Guidance - COVID 19 Required Testing Amendment Order 2021 Maritime Ports FINAL

Guidance For Implementing the Required Testing Order at New Zealand Maritime Ports Fifth revised version: 20 April 2021

Table of Contents 1

Background ..................................................................................................................................... 3

2

Amendments to the Required Testing Order affecting workers in the maritime context ............. 4 An additional group of workers in the broader maritime context are required to be tested ............ 4 Some groups of workers are now required to be tested more frequently ........................................ 5 Clarification of requirements for spacing intervals between regular testing ..................................... 6

3 Additional requirements concerning the obligations of PCBUs/employers to keep records and track workers’ testing status................................................................................................................... 7 Requirements that must be met by PCBUs ........................................................................................ 7 Requirements that must be met by workers ...................................................................................... 8 The Border Workforce Testing Register.............................................................................................. 8 4

What process will be used to support implementation of required testing? ................................ 9

5

Summary of Roles and Responsibilities ........................................................................................ 10

6

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) ............................................................................................. 10

Appendix I: Required Testing Order: History ...................................................................................... 20 Appendix II: Draft template letter for employers to send employees................................................. 22 Appendix III: Testing requirements ...................................................................................................... 24 Appendix IV: Examples of “affected workers” handling “affected items” from “affected ships” ....... 25

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Guidance for implementing the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Required Testing) Amendment Order 2021 at New Zealand Maritime Ports 20 April 2021

1

Background

At 11:59 pm on 21 April 2021 changes to the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Required Testing) Order 2020 (‘the Required Testing Order’), will come into effect. The changes were introduced in order to further strengthen the border testing regime in response to the new community cases detected in Auckland in February, and the presence in New Zealand of more transmissible variants of COVID-19, first identified in the UK, South Africa and Brazil.

This guidance explains the changes to the Required Testing Order. It updates the guidance issued on 27 November 2020, when the Required Testing Order was last amended.

The new changes: •

Extend mandatory testing requirements to new groups of border workers.

•

Increase the current 14-day mandatory testing frequency for certain higher-risk border workers to every seven days.

•

Provide for flexibility in the scope of sampling methods that can be used.

•

Clarifies testing cycle requirements to reflect that the time between tests must not exceed the length of the relevant testing cycle. o

•

These changes apply from 22 April 2021.

Make it mandatory that employers use the Border Workforce Testing Register kept, maintained and monitored by the Ministry of Health to keep the required records of testing for workers subject to mandatory testing. o

This change applies from 27 April 2021.

This guidance focuses on explaining the changes to the Required Testing Order in the context of workers at maritime ports. (Separate guidance is provided to explain the changes in the context of workers at the air border, and workers in managed isolation and quarantine facilities.) The guidance should be read in conjunction with other guidance about mandatory testing requirements for port workers available on the Ministry of Health website.

The Required Testing Order has been in place since 29 August 2020. Its purpose is to prevent, and limit the risk of, the outbreak or spread of COVID-19 by ensuring specified border workers at risk of exposure to COVID-19 are tested on a regular basis. Regular testing remains necessary due to the incubation period of COVID-19 and risks of re-exposure.

Appendix I sets out an overview of the development of mandatory worker testing requirements under the Required Testing Order.

The decision now to require regular testing of additional groups of border workers, increased frequency of testing for some border workers, and mandatory use of the Border Workforce Testing Register reflects the need for extra caution and vigilance with the emergence of new and more 3

transmissible strains of the virus. The changes will help to ensure that the right people are being tested and at the right frequencies, and will support compliance with the testing requirements. The additional testing requirements will further strengthen the border, and help keep vulnerable border workers, their families, and communities, safe.

The requirements for mandatory testing of border workers are in addition to ongoing public health measures being practised at the border, including physical distancing, appropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE), basic hygiene measures such as hand washing and sanitising, other health screening, and people staying home when sick.

Voluntary testing for surveillance purposes will remain available at no cost to border workers who are not covered by the mandatory requirements in the Required Testing Order.

2 Amendments to the Required Testing Order affecting workers in the maritime context An additional group of workers in the broader maritime context are required to be tested The following new group of workers in the broader maritime context are required to be tested, in addition to the groups of port workers and border officials that are already required to be tested under the Order: •

Workers who handle affected items from an affected ship, if that handling occurs within 72 hours of the items being removed from the affected ship. These workers are required to be tested every 14 days, beginning 22 April 2021. o

An” affected ship” is a ship which has persons on board who are required to be isolated or quarantined in accordance with a COVID-19 Order.

o

“Affected items” are items that:

o

▪

are not cargo or freight; and

▪

have been removed from the affected ship for cleaning, disposal and/or reuse.

•

In the maritime context freight refers to goods transported in bulk by ship.

•

“Re-use” refers to items that are to be re-used on a ship. The re-use does not have to be on the same ship from which the item was removed.

You are an “affected worker” who must meet this new requirement if you: ▪

have handled an affected item within 72 hours of it being removed from the affected ship, and

▪

have contact with a member of a group of port workers or port border officials who is already required to be tested under the Required Testing Order, while both are working.

▪

“Have contact with”, in relation to contact with a member of a group of port workers or port border officials, means: 4

o •

•

having face-to-face contact that is within 2 metres of each other for 15 minutes or more; or

•

being in a confined space that is within 2 metres of each other for 15 minutes or more.

▪

A table of workers and border officials who are required to be tested in the ports context is provided under item 4 in the table in Appendix III. A summary of port workers who are members of a group required to be tested is included in the FAQ section of this guidance.

▪

If you are a worker who only has contact with another worker who has become an affected worker by handling an affected item, and have not had contact with a worker who is a member of a group already required to be tested, you are not within scope of this new requirement.

“Affected workers” can include third party contractors servicing ships.

Addition of this new group acknowledges that the possibility of fomite transmission of COVID-19 via surfaces has not been ruled out.

“In the maritime context, “affected items” might include items such as: ▪

Machinery or equipment, or parts, removed from an affected ship for repair or service

▪

Firefighting and lifesaving equipment removed from an affected ship for repair or service

▪

Laundry, removed from an affected ship, (noting laundry would usually be done on board)

▪

Garbage or garbage containers, including expired medical stores, removed from an affected ship for disposal.

Note, this is not intended to be an exhaustive list. It is also noted that in most cases repairs, servicing or cleaning of machinery or equipment would be carried out on board the ship.

[Appendix IV sets out some examples of situations where workers in the maritime context are “affected workers” handling “affected items” and therefore subject to the new testing requirements.]

Some groups of workers are now required to be tested more frequently In view of the new and more transmissible strains of the virus, the frequency of required testing has been increased for some groups of border workers identified as being at high risk of exposure because of the nature of their work and interaction with potentially infectious persons.

The following groups of port workers, who were previously on a 14-day testing cycle, are now required to be tested every seven days, beginning 22 April 2021: •

Workers who transport crew, to or from an affected ship. o

This new requirement will affect those who transport on and off-signing maritime crew, between airports and ships, or ships and MIFs. ▪

These crew have not been in isolation or quarantine for at least 14 days, or met other low risk indicators including a negative COVID-19 test.

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▪

o

o

These crew are transported by dedicated transport providers under controlled conditions managed by Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) authorities.

This new requirement will not affect workers who transport crew who have been authorised to disembark e.g. for shore leave or to return to their home in New Zealand.

▪

These crew have been in isolation and quarantine for at least 14 days and have met other low risk indicators including a negative COVID-19 test.

▪

The ship they are disembarking from is no longer “an affected ship”.

▪

In many cases these crew would travel to or from the port entrance (not the ship) in private vehicles or by public transport e.g. a taxi, uber or bus, or on foot.

Workers who transport persons who are not crew to or from an affected ship, remain on a 14-day testing cycle.

▪

This includes workers transporting testing teams to a ship to test crew, or workers transporting persons to a ship to undertake a necessary task.

Clarification of requirements for spacing intervals between regular testing The Required Testing Order has been amended to clarify how the required testing frequency must be implemented. It now specifies that the time between tests must not exceed the length of the relevant testing cycle.

