Guidance For Implementing the Required Testing Order at the New Zealand Air Border / Airports Fifth revised version: 20th April 2021
Table of Contents Background ............................................................................................................................................. 3 Amendments to the Required Testing Order affecting workers in the aviation context ....................... 4 Additional group of workers in the broader aviation context are required to be tested .................. 4 Clarification of requirements for spacing intervals between regular testing ..................................... 6 Amendments to the Required Testing Order regarding quarantine-free travel (QFT) .......................... 7 What process will be used to support implementation of required testing? ........................................ 7 Summary of Roles and Responsibilities .................................................................................................. 8 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) ....................................................................................................... 9 Appendix I: Required Testing Order – History ..................................................................................... 18 Appendix II: Draft template letter for employers to send employees................................................. 20 Appendix III: Testing requirements ...................................................................................................... 23 Appendix IV: Examples of “affected workers” handling “affected items” from “affected aircraft” ... 25
Guidance for implementing: a) the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Required Testing) Amendment Order 2021, and b) the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Air Border, Isolation and Quarantine, and Required Testing) Amendment Order 2021 at New Zealand Airports and the Air Border 20 April 2021
Background At 11:59pm on 18 April 2021, changes to a number of Orders, including the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Required Testing) Order 2020 (‘the Required Testing Order’), will come into effect. These changes were introduced by the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Air Border, Isolation and Quarantine, and Required Testing) Amendment Order 2021 to enable quarantine-free travel (QFT) between New Zealand and Australia, the Cook Islands and Niue. QFT flights are known as “green flights”. At 11:59 pm on 21 April 2021 further changes to the Required Testing Order, will come into effect. The changes were introduced by the COVID-19 Public Health Response) Amendment Order 2021 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: •
Exempt some air border workers who only handle green flights from mandatory testing requirements. o
This change applies from 19 April 2021.
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Extend mandatory testing requirements to new groups of border workers.
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Increase the current 14-day mandatory testing frequency for certain higher-risk border workers to every seven days.
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Provide for flexibility in the scope of sampling methods that can be used.
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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. 3
This guidance focuses on explaining the changes to the Required Testing Order in the context of workers at the air border. (Separate guidance is provided to explain the changes in the context of workers at the maritime border, and workers in managed isolation and quarantine facilities.) The guidance should be read in conjunction with other guidance about mandatory testing requirements for airport 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 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.
Amendments to the Required Testing Order affecting workers in the aviation context Additional group of workers in the broader aviation context are required to be tested The following new group of workers in the aviation context are required to be tested, in addition to the groups of air border / airport workers and border officials who are already required to be tested under the Required Testing Order: 1. Baggage handlers who work at an affected airport and who handle baggage from affected aircraft. These workers are required to be tested every 14 days, beginning 22 April 2021. 2. Workers who handle affected items from passenger area of an affected aircraft, if that handling occurs within 24 hours of the items being removed from the affected aircraft. These workers are required to be tested every 14 days, beginning 22 April 2021. •
An ”affected aircraft” is an aircraft (other than an aircraft undertaking a QFT flight) which arrives from a location outside New Zealand. o
“Affected items” are items that have been removed from the passenger area of an affected aircraft for cleaning, disposal and/or re-use.
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➢ In the aviation context freight refers to goods which are not passengers’ personal luggage and are transported in an aircraft cargo compartment and not in the cabin. ➢ “Re-use” refers to items that are to be re-used on an aircraft. The re-use does not have to be on the same aircraft from which the item was removed. •
You are an “affected worker” who must meet this new requirement if you: o
have handled an affected item within 24 hours of it being removed from the affected aircraft, and
o
have contact with a member of a group of air border workers or officials who is already required to be tested under the Required Testing Order, while both of you are working.
o
“Have contact with”, in relation to contact with a member of a group of air border workers or officials, means: ➢ 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.
