safety Board present grading to ensure that all standards are met. If a member of the Maritime Safety Board believes the new instructor is incompetent then they may recommend additional training for the new instructor before moving on. Upon the new instructor passing their supervised class, the instructor will then be fully certified and can teach their employees the required curriculum.
Instructor certifications last for a lifetime given that:
- The instructor is not found to be incompetent
- The instructor is not unethical in ensuring that all standards are taught
- There is no major updates to the mechanics of the State of Firestone waterways
Contrary to the Marine Business Safety Class certification, the instructor certification is transferable between businesses. This means that as long as you become fully certified at one business then you could apply this same certification for any other businesses that you work for or own. A business owner could list you as their additional instructor and you could start hosting classes immediately and certifying individuals for that business, as long as the business owner is certified.
Reporting of Incidents
The following incidents must be reported to the Department of Boating and Waterways within 24 hours of the event happening:
- A vessel crash. (Boat v Boat, Boat v Ped, Boat v Land, Boat v Object)
- Medical emergency resulting from the crew and/or business boat operation.
- An arrest of a crew member.
- A stop by Law Enforcement resulting in a warning or citation.
- Violating any additional regulations / information required to be taught in the curriculum.
Businesses failing to report an incident can have their certification revoked or suspended. The incident report form can be found here.
Additional Information
These regulations may be altered at any time at the discretion of the Secretary of Boating and Waterways or the Governor of the State of Firestone; all alterations shall be publicly announced in the communication server located here.
Signed,
Clonemep
Secretary of Boating and Waterways
HippoGamingRB
Deputy Secretary of Boating and Waterways
TheGreenLego_Brick
Associate Secretary of Boating