By way of example, if the applicable testing period is every 7 days, and a person becomes an affected person on 10 May, the affected person’s first test must be no later than 17 May. If recurring testing is required, and the affected person was first tested on 15 May, the second test may not be later than 22 May. If the second test was on 19 May, the third test may not be later than 26 May. When it commenced in August 2020, the Required Testing Order required certain worker groups to be tested ‘once every 7 days’ or ‘once every 14 days’ from a specified date. The intent of the Order was for affected workers to be tested as close to the end of the applicable testing cycle as possible to allow for regular spacing of tests and to improve the chances that testing would detect the presence of COVID-19.

However, it became apparent that requirements concerning spacing of tests were open to interpretation, and this posed challenges for ensuring the accuracy of test results. The Order allowed workers to get tested at any point in their cycle, and this introduced a risk that they may be getting tested before the test can detect infection. It was possible for example that an asymptomatic individual on a 14-day cycle might be tested on day one of their first cycle and on day 14 of their second, allowing a gap of 27 days between tests.

The new requirement therefore ensures that testing will be spaced regularly and to a cycle that will give the best chance of detecting COVID-19. It does not mean, however, that there is no scope for a little flexibility in spacing of testing, for example for border workers on rosters, or working irregular hours.

Requirements concerning timing and spacing of regular tests are further explained in the FAQ section.

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3 Additional requirements concerning the obligations of PCBUs1/employers to keep records and track workers’ testing status There is a new requirement making it mandatory for PCBUs/employers of border workers subject to the Required Testing Order to use the Border Workforce Testing Register (BWTR) kept, maintained and monitored by the Ministry of Health to keep the required records of testing for staff subject to mandatory testing. Use of the BWTR has previously been voluntary.

Requirements that must be met by PCBUs Initial requirements concerning the obligations of PCBUs/employers to monitor and keep records of their workers’ testing status were introduced in the 25 November 2020 amendments to the Required Testing Order. These are summarised below and can be referred to in detail in the consolidated Guidance Manual for Border Worker Testing for COVID-19, available on the Ministry of Health website.

PCBUs that employ or engage workers with testing obligations are required to comply with certain duties. Specifically, PCBUs/employers must: • Notify each affected worker employed or engaged by the PCBU/employer of the requirement to undergo testing and the testing period that applies to the affected person • Not prevent any affected worker from being tested during their working hours if testing is available during those hours •

Keep certain written records.

Record keeping The records that are required to be kept by PCBUs/employers are: •

The worker’s full legal name

•

The worker’s date of birth

•

The testing period that applies to the worker

•

The worker’s contact mobile number and email address (so they can receive test reminders)

•

The dates on which the worker has undergone testing and medical examination

• If the worker has been given a medical exemption, the testing period to which the exemption relates (this does not require the collection of health information about the reason for the exemption).

From 27 April 2021, records are required to be entered by PCBUs/employers on a Register specified by, and kept, maintained and monitored by or on behalf of, the Ministry of Health. Records must be made available as soon as practicable to an enforcement officer if requested.

(See information on the Border Workforce testing Register below.)

1

A PCBU means a Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (source: WorkSafe). It is a broader term than ‘employer,’ recognising the variety of employment situations and workplace arrangements. Most New Zealand businesses, whether large corporates, sole traders, or self-employed, are classed as PCBUs. In comparison, an ‘Undertaking’ refers to activities and services such as Government agencies, local councils, school or early childhood education service or charities.

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Requirements that must be met by workers All workers with testing requirements are required to provide the PCBU/employer that employs or engages them with the following information, or access to this information: •

The worker’s full legal name and date of birth

•

The worker’s telephone number

•

The testing period that applies to the worker

•

The dates on which the worker has undergone testing and medical examination

•

If the worker has been given a medical exemption, the testing period to which the exemption applies.

The worker must provide this information, or access to the information, as soon as practicable. The worker must also update the information as soon as practicable after it changes. This means that the worker must ensure that their PCBU/employer is informed as soon as practicable once they have been tested.

They must also inform their PCBU/employer if they have received a medical exemption for a given testing period.

The Border Workforce Testing Register From 27 April 2021 it will be mandatory for PCBUs to enrol on and use the BWTR to keep the required records of testing for staff subject to mandatory testing under the Required Testing Order.

The Ministry of Health developed the Border Workforce Testing Register (BWTR) to support PCBUs and workers to meet their respective obligations under the Required Testing Order in regard to record keeping and information sharing.

The BWTR is an automated secure online tool that tracks and records a border worker’s COVID-19 testing dates and activity. It keeps PCBUs/employers and workers informed about: •

when the worker needs to be tested

•

and if the worker has completed a test.

The BWTR does not record the results of a test, but it does record the date of the test and the date a result was returned.

To use the BWTR, PCBUs/employers need to provide the information specified above into the Register on behalf of border workers. Workers need to supply the relevant specified information to their employers to enable them to do this.

The Ministry of Health will monitor the Register and review reporting recorded by PCBUs on the Register. It will be able to use Register reporting features to identify if a PCBU appears to have failed to keep records, or ensure that workers are being tested within the timeframes identified in the Register.

The new requirement making use of the BWTR mandatory will also support PCBUs/employers to fulfil their obligations towards ensuring that affected border workers are tested on their regular cycles. Specifically, mandatory and consistent use of the BWTR by PCBUs/employers will:

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•

ensure they meet their obligations to keep records that can be easily accessed and converted into written form, and to

•

ensure their workers know that they are required to be tested and the testing cycle that applies to them.

Mandatory use of the BWTR will also be helpful to: •

increase the accuracy of data held on testing frequency due to its automation function anonymously linking the affected workers test results to their NHI number

•

support COVID case investigation, as it facilitates early detection of potential transmission linked to an ‘affected worker’ during contact tracing by generating a list of close or casual work contacts who might also have been exposed to the same source.

The Register is easy to use and has been designed for all PCBUs/employers to operate quickly, while providing uniform information back to the Ministry of Health.

Ministry of Health staff are available to provide ongoing technical support to PCBUs/employers on use of the Register. Demonstrations on how the Register works can be arranged by contacting: bwtrsupport@health.govt.nz.

4 What process will be used to support implementation of required testing?

• Port companies will notify PCBUs/employers of affected port workers about the changes to the Required Testing Order and this guidance.

• DHBs will review existing plans to test affected port workers to take account of the new groups required to be tested and testing frequency changes for some groups. This includes updated planning and provision for the capacity needed to take samples from all affected workers. DHBs should also continue to ensure that there is capacity to provide voluntary testing service to workers not subject to mandatory testing requirements under the Order.

• DHBs will communicate these plans to PCBUs/employers employing affected workers and provide instructions, guidance or other information to support workers to get tested.

• PCBUs/employers engaging or employing affected workers will implement systems and processes to ensure that they meet their obligations under the Required Testing Order on an ongoing basis: These obligations are to: o

notify each affected person employed or engaged by the relevant PCBU/employer of the requirement to be tested, and the testing period that applies to the affected person

o

meet record keeping requirements

o

ensure that, where testing is available during work hours, workers are not prevented from accessing that testing.

• From 27 April 2021, the Border Workforce Testing Register (BWTR) tool kept, maintained and monitored by the Ministry of Health is to be used as they system for keeping the required records of workers’ testing, and of informing workers of their testing requirements and cycles.

Information is provided above on how the BWTR assists PCBUs/employers meet these obligations.

•

A suggested letter for employers to send is attached as Appendix II. 9

• In addition to these legal requirements, PCBUs/employers should provide workers with information about how they can access tests at their facility and the timing of testing, or provide them with vouchers that they can take to a community testing centre or other healthcare facility to get the test done.

• If requested, DHBs will report in writing the number of workers that are tested to the Ministry of Health. In this case, the information provided should show details of the port where they work.

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Summary of Roles and Responsibilities

Port Companies Notify PCBUs/employers of the Order and guidance material.

DHBs/PHUs Provide the health testing staff and arrange schedules to provide testing at facilities.

As a PCBU/employer in its own right – the Port Company has the same responsibilities as other PCBUs/employers to staff it engages or employs that work in affected roles at an affected port, as well as general Health and Safety responsibilities.

Ensure testing data is collected and reported to the Ministry of Health in accordance with the prevailing arrangements

The Port Company will use its best endeavours to link to sources and information about testing at the port.