3. Persons (other than excluded airport persons) who spend no more than 15 minutes in an enclosed space on board affected aircraft. These workers are required to be tested every 14 days, beginning 22 April 2021. 4. Health practitioners carrying out work airside. These workers are required to be tested every 7 days, beginning 22 April 2021. 5. Health practitioners working at accommodation services (other than private dwellinghouses) where relevant aircrew members are self-isolating. •
Note, the Required Testing Order uses the definition of ‘health practitioner’ from the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (section 5): “A person who is, or is deemed to be, registered with a an authority as a practitioner of a particular health profession.”
6. Workers at accommodation services (other than private dwellinghouses) where relevant aircrew members are self-isolating. 7. All landside workers whom interact with relevant aircrew members. These workers are required to be tested every 14 days, beginning 22 April 2021. •
A table of workers and border officials who are required to be tested in the airports context is provided under Parts 3 & 5 in the table in Appendix III. A summary of air border workers who are members of a group required to be tested is included in the FAQ section of this guidance.
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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.
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“Affected workers” can include third party contractors servicing aircraft. 5
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Addition of this new group acknowledges that the possibility of fomite transmission of COVID-19 via surfaces has not been ruled out.
8. Health practitioners carrying out work airside. These workers are required to be tested every 7 days, beginning 22 April 2021. 9. Workers at accommodation services (other than private dwellinghouses) where relevant aircrew members are self-isolating. These workers are required to be tested every 14 days, beginning 22 April 2021. Note: 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 higher risk of exposure because of the nature of their work and interaction with potentially infectious persons.
“In the aviation context, “affected items” might include items such as: ▪
Machinery or equipment, or parts, removed from an affected aircraft for repair or service
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Firefighting and safety equipment removed from an affected aircraft for repair or service
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Laundry, removed from an affected aircraft,
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Items for passengers’ personal use such as headsets removed for cleaning and re-use,
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Food utensils and catering equipment,
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Garbage or garbage containers, including expired medical stores and unused or partially eaten meals removed from an affected aircraft.
Note, this is not intended to be an exhaustive list. It is also noted that in many cases repairs, servicing or cleaning of machinery or equipment would be carried out on the aircraft.
Appendix IV sets out some examples of situations where workers in the air border context are “affected workers” handling “affected items” and therefore subject to the new testing requirements.
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 March, 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
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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.
Amendments to the Required Testing Order regarding quarantinefree travel (QFT) Under the Required Testing Order, an airport is an “affected airport” if affected aircraft arrive at it from a location outside New Zealand. All airside workers at affected airports are required to be tested – either every 7 or 14 days, as set out in Appendix III below. Where an affected airport receives QFT flights, airside workers at that airport are still required to be tested – regardless of whether they interact with green or red (non-QFT) flights – because they work at an affected airport. QFT flights can arrive at and depart from the New Zealand international airports in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown. An airport which receives flights from overseas only if they are QFT flights is therefore not an affected airport. Queenstown Airport is currently the only international airport in New Zealand which receives only QFT flights. Consequently, air border workers at Queenstown Airport are not subject to regular (7 or 14 day) mandatory testing requirements. However, they will be required to be tested in accordance with applicable COVID-19 public health protocols if a passenger or aircrew member on a QFT flight is unwell or symptomatic and needs to be isolated or quarantined.
What process will be used to support implementation of required testing? •
Airport companies will notify PCBUs/employers of affected air border workers about the changes to the Required Testing Order and this guidance.
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DHBs will review existing plans to test affected air border 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 services to workers not subject to mandatory testing requirements under the Order.
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DHBs will communicate these plans to PCBUs/employers employing affected workers and provide instructions, guidance or other information to support workers to get tested. 7
•
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 which is kept, maintained and monitored by the Ministry of Health is to be used as the system for keeping the required records of workers’ testing, and for 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.
• 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 to the Ministry of Health the number of workers who are tested. In this case, the information provided should show details of the airport or air border facility where they work.