As a PCBU that employs or engages affected workers, DHBs also have the same duties and responsibilities as all other relevant PCBUs/employers in relation to affected workers engaged or employed by the DHB working on site at an affected port.

PCBUs/Employers Keep records via the Ministry of Health’s Border Workforce Testing Register about workers employed or engaged by them who are required to be tested.

Make records available to an enforcement officer if requested.

Notify workers of their responsibility to have COVID-19 tests and medical exams, and their required testing frequency.

Affected Workers Provide employer with the specified information that will enable them to meet the duties of a PCBU/employer.

Present yourself for testing every 7 or 14 days (as applicable).

Self-employed/sole trader workers or contractors may need to consider their responsibilities both as an affected worker and as a PCBU.

Must not prevent their workers from being tested during their working hours, if testing is available during those workers’ hours.

Self-employed/sole trader workers or contractors may need to consider their responsibilities both as an affected worker and as a PCBU/ employer.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The following section sets out responses to frequently asked questions and is intended to assist understanding and implementation of the requirements of the Required Testing Order. Please direct any further questions not covered by these FAQs to: COVID-19testing@health.govt.nz.

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1.

Why should border workers be tested?

•

The aim of these testing measures is to increase the safety of border workers, and to strengthen barriers to prevent COVID-19 entering New Zealand across the border. Workers at borders all have an increased risk of exposure to COVID-19 through interaction with travellers and cargo arriving from overseas. Regular testing of border workers provides assurance that use of personal protective equipment (PPE), practising good hygiene and other public health protection measures are effective.

•

It is important to remember that the appropriate use of PPE and other public health measures remain the best ways for border workers to protect themselves from exposure to COVID-19.

2. What types of COVID-19 testing are available to border workers?

•

The nasopharyngeal swab, or deep nasal swab, is the preferred option due to its effectiveness in detecting the virus. However, as border workers are undergoing testing regularly, they may ask for the new ‘alternative swab option’, the oropharyngeal and bilateral anterior nasal swab (ONS). This involves a less invasive swab of one nostril and a throat swab.

•

Saliva testing is not currently available for port workers, but may become an option in future. o

Saliva testing has a lower sensitivity than nasopharyngeal swabbing. At this stage, it is a potential additional screening tool for New Zealand’s highest risk border workers, and it could complement use of the nasopharyngeal method for those being tested regularly.

o

Nasopharyngeal swabs remain the ‘gold standard’ test and preferred means of testing for COVID-19 because of their sensitivity.

o

The Required Testing Order allows for saliva testing to be an authorised method for the purposes of the order in future, if this is later considered to be an appropriately sensitive test.

o

However, no saliva tests are approved by the Director General of Health for the purposes of testing under the Order at this time.

o

Workers are encouraged to participate in voluntary saliva testing where this is made available, but saliva tests will not qualify as a test for the purposes of meeting obligations under the Required Testing Order at this stage.

3. Most border workers are being vaccinated as a priority group. Will they still need to be tested once they are vaccinated?

•

Yes, at this stage border workers will still need to be tested once they are vaccinated. The vaccines will protect individuals from the effects of the virus, however, it is too early for researchers to determine whether a vaccinated person could still transmit the virus to someone else. Until the evidence is clearer, and until we have more individuals in the community vaccinated, the mandatory testing of our border and managed isolation and quarantine workforce needs to continue.

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•

4.

It is also an important reminder that the vaccines are not a substitute for workers staying at home if unwell, as well as using good hygiene practices such as washing hands, coughing and sneezing into the elbow, and wearing PPE while working.

Where should workers be tested?

•

Either at testing sites available at the place of work (i.e. on-site testing facilities at ports, airports, or MIQ facilities), a community testing centre, or another healthcare facility, such as a GP.

•

Workers must provide their employer with information about their test to allow the employer to keep the records required by the Required Testing Order. To ensure a record is kept, if a worker goes to a community testing centre, or another healthcare facility to get tested, they should ensure their test is recorded using the appropriate identifier (SURV code) unique to their place of work. Some employers use a voucher system for referring workers to a GP or a community testing centre, which includes the appropriate SURV code. Workers should contact their employer for information.

5. How does a worker get their test results?

•

The worker will be advised of their test results by their testing service provider. This is likely to be by text message.

•

If a worker returns a positive test result, they will receive a call from the local Medical Officer of Health and will need to follow the instructions given.

6. Is there any requirement for an employer to pay workers to be tested when testing must be done in their own time?

•

Payment of workers who are tested in their own time is a matter for individual employers, taking into account their general employment, workplace health and safety obligations and contractual requirements. Employers are encouraged to support staff to be tested.

7. Do workers need to be off work until they get their test results?

•

If you are a border or other worker being tested under a mandatory testing requirement such as the Required Testing Order, and you are NOT sick or symptomatic, you can continue working while you wait for the test results.

•

Workers should stay home if they are sick and contact Healthline or their medical professional to arrange a test if they are displaying flu-like symptoms. In this situation, they should self-isolate until they get their test results.

•

Notwithstanding this advice, if you are a border worker who becomes a close contact of community case, and are tested on that basis, you are required to follow public health advice, including self-isolating at home until you receive a negative test result.

8. What assistance is available to a worker who cannot work due to COVID-19?

•

Work and Income administers a leave subsidy scheme to help employers pay their employees who need to self-isolate due to COVID-19 and can’t work from home, in certain situations. Details are available at: https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/covid-19/leavesupport-scheme/

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9. Can a worker be exempted from the requirement to be tested?

•

A person can be exempted from the mandatory testing requirements by a suitably qualified health practitioner at the testing site based on medical grounds. A GP or qualified health professional at the testing site, if available, are examples of people who could provide an exemption.

10. How should the mandatory 7-day or 14-day testing cycle be implemented?

•

Worker testing must be done at least once within 7 days or 14 days of the work occurring, depending on the applicable testing cycle.

•

In order to increase the likelihood of detection of the virus, timing of the tests, and the interval between them, is important. Therefore, worker testing:

•

o

should be done on each 7th or 14th day as applicable, rather than earlier in the cycle

o

must not be done later than the 7th or 14th day, on which it is normally due. A worker can be tested slightly earlier than the 7th or 14th day of their usual testing cycle if necessary, but not on or after the 8th or 15th day

o

should occur at evenly spaced 7 or 14-day intervals, and the interval between tests must not be more than 7 or 14 days, depending on the applicable testing cycle.

Notwithstanding this advice, if a worker develops symptoms at any time since their last test, they should get tested urgently regardless of when their last test was, or the next one is due.

11. What happens if a worker is absent from their workplace at the required testing time?

•

If workers are absent from their workplace at the required testing time (for example, they are on holiday or not rostered to work during the required testing period), they are still required to comply with their testing requirements under the Required Testing Order.

•

If the worker is absent from their workplace on their usual required testing day, but is able to be tested at a location other than their usual workplace testing site (e.g. a community testing centre or at a medical practice), they must advise their employer of the date and location of their test. o

However, there may be situations where a worker is away from the workplace and is unable to access testing at an alternative location at the required time. In such cases: ▪

a test a little earlier in the cycle is acceptable but this must be as close to the end of the 7 or 14-day cycle as possible

▪

the test must not be done later than the 7th or 14th day on which it is normally due. To specify, a worker can be tested slightly earlier than the 7th or 14th day of their usual testing cycle, but not on or after the 8th or 15th day.

The Required Testing Order has now been amended to clarify that a period longer than 7 or 14 days between consecutive tests is prohibited

▪

the testing clock would re-set, and the next test would be due on each 7th or 14th day after the latest test (as now clarified in the Required Testing Order).

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12. How do the requirements apply to one-off or intermittent work in affected roles?

•

Where someone works in an affected role on a one-off basis, the requirement to be tested is also a one-off. The worker must get tested within the required testing period – i.e. within 7 or 14 days, depending on the applicable testing cycle.

•

A further testing round is not triggered unless and until the worker next performs work in a role that brings them in scope of the Required Testing Order.

•

Workers that only infrequently or intermittently work in affected roles are required to be tested within 7 days or 14 days, depending on the applicable testing cycle, each time they undertake the work. o

Unlike the situation in question 10 where workers are required to be tested on a regular and ongoing cycle, the optimal time for testing when someone works in an affected role on a one-off or intermittent basis is between day 5 or 7 of that exposure, regardless of the applicable testing cycle. Most people who have been infected would test positive by day 7, whether they are due to be tested on day 7 or day 14 after performing one-off or intermittent work in an affected role.

o

Therefore, it is recommended that in the case of work in an affected role requiring a one-off or intermittent test within 7 or 14 days, it is recommended that the test be done between days 5 and 7.

o

As an additional precaution, it is recommended that a worker subject to a one-off or intermittent test within 7 days of performing work in an affected role, be tested again within 7 days of that test. This is advised as a prudent approach to ensure that the worker has not been incubating the virus despite returning a negative test between day 5 and 7 – however, this additional test is not a legal requirement.

o

An additional test is not considered useful in the case of a worker subject to a 14day testing cycle, undertaking one-off or intermittent work in an affected role.

•

Once the worker has been tested for work performed in an affected role on a one-off or intermittent basis, once they take a break from performing that work, their requirement to be tested pauses and is not triggered until they next perform work in an affected role.

•

As for question 10, notwithstanding this advice, if a worker develops symptoms at any time, they should get tested urgently regardless of when their one-off, or intermittent test is due.

13. What happens if a worker does not get a test at the required intervals?

•

It is the responsibility of an affected worker to present themselves for regular testing at the required intervals.

•

If a worker does not comply with the mandatory testing requirements, and if the worker is not exempted by a suitably qualified health practitioner based on medical grounds, the worker would be in breach of clause 7 of the Required Testing Order. The individual might receive an infringement notice of $300 for not complying with the Order. Alternatively, a Court could impose a fine of up to $1000.

•

If a worker does not comply with their mandatory testing requirements or the requirement to provide information, we expect their employer would follow up with them in the first instance.

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•

If the worker still fails to comply with the Order, the case can be referred to the Ministry of Health or WorkSafe. These agencies can undertake an enforcement role to ensure PCBUs and individuals meet their obligations under the Order.

•

A complaint about non-compliance can be made as set out below, and an investigation would then be commenced: o

via email to: H&SConcerns@worksafe.govt.nz

o

via the 105 police non-emergency reporting line, or

o

(anonymously) via the Ministry of Health’s Integrity Line (0800 424 888).

14. How will the new requirements be enforced?

•

Enforcement officers are appointed to enforce compliance under the Required Testing Order. This includes Medical Officers of Health for individual enforcement, or WorkSafe inspectors, who are authorised to carry out the functions and powers of an enforcement officer in workplaces which are regulated by WorkSafe.

•

Authorities are taking a graduated approach to enforcement of the Required Testing Order.

In the case of non-compliance by a PCBU or a worker, the focus is on encouraging compliance through education.

15. Do workers need to pay for their COVID-19 test?

•

There is no charge for the test for border workers required to be tested under the Required Testing Order, or for their employers. This includes tests accessed through a community testing centre or GP.

•

Voluntary testing is also available to border workers who are not covered by the mandatory requirements, and this is available free of charge to the worker or employer.

16. What is a PCBU? •

A PCBU means a Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (source: WorkSafe). It is a broader term than ‘employer,’ recognising the variety of employment situations and workplace arrangements. Most New Zealand businesses, whether large corporates, sole traders, or self-employed, are classed as PCBUs. In comparison, an ‘Undertaking’ refers to activities and services such as Government agencies, local councils, school or early childhood education service or charities.

•

In the context of this guidance a PCBU is essentially the employer of workers at a port, airport, managed isolation facility or quarantine facility, including third party employers of contractors, self-employed contractors or sole traders working at a port.

17. Do PCBUs/employers have obligations under the Required Testing Order?

•

Yes. The Required Testing Order imposes obligations on PCBUs/employers to: o

Notify each affected worker employed or engaged by the PCBU/employer of the requirement to undergo testing and the testing period that applies to the affected person,

o

Not prevent any affected worker from being tested during their working hours if testing is available during those hours,

o

Keep certain written records.

15

•

•

The records that are required to be kept by PCBUs/employers are: o

The worker’s full legal name

o

The worker’s date of birth

o

The testing period that applies to the worker

o

The worker’s contact phone number and email address (so they can receive test reminders)

o

The dates on which the worker has undergone testing and medical examination

o

If the worker has been given a medical exemption, the testing period to which the exemption relates (this does not require the collection of health information about the reason for the exemption).

o

From 27 April 2021, records are required to be entered by PCBUs/employers on a Register kept, maintained and monitored by or on behalf of, the Ministry of Health.

Records must be made available as soon as practicable to an enforcement officer if requested. (See information on the Border Workforce Testing Register below.)

The Ministry of Health will monitor the Register and review reporting recorded by PCBUs on the Register. It will be able to use Register reporting features to identify if a PCBU appears to have failed to keep records, or ensure that workers are being tested within the timeframes identified in the Register. o

The Ministry will review reporting recorded by PCBUs on the Register, and will be able to use Register reporting features to identify if a PCBU appears to have failed to keep records, or ensure that workers are being tested within the timeframes identified in the Register.

18. What systems are in place to support implementation of these record keeping and information sharing requirements?

•

The Ministry of Health has developed the Border Workforce Testing Register which is a secure database that records and tracks workers’ testing dates.

•

From 27 April 2021 it is mandatory for PCBUs/employers to be enrolled on the Register, and to use it to meet these record-keeping and testing tracking obligations.

•

The Register keeps PCBUs/employers and workers informed about: o

when workers need to be tested, and

o

whether they have completed a test.

•

The Register does not record the results of any worker’s test. It only records the date that the swab was taken, and the date that the result was returned. Protecting the privacy of workers’ health information is important so any positive test results will be managed separately by the contact tracing team.

•

The Register is easy to use and has been designed for all PCBUs/employers to operate quickly, while providing uniform information back to the Ministry of Health.

•

The Ministry of Health staff are available to provide ongoing technical support to PCBUs on use of the Register. Demonstrations on how the Register works can be arranged through: bwtrsupport@health.govt.nz.

16

19. How does the Required Testing Order affect self-employed people who are affected workers?

•

Someone who is self-employed is likely to be a PCBU in their own right. This means they will need to consider how they comply with the requirements of the Order both as an employer and an affected worker.

Questions specific to port workers 20. Which port workers must be tested, and how often must they be tested?

•

Port workers are required to be tested every 7 days if they: o

Work as a pilot, carrying out work on or around an affected ship.

o

Spend more than 15 minutes in an enclosed space on board an affected ship.

▪

An “affected ship” is a ship which has persons on board who are required to be isolated or quarantined in accordance with a COVID-19 Order.

▪

Crew on a ship arriving from a port outside New Zealand will be considered as “persons on board who are required to be isolated or quarantined in accordance with a COVID-19 Order” until a Medical Officer of Health or Health Protection Officer has confirmed that all on board are symptom free, have met the low risk indicators, and completed isolation and quarantine requirements.

▪

In the context of the Required Testing Order, an “enclosed space” on an affected ship is considered to be an enclosed or partially enclosed space on board the ship in which physical distancing from the ship’s crew is not practicable.

•

o

It is acknowledged that the term “enclosed space” may be defined differently elsewhere, including in the maritime context, and the context of the Health and Safety at Work Act (2015).

Are workers who transport crew, to or from an affected ship.

▪

▪

This new requirement will affect those who transport on and off-signing maritime crew, between airports and ships, or ships and MIFs. •

These crew have not been in isolation or quarantine for at least 14 days, or met other low risk indicators including a negative COVID-19 test.

•

These crew are transported by dedicated transport providers under controlled conditions managed by Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) authorities.

This new requirement will not affect workers who transport crew who have been authorised to disembark e.g. for shore leave or to return to their home in New Zealand.

•

These crew have been in isolation and quarantine for at least 14 days and have met other low risk indicators including a negative COVID-19 test.

•

The ship they are disembarking from is no longer “an affected ship”.

17

•

•

In most cases these crew would travel to or from the port entrance (not the ship) in private vehicles or public transport e.g. a taxi, uber or bus, or on foot.