Summary of Roles and Responsibilities Airport 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 Airport Company has the same responsibilities as other PCBUs/employers to staff it engages or employs that work in affected roles at an affected airport, 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 Airport Company will use its best
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
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.
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endeavours to link to sources and information about testing at the air border.
employed by the DHB working on site at an affected airport.
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.
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. 1.
Why should border workers be tested?
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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.
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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 air border 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.
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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?
4.
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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.
•
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 airports, ports, 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 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? •
If a worker returns a negative test, they will be advised of their test results by their testing service provider. This is likely to be by text message.
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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.
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7. Do workers need to be off work until they get their test results? •
If you are a border worker 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.
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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/
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.
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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 COVID-19 Public Health Response (Required Testing) Order 2020.
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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 11
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 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).
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.
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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.
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Workers who 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, when 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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 13
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, air border facility, managed isolation facility or quarantine facility, including third party employers of contractors, self-employed contractors or sole traders.
17. Do PCBUs/employers have obligations under the Required Testing Order? •
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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.
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 which is kept, maintained and monitored by or on behalf of the Ministry of Health. Records must be made available to an enforcement officer as soon as practicable 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.
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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.
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The Register keeps PCBUs/employers and workers informed about: o
when workers need to be tested, and
o
whether they have completed a test.
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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.
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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.
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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.
19. How does the 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 air border workers 20. Which air border workers must be tested, and how often must they be tested? •
Air border workers are required to be tested every 7 days if they: o
Spend more than 15 minutes in an enclosed space on board an affected aircraft. ➢ An “affected aircraft” is an aircraft (other than an aircraft undertaking a QFT flight) which arrives from a location outside New Zealand. ➢ In the context of the Required Testing Order, an “enclosed space” on an affected aircraft is a space on board the aircraft where physical distancing from the aircraft’s crew is not practicable.
•
Air border workers at affected airports are required to be tested every 14 days if they: o
Are an air border worker: ➢ Who handles affected items that have been removed from an affected aircraft within 24 hours of the item being removed from the affected aircraft, and ➢ who has contact with a member of a group of air border workers or officials who is required to be tested under the Required Testing Order, while both are working. ❖ “has contact with”, in relation to members of a group of air border workers or 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
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▪ ➢
being in a confined space within 2 metres of each other for 15 minutes or more.
For the purposes of determining if a worker in the air border context comes under this category, “affected items” are items that: ❖ are not cargo or freight ❖ have been removed from the affected aircraft for cleaning, disposal and/or reuse. ▪
in the aviation context, “freight” refers to goods which are not passengers’ baggage and are transported in an aircraft’s cargo compartment and not in the cabin.
▪
“re-use” refers to items that are to be reused on an aircraft. The re-use doesn’t have to be on the same aircraft.
❖ 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; garbage or garbage containers, including expired medical stores for disposal. ❖ It is noted that in some cases repairs, servicing or cleaning of machinery or equipment would be carried out on board the aircraft. o
A table of workers and border officials who are required to be tested in the air border context is provided under item 4 in the table in Appendix III.
o
If you are a third-party contractor servicing aircrafts who meets the conditions described above, you will be included in this category.
21. Which air border workers are not required to be tested under the Order? •
Air border workers in the following situations are not required to have a test: o
Any air border 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
When an aircraft has not arrived at the airport from a location outside New Zealand for a period of at least 14 consecutive days. This pauses the obligation of air border workers at the airport to be tested until the airport receives another aircraft from outside New Zealand. This reflects the fact that some airports which are designated international airports do not regularly receive aircrafts from locations outside New Zealand.
22. When do air border 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.
23. Why are some air border workers who interact with green flights exempt from mandatory testing requirements? •
Air border workers are exempt from testing requirements if they interact with green (QFT) flights at an international airport which is not an affected airport because it 16
receives only green flights. QFT flights are allowed only between New Zealand and countries where there is a low risk of transmission of COVID-19 between those countries and New Zealand, currently: Australia, the Cook Islands and Niue. This means that the risk profile of QFT flights is closer to that of domestic flights than higher-risk red (nonQFT) international flights. Accordingly, because there is not a demonstrable risk for workers who i) work at airports which are not affected airports, and ii) only interact with QFT flights, they are not required to be tested.
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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 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. 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.
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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 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 which is 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.
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Appendix II: Draft template letter for employers to send employees Important note: To meet their duty to facilitate compliance with testing and medical examination requirements, PCBUs/employers must provide specific information to their workers, which advises them of: •
The requirement to undergo testing and medical examination; and
• The testing period that applies to each 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 or around airports must now also be tested every 14 days: 1. Workers who handle affected items that have been removed from an affected aircraft within 24 hours of the item being removed from the affected aircraft, and who have contact with a member of a group of air border workers or officials who is already required to be tested under the Required Testing Order, while both are working. Note: o
An affected aircraft is an aircraft (other than an aircraft undertaking a QFT flight) which has arrived from a location outside New Zealand.
o
An affected item is an item that: ➢ is not cargo or freight, and ➢ has been removed for cleaning, disposal and/or re-use on an aircraft. ❖ In the aviation context, “freight” refers to goods which are not passengers’ baggage and are transported in an aircraft’s cargo compartment and not in the cabin. ❖ “Re-use” refers to items that are to be returned to an aircraft after being removed from the same or a different aircraft.
o
“Have contact with”, in relation to contact with a member of a group of air border workers or border officials, means: ➢ having face-to-face contact within 2 metres of each other for 15 minutes or more; or 20
➢ being in a confined space within 2 metres of each other for 15 minutes or more. o
“Members of a group” are all those air border workers and officials who are already required to be tested under the Required Testing Order.
o
If you are a third-party contractor servicing aircraft who meets the conditions described above, you will be included in this category.
2. Baggage handlers who work at affected airports and who handle baggage from affected aircraft. 3. Persons (other than excluded airport persons) who spend no more than 15 minutes in an enclosed space on board an affected aircraft. 4. All landside workers who interact with relevant aircrew members. 5. Workers at accommodation services (other than private dwellinghouses) where relevant aircrew members are self-isolating. In addition to these new groups of air border 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 air border workers, either previously on a 14-day testing cycle or not required to be tested regularly, are now required to be tested every seven days, beginning 22 April 2021: 1. Health practitioners carrying out work airside. 2. Health practitioners working at accommodation services (other than private dwellinghouses) where relevant aircrew members are self-isolating. •
Note, the Required Testing Order uses the definition of ‘health practitioner’ from the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (section 5): “A person who is, or is deemed to be, registered with a an authority as a practitioner of a particular health profession.”