Port workers at affected ports are required to be tested every 14 days if they: o

Work as a stevedore, carrying out work on or around an affected ship.

o

Board or have boarded an affected ship.

o

Are a worker who transports persons other than crew to or from an affected ship.

▪

This includes workers transporting testing teams to a ship to test crew, or workers transporting persons to a ship to undertake a necessary task.

o

Are a port worker in a category not covered by the above, but who otherwise interacts with persons required to be in isolation or quarantine under a COVID-19 Order.

o

Are a port worker: ▪

Who handles affected items that have been removed from an affected ship within 72 hours of the item being removed from the affected ship, and

▪

who has contact with a member of a group of port workers or port border officials who is required to be tested under the Required Testing Order, while both are working.

▪

For the purposes of determining if a worker in the port context comes under this category, “affected items” are items that: -

Are not cargo or freight

-

have been removed from the affected ship for cleaning, disposal and/or re-use.

▪

In the maritime context “freight” refers to goods transported in bulk by ship.

▪

“Re-use” refers to items that are to be re-used on a ship. The re-use doesn’t have to be on the same ship.

▪

To provide some examples, “affected items” might include items such as: machinery or equipment, or parts, removed for repair or service, firefighting and lifesaving equipment removed for repair or service, laundry, if not done on board; garbage or garbage containers, including expired medical stores for disposal.

▪

It is noted that in most cases repairs, servicing or cleaning of machinery or equipment would be carried out on board the ship.

▪

“Have contact with”, in relation to members of a group of port workers or port border officials already required to be tested under the Required Testing Order, means: -

having face-to-face contact within 2 metres of each other for 15 minutes or more; or

-

being in a confined space within 2 metres of each other for 15 minutes or more.

18

▪

A table of workers and border officials who are required to be tested in the ports context is provided under item 4 in the table in Appendix III.

▪

If you are a third-party contractor servicing ships who meets the conditions described above, you will be included in this category.

21. Which port workers are not required to be tested under the Order?

•

Port workers in the following situations are not required to have a test: o

Any port worker who is not listed under “who must be tested” above. (However, testing is available to these “lower-risk” border workers not covered by the mandatory testing requirements on a voluntary basis should they wish to access it at no charge to the worker).

o

People who are in isolation or quarantine on a ship under a COVID-19 Order do not need to be tested under the Required Testing Order but are subject to separate requirements under the Maritime Border Order. In the Required Testing Order these are referred to as “excluded port persons”.

o

When a ship has not arrived at the port from a location outside New Zealand for a period of at least 14 consecutive days. This pauses the obligation to be tested until the port receives another ship from outside New Zealand. Workers at that port are not required to be tested under the Required Testing Order until another ship arrives from overseas. This reflects the fact that some ports do not regularly receive ships from locations outside New Zealand.

22. When do port workers have an exemption from being tested under the Required Testing Order?

•

When a health practitioner at the place of testing decides that it would be inappropriate for the person to undergo that testing and medical examination.

19

Appendix I: Required Testing Order: History The COVID-19 Public Health Response (Required Testing) Order 2020 (Required Testing Order) has been amended several times since it commenced.

This appendix provides a brief overview of the history of the Required Testing Order for additional context.

Overview of main changes: The Order as originally made The Order commenced at 11.59 pm on 27 August 2020. It aimed to prevent, and limit the risk of, the outbreak or spread of COVID-19 by requiring one-off testing of higher-risk workers at Auckland International Airport, certain higher-risk workers at the Ports of Auckland and Port of Tauranga, and workers at managed isolation and quarantine facilities (MIQFs).

The first set of amendments The COVID-19 Public Health Response (Required Testing) Amendment Order 2020 came into force from 11.59pm on 6 September 2020 and amended the Required Testing Order to require regular routine testing of certain higher-risk border workers at Auckland International Airport, Ports of Auckland and Port of Tauranga.

The second set of amendments The COVID-19 Public Health Response (Required Testing) Amendment Order (No 2) 2020, which amended the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Required Testing) Order 2020 came into force at 11.59 pm on 16 September 2020.

The amendments extend the testing and medical examination requirement to specified groups of affected persons at all airports and ports unless exempted. In relation to an airport, the exemption applies if an aircraft has not arrived at the airport from a location outside New Zealand for a period of at least 14 consecutive days. In relation to a port, the exemption applies if a ship has not arrived at the port from a location outside New Zealand for a period of at least 14 consecutive days.

The third set of amendments The COVID-19 Public Health Response (Required Testing) Amendment Order (No 3) 2020 came into force at 11.59 pm on 25 November 2020. This amendment to the Order introduced further changes to mandatory testing requirements: -

new duties on PCBUs to keep records and facilitate compliance,

-

requirements for workers to give certain information to their PCBU,

-

changes to some of the groups required to be tested and frequency of testing for some affected workers.

In addition to these main changes, testing requirements relating to certain aircrew were added to the Required Testing Order in the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Air Border, Isolation and Quarantine, and Required Testing) Amendment Order 2020.

This fourth set of amendments The COVID-19 Public Health Response (Air Border, Isolation and Quarantine, and Required Testing) Amendment Order 2021 came into force at 11.59 pm on 18 April 2021. This amendment to the Order enables quarantine-free travel (QFT) flights between New Zealand and Australia, the Cook 20

Islands and Niue involving designated airlines and airports. To fly on a QFT flight, passengers need to meet a range of pre-boarding requirements, including health requirements such as not having any pre-existing condition that causes symptoms consistent with COVID-19.

This fifth set of amendments The COVID-19 Public Health Response (Required Testing) Amendment Order 2021 comes into effect at 11:59 pm on 21 April 2021. This introduced changes to the Order to strengthen the border testing regime as a result of the new community cases announced in Auckland in February 2021, and the presence in New Zealand of more transmissible variants of COVID-19. The changes, which are explained in this guidance, involve: •

extending mandatory testing requirements to new groups of border workers

•

increasing the mandatory testing frequency for certain higher-risk border workers to every seven days

•

allowing flexibility in the scope of sampling methods that can be used

•

clarifying testing cycle requirements to reflect that the time between tests must not exceed the length of the relevant testing cycle.

These changes will take effect from 22 April 2021.

A further change makes it mandatory that employers use the Border Workforce Testing Register kept, maintained and monitored by the Ministry of Health to keep the required records of testing for workers subject to mandatory testing.

This change will take effect from 27 April 2021.

21

Appendix II: Draft template letter for employers to send employees Important note: To meet the duty of a PCBU/employer to facilitate compliance with testing and medical examination requirements, PCBUs/employers must provide specific information to their worker, which informs them of: •

The requirement to undergo testing and medical examination; and

• The testing period that applies to the affected person.

This draft letter does not meet this requirement, as it is not specific to the individual worker – it is provided to assist PCBUs/employers with communicating the new Order requirements to their workers only.

Dear [Name of employee] The COVID-19 Public Health Response (Required Testing) Order 2020 (Required Testing Order) requires certain workers at higher-risk of workplace exposure to COVID-19 to undergo regular testing. As of 11.59 pm on 21 April 2021 changes have been made to the Required Testing Order to further strengthen the border testing regime.

These changes are in response to the new community cases detected in Auckland in February 2021, and the presence in New Zealand of more transmissible variants of COVID-19, first identified in the UK, South Africa and Brazil.

Workers in many roles have been required to be tested for some time. Workers in these roles continue to need to be tested. We thank you for your continued cooperation if you work in one of these roles.

The changes to the Required Testing Order mean that persons who perform work in the following role at ports must now also be tested every 14 days: •

Workers who handle affected items that have been removed from an affected ship within 72 hours of the item being removed from the affected ship, and who have contact with a member of a group of port workers or port border officials who is already required to be tested under the Required Testing Order, while both are working.

Note: •

An affected ship is a ship which has a person on board who is required to be isolated or quarantined in accordance with a COVID-19 Order.

•

An affected item is an item that: o

is not cargo or freight, and

o

has been removed for cleaning, disposal and/or re-use on the ship.

•

In the maritime context “freight” refers to goods transported in bulk by ship.

•

“Re-use” refers to items that are to be re-used on a ship. The re-use doesn’t have to be on the same ship.