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 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 21
•
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
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Appendix III: Testing requirements Excerpt from COVID-19 Public Health Response (Required Testing) Order 2020: Schedule 2: Groups in relation to airports (Part 3), aircrew (Part 5) and affected items (Part 6) Part
Group
Testing centre
Testing period
Part 3: Groups in relation to affected airports 3.1
Persons (other than excluded airport persons) who spend more than 15 minutes in enclosed space on board aircraft that arrives from location outside New Zealand
Community testing centre, testing centre at affected airport, or other healthcare facility
Once every 7 days starting on 25 November 2020
3.2
Airside government officials (other than excluded airport persons), including (without limitation) personnel from Immigration New Zealand, New Zealand Customs Service, Aviation Security Service, or Ministry for Primary Industries
Community testing centre, testing centre at affected airport, or other healthcare facility
Once every 14 days starting on 7 September 2020
3.3
Airside district health board workers (other than excluded airport persons)
Community testing centre, testing centre at affected airport, or other healthcare facility
Once every 14 days starting on 7 September 2020
3.4
Airside retail, food, and beverage workers (other than excluded airport persons)
Community testing centre, testing centre at affected airport, or other healthcare facility
Once every 14 days starting on 7 September 2020
3.5
Airside workers (other than excluded airport persons) handling baggage trolleys used by international arriving or international transiting passengers
Community testing centre, testing centre at affected airport, or other healthcare facility
Once every 14 days starting on 7 September 2020
3.6
Airside airline workers (other than excluded airport persons) who interact with passengers
Community testing centre, testing centre at affected airport, or other healthcare facility
Once every 14 days starting on 7 September 2020
3.7
Airside airport workers (other than excluded airport persons) who interact with passengers
Community testing centre, testing centre at affected airport, or other healthcare facility
Once every 14 days starting on 7 September 2020
3.8
Airside cleaning workers (other than excluded airport persons)
Community testing centre, testing centre at affected airport, or other healthcare facility
Once every 14 days starting on 7 September 2020
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3.9
All other airside workers (other than excluded airport persons)
Community testing centre, testing centre at affected airport, or other healthcare facility
Once every 14 days starting on 25 November 2020
3.10
All landside workers (other than excluded airport persons) who interact with international arriving or international transiting passengers
Community testing centre, testing centre at affected airport, or other healthcare facility
Once every 7 days starting on 25 November 2020
3.11
Baggage handlers who work at affected airports and who handle baggage from affected aircraft
Community testing centre, testing centre at affected airport, or other healthcare facility
Once every 14 days starting on 22 April 2021
3.12
Persons (other than excluded airport persons) who spend no more than 15 minutes in enclosed space on board affected aircraft
Community testing centre, testing centre at affected airport, or other healthcare facility
Once every 14 days starting on 22 April 2021
3.13
Health practitioners carrying out work airside
Community testing centre, testing centre at affected airport, or other healthcare facility
Once every 14 days starting on 22 April 2021
3.14
All landside workers who interact with relevant aircrew members
Community testing centre, testing centre at affected airport, or other healthcare facility
Once every 14 days starting on 22 April 2021
Part 5: Groups in relation to aircrew members 5.1
Aircrew members
Community testing centre, testing centre at airport, or other healthcare facility
Once every 7 days starting on 19 October 2020
5.2
Health practitioners working at accommodation services (other than private dwellinghouses) where relevant aircrew members are self-isolating
Community testing centre, testing centre at affected airport, or other healthcare facility
Once every 14 days starting on 22 April 2021
5.3
Workers at accommodation services (other than private dwellinghouses) where relevant aircrew members are self-isolating
Community testing centre, testing centre at affected airport, or other healthcare facility
Once every 14 days starting on 22 April 2021
Part 6: Groups in relation to affected items 6.3
Workers who handle affected items within 24 hours of their removal from affected aircraft and who have contact with members of groups specified in Part 3 or Part 5 of the table above, while both are working
Community testing centre, testing centre at affected airport, or other healthcare facility
Once every 14 days starting on 22 April 2021
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Appendix IV: Examples of “affected workers” handling “affected items” from “affected aircraft” 1. Summary 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: A: Have you handled an item that meets the following requirements? the item has been removed from an affected aircraft for the purposes of: ▪ disposal ▪ re-use on an aircraft ▪ cleaning the item is not freight or cargo
YES
NO
Move to question B
No test required Item Question:
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 aircraft?
YES
C
NO
Move to question C
No test required
Interaction Questions: C: In addition to answering “yes” to Question A and B in the item questions: o
Have you 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 an affected air border worker, e.g. who is: Are you a worker who spends more than 15 minutes in an enclosed space on board an affected aircraft
o
Are you a landside worker who interacts with arriving international passengers or aircrew
C NO No test required
If yes to A, B &C Then a test is required
YES
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Example 1: An air border worker removes 100 life jackets from an aircraft that has arrived at Auckland Airport from Singapore shortly after its arrival. The life jackets are being removed for a safety check. The aircraft is an affected aircraft The life jackets are being removed for the purpose of “re-use”: they have been removed for a safety check to ensure they are still fit for purpose for future safe re-use on board an aircraft in future. The life jackets are affected items. An airline representative has arranged for the work to be done at an airline equipment supplier and workshop in Auckland. An airside worker collects the lifejackets in a container for transportation and removes them from the aircraft In the course of their routine business on board the aircraft. (1) (2) Is the air border worker within scope of the mandatory requirements of the Required Testing Order?