•

“Have contact with”, in relation to contact with a member of a group of port workers or port border officials, means: o

having face-to-face contact within 2 metres of each other for 15 minutes or more; or

o

being in a confined space within 2 metres of each other for 15 minutes or more.

22

•

“Members of a group” are all those port workers and border officials who are already required to be tested under the Required Testing Order.

•

If you are a third-party contractor servicing ships who meets the conditions described above, you will be included in this category.

In addition to these new groups of port workers, the frequency of required testing has been increased for some groups of border workers identified as being at higher risk of exposure because of the nature of their work and interaction with potentially infectious persons.

The following groups of port workers, previously on a 14-day testing cycle, are now required to be tested every seven days, beginning 22 April 2021: •

Workers who transport crew to or from an affected ship.

More information about the groups of workers required to be tested can be found in the accompanying FAQ sheet. [Include this sentence if the employer is attaching the FAQ sheet.]

If you perform work in an affected role, you must get tested, unless you have a particular physical or other need that a suitably qualified health practitioner at the testing site determines would make it inappropriate for you to be tested.

We will be providing further information on how and where to get tested. [The employer can insert specific requirements applying to the worker here.]

The Required Testing Order requires that, as your employer, we must notify you of the requirement to be tested and keep certain written records that enable us to check that you are being tested.

The records we are required to keep are: •

Your full legal name and date of birth

•

Your telephone number

•

The testing period that applies to you

•

The dates on which you have undergone testing and medical examination in accordance with the testing period that applies to you

•

If you are exempted from testing and medical examination on medical grounds, the testing period to which the exemption relates.

You will need to provide us with this information, or enable us to access this information, so that these records can be kept.

You will receive further information about how this information will be collected at our workplace [or employer can insert information here].

If you have questions about how you should provide this information, please discuss these with me.

The purpose of these mandatory testing requirements is to ensure that the measures we have in place to keep you safe are working and to keep COVID-19 out of New Zealand communities.

Please continue to use your PPE properly, practise good hygiene, use physical distancing where possible and stay alert to the symptoms of COVID-19.

You play a vital role in keeping our workplace, communities and whānau safe. I thank you for your efforts so far and for your ongoing cooperation with the testing requirements.

Your sincerely [Name of employer] Recommended attachment: FAQs drawn from this guidance 23

Appendix III: Testing requirements New groups added to the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Required Testing) Order 2020: Schedule 2: Groups in relation to affected ports (item 4) and affected items (item 6) Part

Group

Testing centre

Testing period

Part 4: Groups in relation to affected ports 4.1

Persons (other than excluded port persons) who spend more than 15 minutes in enclosed space on board affected ships

Community testing centre, testing centre at affected port, or other healthcare facility

Once every 7 days starting on 25 November 2020

4.2

Pilots (other than excluded port persons) carrying out work on or around affected ships

Community testing centre, testing centre at affected port, or other healthcare facility

Once every 7 days starting on 25 November 2020

4.3

Stevedores (other than excluded port persons) carrying out work on or around affected ships

Community testing centre, testing centre at affected port, or other healthcare facility

Once every 14 days starting on 7 September 2020

4.4

Persons (other than excluded port persons) who board, or have boarded, affected ships

Community testing centre, testing centre at affected port, or other healthcare facility

Once every 14 days starting on 7 September 2020

4.5

Workers who transport persons (other than crew) to or from affected ships

Community testing centre, testing centre at affected port, or other healthcare facility

Once every 14 days starting on 22 April 2020

4.6

All other port workers (other than excluded port persons) who interact with persons required to be in isolation or quarantine under COVID19 Order

Community testing centre, testing centre at affected port, or other healthcare facility

Once every 14 days starting on 25 November 2020

4.7

Workers who transport crew to or from affected ships

Community testing centre, testing centre at affected port, or other healthcare facility

Once every 7 days starting on 22 April 2021

Part 6: Groups in relation to affected items 6.4

Workers who handle affected items within 72 hours of their removal from affected ships and who have contact with members of groups specified in part 4 of the table above, while both are working

Community testing centre, testing centre at affected port, or other healthcare facility

Once every 14 days starting on 22 April 2021

24

Appendix IV: Examples of “affected workers” handling “affected items” from “affected ships” 1. Summary and examples of new testing groups required to be tested in relation to affected items A worker will need to answer “YES” to all of the item questions AND all of the interaction questions to fall within the new “affected workers handling affected items” group and be under a requirement to be tested.

Item Question: Nature of item A: Have you handled an item that meets the following requirements? o o

o

The item has been removed from a ship which is in quarantine The item was removed from a ship for the purposes of: ▪ disposal ▪ re-use on a ship ▪ cleaning The item is not freight or cargo

YES

NO

Move to question B

No test required Item Question: Timeframe

B: If you answered yes to question A, have you handled the item which satisfies all elements of question A within 72 hours of the item being removed from the ship?

NO

C

No test required

YES Move to question C

Interaction Questions: C: In addition to answering “yes” to Question A and B in the item questions, have you: o

Spent 15 minutes or more, either in face to face contact (within 2 metres) with, or in a confined space (within 2 metres) with someone who is required to be tested because they are a port worker, i.e. who is: ▪ a worker who spends more than 15 minutes in an enclosed space on board a quarantined ship ▪

a pilot carrying out work on or around a quarantined ship

▪

a stevedore carrying out work on or around a ship in quarantine

▪

a worker who has boarded a ship in quarantine

▪

a worker who has transported persons to or from an affected ship

NO No test required

If yes to A, B &C Then a test is required

25

Example 1: A dozen life jackets on a ship that has arrived at Port Tauranga from Singapore require servicing and repair. The crew on board are required to be isolated or quarantined under a COVID-19 Order.

The ship is an affected ship The life jackets are being removed for the purpose of “re-use”: they have been removed for repair and servicing for the purposes of enabling future safe re-use on board the ship in future.

The life jackets are affected items.

The ship’s agent has arranged for the work to be done at a marine services supplier and workshop in Tauranga. In the course of his routine business on board the ship, he collects the lifejackets in a container for transportation and removes them from the ship.

Is the ship’s agent within scope of the mandatory requirements of the Required Testing Order?

Yes: The ship’s agent, is a person who has boarded the ship and is already subject to the Required Testing Order (under item 4.4 of Schedule) Contact with the ship’s agent by another worker who subsequently handles the life jackets may bring that worker within scope of the new testing requirement.

The ship’s agent transports the container of life jackets to a marine products servicing workshop in Tauranga within 72 hours. He enters the workshop area and delivers the container to a servicing technician. He has a face to face conversation for over 15 minutes, standing within 2 metres, discussing the details of the servicing and repair work needed, dealing with paperwork and arranging to collect the life jackets on completion of the work to return them to the ship.

The servicing technician has handled the life jackets within 72 hours of their removal from the ship The servicing technician spent more than 15 minutes in contact within 2 metres of the ship’s agent (1)(2) Is the servicing technician within scope of the mandatory requirements of the Required Testing Order?

Yes. The servicing technician meets the test of being an affected worker who handles an affected item. He has handled affected items within 72 hours of their removal from an affected ship, and had face-to-face contact for more than 15 minutes within 2 metres of the ship’s agent who is a member of a group who is already required to be tested under the Required Testing Order, while both were working.

The servicing technician is an affected worker

Another technician in the workshop assists the first technician to service and repair the life jackets.

This second technician has handled the life jackets within 72 hours of their removal from a ship.

The second technician has had contact with the first technician. (3) However, the second technician has not had contact with a member of a group who is already required to be tested under the Order (no direct contact with the ship’s agent who boarded the ship to collect the life jackets). (3) Is the second technicians within scope of the mandatory requirements of the Required Testing Order?

No: The second technician does not meet the test of being an affected worker who handles an affected item. They have not had contact with a member of a group who is already required to be tested under the Required Testing Order The second technician is not an affected worker

26

Example 2: A lifeboat on a ship that has arrived at CentrePort from Denmark require refurbishment. The crew on board are required to be isolated or quarantined under a COVID-19 Order.

The ship is an affected ship The lifeboat will be removed for refurbishing and will be returned to the ship for “re-use”.

The lifeboat is an affected item.

The ship’s agent has arranged for the lifeboat to be offloaded from the ship once it docks, and to be transported to a marine services specialist at Seaview. The ship’s agent does not physically handle the lifeboat at any stage.

Is the ship’s agent within scope of the mandatory requirements of the Required Testing Order?

Yes: The ship’s agent, is a person who has boarded the ship and is already subject to the Required Testing Order (under item 4.4 of Schedule) Contact with the ship’s agent by another worker who subsequently handles the lifeboat may bring that worker within scope of the new testing requirement. (4)

The lifeboat is offloaded by the ship’s crane directly onto the marine services company truck.

A member of the ship’s crew attaches the crane hook to the lifeboat. (5) The marine services company engineer who is overseeing the operation, and the driver of the truck handle the lifeboat while they are securing it onto the truck. During his operation neither have contact with any port worker.

The ship’s agent has remained on board the ship engaged in other business and has no contact with the engineer or truck driver.

Are the marine services company engineer and the truck driver within scope of the mandatory requirements of the Required Testing Order?

No: Neither the engineer nor the truck driver meet the test of being an affected worker who handles an affected item.

While they have handled the lifeboat, they have not spent 15 minutes or more within 2 metres of the ship’s agent or any other port worker who is required to be tested under the Required Testing Order and who has handled the lifeboat.

The marine services company engineer and the truck driver are not affected workers and are not subject to new testing requirement from 22 April 2021 No other worker at the port who is required to be tested under the Required Testing Order has touched the lifeboat.

Neither the engineer or the truck driver have any contact with a worker at the port who is already required to be tested under the Required Testing Order.

with a crew member on the ship.

The service agent is not already subject to the Required Testing Order (He is not in a category required to be tested under item 4 of Schedule 2) Contact between the service agent and another worker who subsequently handles the motor (e.g. an engineer at the workshop who will undertake the work) will not bring that worker within scope of the new testing requirement.

Does the service agent become an affected worker who handles affected items?

27

Example 3: An electrical motor on a ship that has arrived at Port of Auckland from Yokohama requires rewinding The ship is an affected ship The electrical motor will be removed for repair and servicing and will be returned to the ship for “re-use”.

The motor is an affected item.

The motor has been removed from its location on the ship and left at the foot of the gangway.

The service agent from a marine machinery company in Auckland agent where the work will be done arrives to collect the motor from where it has been left at the foot of the gangway.

Is the service agent within scope of the mandatory requirements of the Required Testing Order?

No: The service agent does not board the ship and does not have any interaction with a crew member on the ship.

The service agent is not already subject to the Required Testing Order (He is not in a category required to be tested under item 4 of Schedule 2) Contact between the service agent and another worker who subsequently handles the motor (e.g. an engineer at the workshop who will undertake the work) will not bring that worker within scope of the new testing requirement.

Does the service agent become an affected worker who handles affected items?

No: In collecting the motor, the service agent has no contact with any other worker at the port who is already required to be tested under item 4 of Schedule 2 The service agent is not an affected worker, and is not subject to new testing requirement from 22 April 2021

28

Example 4: A worn bearing from a motor on a ship that has arrived at Port of Napier from China requires replacement. The crew on board are required to be isolated or quarantined under a COVID-19 Order.

The ship is an affected ship The worn bearing is taken out of the motor, and will be removed from the ship so an identical replacement bearing can be sourced. The worn bearing will be disposed of at the supplier’s premises, once the replacement is purchased.

The item has been removed for the purposes of disposal The worn bearing is an affected item. (6) The ship’s agent takes the worn one with them when they leave the ship. They will try to source a replacement at a motor supplies outlet in the city.

Is the ship’s agent within scope of the mandatory requirements of the Required Testing Order?

Yes: The ship’s agent, is a person who has boarded the ship and is already subject to the Required Testing Order (under item 4.4 of Schedule) Contact with the ship’s agent by another worker who subsequently handles the worn bearing may bring that worker within scope of the new testing requirement.

The ship’s agent takes the worn bearing to a motor parts supplier in Napier to source a replacement. The supplier handles the bearing to inspect it to ascertain if he has an identical one in stock. He asks the ship’s agent’s some questions about what is needed, and spends some time searching his stock. After 15 minutes, standing within 2 metres of the ship’s agent, he advises the ship’s agent he doesn’t have a replacement in stock and suggests he tries elsewhere.

The supplier has handled the bearing within 72 hours of their removal from the ship The supplier has spent more than 15 minutes in contact within 2 metres of the ship’s agent (7) Is the supplier within scope of the mandatory requirements of the Required Testing Order?

Yes. The supplier meets the test of being an affected worker who handles an affected item. He has handled an affected item within 72 hours of its removal from an affected ship, and had contact for more than 15 minutes within 2 metres of the ship’s agent who is a member of a group who is already required to be tested under the Required Testing Order, while both were working.

The supplier is an affected worker, subject to new testing requirement from 22 April 2021

The ship’s agent takes the worn bearing to another motor parts supplier in Napier.

He also spends more than 15 minutes in discussion with the ship’s agent, standing within 2 metres of each other, and searching for a replacement bearing. He locates an identical replacement bearing and sells it to the ship’s agent.

The second supplier has handled the bearing within 72 hours of their removal from a ship.

The second supplier has spent more than 15 minutes in contact within 2 metres of the ship’s agent Is the second supplier within scope of the mandatory requirements of the Required Testing Order?

Yes. The second supplier meets the test of being an affected worker who handles an affected item. He has handled an affected item within 72 hours of its removal from an affected ship, and had contact for more than 15 minutes within 2 metres of the ship’s agent who is a member of a group who is already required to be tested under the Required Testing Order, while both were working. (8) The second supplier is an affected worker

29

2. Diagrammatic examples of “affected workers who handle affected items” in the maritime border context Explanatory notes for examples 1. Being “in contact” with another person involves being face-to-face within 2 metres of each other for 15 minutes or more, or being in a confined space within 2 metres of the other person for 15 minutes or more.

2. If the contact between the servicing technician and the ship’s agent had been for less than 15 minutes, or they were standing at a distance of more than 2 metres of each other, then the technician would not come within scope of the new requirements. This would be a feasible scenario if arrangements for the servicing and repair work could be made in advance between the ship’s agent and the workshop, for example by email. Any contact between the technician and the ship’s agent when the life jackets were delivered would then likely be minimal.

3. The first technician is not a worker who is already subject to testing under the Required Testing Order (i.e. they are not a member of one of the groups of port workers described in question C in the table on page 26.

4. This is the case whether or not the ship’s agent themselves physically handled the affected item (the lifeboat).

5. The crew member is not a member of a group already required to be tested under the Required Testing Order and, in any case, has no contact with anyone else involved in the transfer of the lifeboat.

6. The worn bearing will be an affected item, assuming it is disposed of at the supplier’s premises when the replacement one is purchased. The new bearing is not an affected item.

7. If the transaction could be managed so that the supplier and ship’s agent are not in face to face contact within 2 metres of each other, or in contact in a confined space within 2 meters of each other, or if the transaction could be completed in less than 15 minutes - then the supplier would not be an affected worker subject to testing under the new requirements.

8. If the ship’s agent needed to visit a third or fourth supplier of motor parts to source the replacement bearing, those subsequent suppliers would also become affected workers subject to testing. However, as described in note 7 above, if any of these transactions could be managed in such a way that each transaction takes less than 15 minutes, or the supplier and ship’s agent can keep a distance of more than 2 metres between them during the transaction, then the suppliers do not meet the test of being an affected worker and will not be subject to testing.

3. Examples of possible “affected items” In all of the examples, it is a given that the items have been handled within 72 hours of their removal from a ship.

Example 1: Cash is paid by a ship’s Master to a ship’s agent in USD for goods or services: for example, courier packs, ships’ spares being supplied to ships, removal of garbage, water supply. The USD cash is taken by the agent to a currency exchange to change into NZD to be banked into their bank accounts.

Is the USD cash an “affected item”?

Is the cash cargo or freight? No. Has the cash been removed from the ship for disposal? No, the cash is to be exchanged for NZD and will be retained by the currency exchange for subsequent reissue to another customer.