Yes: The air border worker is a person who routinely works on affected aircraft and is already subject to the Required Testing Order (under item 3.9 of Schedule) Contact with the air border worker by another worker who subsequently handles the life jackets may bring that worker within scope of the new testing requirement.
The air border worker transports the container of life jackets to a safety products servicing workshop in Auckland within 24 hours. He enters the workshop area and delivers the container to a servicing technician. He has a face-toface conversation for over 15 minutes, standing within 2 metres, discussing the details of the safety checking and any repair work needed, dealing with paperwork and arranging to collect the life jackets on completion of the work to return them to the airline for re-use on an aircraft. The servicing technician has handled the life jackets within 24 hours of their removal from the aircraft The servicing technician spent more than 15 minutes in contact within 2 metres of the air border worker (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 24 hours of their removal from an affected aircraft, and had face-to-face contact for more than 15 minutes within 2 metres of the air border worker 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 check and repair the life jackets. This second technician has handled the life jackets within 24 hours of their removal from an affected aircraft. 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 air border worker who boarded the aircraft 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
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Example 2: Two workers from a waste disposal company contracted to an airline board an aircraft which has recently arrived from Tokyo. They fill several large plastic bags with food scraps and unused meals and then remove them from the aircraft. They boarded the plane shortly after its arrival once the passengers had all disembarked. While on board the aircraft they are accompanied by an aircrew member, a steward. The plastic bags and their contents are intended for disposal. The aircraft is an affected aircraft, the steward is an affected border worker. Are the bags affected items and are the waste disposal workers affected workers?
Yes & Yes: An affected item is an item (apart from cargo or freight) removed from the passenger area of an aircraft. The waste disposal workers meet the test of being affected workers who handle affected items. They have also been within an enclosed space within an affected aircraft for more than 15 minutes handled affected items within 24 hours of their removal from an affected aircraft. They also spent more than 15 minutes within an enclosed space on an affected aircraft and worked in close contact with an affected person (the air steward) while all three were working. (4)
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Example 3: Three passenger viewing screens / monitors on an aircraft which has recently arrived from London are faulty. An electronics technician boards the aircraft in the company of an aircrew member to inspect and repair them. Two screens have only minor faults which the technician is able to diagnose and repair without removing the screens. However, the third screen has a major fault and needs to be replaced. The technician removes this screen and replaces it with one he has brought on board with him. He then takes the faulty screen away to be disposed with other e-waste. Once back at his work he gives it to a colleague to dispose of. The aircraft is an affected aircraft The faulty screen will be removed for disposal within 24 hours of its removal from an affected aircraft. repair and servicing and will be returned to the aircraft for “re-use”. The screen is therefore an affected item. Is the electronics technician within scope of the mandatory requirements of the Required Testing Order?
Yes: The technician spent more than 15 minutes in an enclosed space on board an affected aircraft. Is the technician’s colleague also an affected worker? .
No: Contact between the technician and his colleague who subsequently handles the screen will not bring the colleague within scope of the new testing requirement. The colleague has had no contact with any other border worker who is already required to be tested under Schedule 2 of the required testing Order. The service agent is not an affected worker, and is not subject to new testing requirement from 22 April 2021
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Diagrammatic examples of “affected workers who handle affected items” in the air 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 air border worker and the safety technician 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 could be a feasible scenario if arrangements for the checking and repair work could be made in advance, for example by email. Any contact between the air border worker and technician 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 air border workers described in question C in the table on page 26. For this reason, their interacting with the second technician does not being the second technician within scope of the Required Testing order. 4. Both waste disposal workers are affected persons because they handled an affected item and spent more than 15 minutes in an enclosed on an affected aircraft and in the company of an air border worker who is an affected person. If only one of the waste disposal workers had boarded the plane while the other remained outside the aircraft and handled the plastic bag only as his colleague handed to him through the aircraft door, then the second worker would not be an affected person because, while he had handled an affected item within 24 hours of it coming off an affected aircraft, he would not have entered the aircraft or interacted with an affected border worker (the aircraft steward).
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Examples of “affected items” In all of the examples below, it is a given that the items have been handled within 24 hours of their removal from an affected aircraft. Example 1: Some equipment from the passenger cabin of an affected aircraft need servicing or replacing. Equipment needing to be replaced is removed from the cabin, while equipment needing to be serviced is removed only if the servicing cannot be done on site but needs to take place at a workshop. Is the equipment an “affected item”? Is the equipment cargo or freight? No. Has the equipment part been removed from the aircraft for cleaning? No, the equipment has not been removed from the aircraft for the purpose of being cleaned. Has some equipment been removed from the aircraft for the purpose of being returned to an aircraft for re-use? Yes, the equipment which will be serviced will returned to an aircraft - perhaps not the aircraft from which it was removed - for re-use in future. This equipment is therefore an affected item. Has some equipment been removed from the aircraft disposal? Yes. Equipment which cannot be serviced or repaired will be disposed off. This equipment is therefore an affected item. Example 2: An engine on an affected aircraft needs to be serviced. During this work, some engine parts need to be disposed of and replaced while others need to be transported to as workshop to be serviced and then brought back to the aircraft to be reinstalled in the engine.. Are any of these parts an “affected item”? No. “Affected items” are items that have been removed from the passenger area of an affected aircraft for cleaning, disposal and/or re-use. Items removed from an affected aircraft’s engine cannot be affected items. Example 3: Expired medical stores or medical waste. These may be put into the aircraft’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 aircraft for disposal (e.g. at a bio-hazards depot, or pharmacy). Is the expired medical stores or medical waste an “affected item”? Is the expired medical stores or medical waste cargo or freight? No. Has the expired medical stores or medical waste been removed from the passenger area of an affected aircraft for cleaning? No. The, expired medical stores or medical waste is not an item removed from the aircraft for the purpose of being cleaned. Has the expired medical stores or medical waste been removed from the aircraft with the purpose of being returned to an aircraft for re-use? No, the expired medical stores or medical waste has not been removed for the purpose of being returned to an aircraft for re-use in future. Has the expired medical stores or medical waste been removed from the aircraft 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.
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Example 4: Quarantine garbage. This may be handled by airlines using their own staff or contractors or alternately by biosecurity staff such as MPI personnel. Is quarantine garbage an “affected item”? Is the quarantine garbage cargo or freight? No. Has the quarantine garbage been removed from the aircraft for cleaning? No. Has the quarantine garbage been removed from the aircraft with the purpose of being returned to an aircraft for rese? No, the quarantine garbage has not been removed for the purpose of being returned to an aircraft for re-use in future. Has the quarantine garbage been removed from the aircraft for disposal? Yes. The quarantine garbage is an “affected items”. Example 5: Items taken on board an aircraft by a worker carrying out an essential task, and removed on completion of that task. For example, a cleaner boarding an aircraft will take their cleaning tools and equipment on board. All of these tools and equipment will be taken off the aircraft when the cleaner disembarks. 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 aircraft 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 aircraft for disposal? Yes, in some cases – e.g. used sponges and cloths. These items have been removed for disposal. Have the tools and equipment been removed from the aircraft for the purpose of re-use? Yes, in some cases. Some tools and equipment will be re-used in future on another aircraft the cleaner boards to undertake work. Both groups of tools and equipment are affected items.
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