Has the cash been removed from the ship for cleaning? No, the cash is not an item removed from the ship for the purpose of being cleaned.

Has the cash been removed from the ship for another reason with the purpose of being returned to the ship for reuse? No, the cash has not been removed for the purpose of being returned to a ship for re-use in future. Merely being an item that can be further used does not mean that an item has been removed for the purpose of re-use.

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The USD cash is not an affected item.

Example 2: Parts from equipment on the ship that need replacing. These may given to a ship’s agent by the ship’s engineer for the agent to source a replacement part at a supplier in town. The agent may need to try several outlets to acquire a replacement part.

Is the equipment part an “affected item”?

Is the equipment part cargo or freight? No. Has the equipment part been removed from the ship for cleaning? No, the equipment part is not an item removed from the ship for the purpose of being cleaned.

Has the equipment part been removed from the ship for the purpose of being returned to the ship for re-use? No, the equipment part will not be returned to a ship for re-use in future. It requires replacement not repair, and cannot be re-used. It has been removed from the ship with the purpose of identifying an identical replacement part. The new, replacement part will be taken back to the ship and used in the equipment. The new part is not an affected item – it was not removed from the ship.

Has the part been removed from the ship for disposal? Yes. Once the replacement part has been sourced the old, worn or faulty part is obsolete and will be disposed of – either left with the parts supplier for subsequent disposal, or returned to the ship for disposal.

The equipment part is an affected item.

Example 3: Machinery or equipment, or parts, that need repair or refurbishment. Small pieces of equipment or parts might be carried of by hand by the ship’s agent. Larger items would need to be offloaded by crane directly on to a truck, a process normally overseen by an engineer or technician from the workshop where the repair work will be done.

Is the machinery, equipment or part an “affected item”?

Is the machinery, equipment or part cargo or freight? No. Has the machinery, equipment or part been removed from the ship for cleaning? No. The, the machinery, equipment or part might be cleaned in the process of its repair or refurbishment, but this is not the primary purpose of its removed from the ship.

Has the machinery, equipment or part been removed from the ship for disposal? No. It has been removed for repair or refurbishment so it can be re-used on the ship.

Has the machinery, equipment or part been removed from the ship for the purpose of being re-used on a ship? Yes. The machinery, equipment or part will be returned to a ship, in this case the ship from which it was removed, for re-use in future.

The machinery, equipment or part is an affected item.

Example 4: Expired medical stores or medical waste. These may be put into the ship’s garbage for subsequent disposal. Some medical waste items might require special handling and disposal (e.g. bio-hazard material, used sharps, expired prescription medication). In this case they would be removed from the ship for disposal (e.g. at a biohazards depot, or pharmacy). If the waste cannot be dispose of locally, it is couriered overseas for disposal.

Is the expired medical stores or medical waste an “affected item”?

Is the expired medical stores or medical waste cargo or freight? No.

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Has the expired medical stores or medical waste been removed from the ship for cleaning? No. The, expired medical stores or medical waste is not an item removed from the ship for the purpose of being cleaned.

Has the expired medical stores or medical waste been removed from the ship with the purpose of being returned to a ship for re-use? No, the expired medical stores or medical waste has not been removed for the purpose of being returned to a ship for re-use in future.

Has the expired medical stores or medical waste been removed from the ship for disposal? Yes. It has been removed specifically for the purpose of disposal.

In these circumstances, the expired medical stores or medical waste is an affected item.

Example 5: Courier packs. These might contain items such as: documents or mail; cargo samples, oil samples, parts for replacement (if not arranged locally), medical waste etc). The courier packs would normally be taken off the ship by the ship’s agent, to be collected from their office by the courier company.

Are the courier packs “affected items”?

Are the courier packs cargo or freight? No, not according to the accepted definition in the context of this guidance, where freight is considered to be “goods transported in bulk by ship”.

Have the courier packs been removed from the ship for cleaning? No. The courier packs are not items removed from the ship for the purpose of being cleaned.

Have the courier packs been removed from the ship for disposal? No. Have the courier packs been removed from the ship with the purpose of being returned to the ship for re-use? No, the courier packs have not been removed for the purpose of being returned to a ship for re-use in future.

The courier packs are not “affected items”.

Example 6: Quarantine garbage. This is usually handled by Port Companies using their own staff or contractors.

Is quarantine garbage an “affected item”?

Is the quarantine garbage cargo or freight? No. Has the quarantine garbage been removed from the ship for cleaning? No. Has the quarantine garbage been removed from the ship with the purpose of being returned to a ship for re-use?

No, the quarantine garbage has not been removed for the purpose of being returned to a ship for re-use in future.

Has the quarantine garbage been removed from the ship for disposal? Yes. The quarantine garbage is an “affected items”.

Example 7: Cargo documents. Ships’ agents get the cargo documents signed and stamped by the ship’s Master and remove them from the ship back to their offices. These documents are usually given to their cargo principals as well.

In some circumstances, these documents can be passed on to banks or other third parties.

Are cargo documents “affected items”?

Are the cargo documents cargo or freight? No. Have the cargo documents been removed from the ship for cleaning? No. The cargo documents are not items removed from the ship for the purpose of being cleaned.

Have the cargo documents been removed from the ship with the purpose of being returned to a ship for re-use? No. Have the cargo documents been removed from the ship for disposal? No. 32

The cargo documents are not “affected items”.

Example 8: Luggage and passport belonging to injured or ill crew members. When a crew member has been injured or is ill and does not return to the vessel, their luggage has to be offloaded. The ship’s agent would usually take this off the ship, along with the crew member’s passport and any other documents. They would arrange for the luggage and passport to be checked by Customs, Immigration and biosecurity officials, and then deliver them to the crew member in hospital.

Are the crew member’s luggage and passport “affected items”?

Are the crew member’s luggage and passport cargo or freight? No. Have the crew member’s luggage and passport been removed from the ship for cleaning? No. The luggage and passport are not items removed from the ship for the purpose of being cleaned.

Have the crew member’s luggage and passport been removed from the ship with the purpose of being returned to a ship for re-use? No. The luggage and passport are being offloaded because the crew member is not returning to the ship. In most cases, the crew member when well enough, would be repatriated by air.

Have the crew member’s luggage and passport been removed from the ship for disposal? No. The crew member’s luggage and passport are not “affected items”.

Example 9: Wifi units and telephones taken on board the ship on arrival for temporary use by the ship’s crew. The port authority arranges for these items to be taken on board the ship for crew members to use for communication purposes. They are removed from the ship just prior to its departure from that port.

Is this communications equipment an “affected item”?

Is this communications equipment cargo or freight? No. Has the communications equipment been removed from the ship for disposal? No. Has the communications equipment been removed from the ship for cleaning? No. The communications equipment may be cleaned before it is taken on board another ship that has subsequently arrived in port for use by that ship’s crew, but that is not the purpose for which it was removed.

Has the communications equipment been removed from the ship with the purpose of being returned to a ship for re-use? Yes. The communications equipment may be subsequently taken to another ship arriving in port for re-use in the future.

The communications equipment is an “affected item”.

Example 10: Items taken on board a ship by a worker carrying out an essential task, and removed on completion of that task. For example, a fumigator boarding a ship will take their tools and equipment on board. Most of these tools and equipment will be taken off the ship when the fumigator disembarks. The fumigating chemicals will be left on board, but the packaging of these products will be removed for disposal.

Are these tools and equipment “affected items”?

Are these tools and equipment cargo or freight? No. Have the tools and equipment been removed been removed from the ship for cleaning? No. The tools and equipment may be cleaned before they are taken on board another, but that is not the purpose for which it was removed.

Have the tools and equipment been removed from the ship for disposal? No. The tools and equipment themselves have not been removed for disposal.

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Have the tools and equipment been removed from the ship for the purpose of re-use? Yes. The tools and equipment will be re-used in future on another ship the fumigator boards to undertake work.

The tools and equipment are “affected items”.

Additionally, the packaging that contained the fumigation chemicals that were left on the ship, have been removed by the fumigator along with their tools and equipment, and will be disposed of.

The packaging, and any other waste associated with the work, if taken off the ship by the fumigator for disposal, are also “affected items”.

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