Crew Certifications: Introduction to Setup

Setting up Crew Certifications takes a few steps: defining the certifications you track, deciding who needs them, and choosing who gets reminded when one is coming due. With that in place, Helm CONNECT can tell you who's compliant and flag renewals before they lapse. This article covers those pieces, the order that works best, and how the automatic reminders fit together. For a tour of the module and its tabs, see "Crew Certifications: Overview."

Set Up in This Order

Each part of the setup builds on the one before it, so it helps to work through them in order.

1. Categories are the broad, color-coded groups you sort your certifications into. Every certification type belongs to one, so start here. See "Crew Certifications: Set Up Certification Categories."
2. Types are the specific certifications your crew can hold, and where you set how each one behaves. You need your categories in place first. See "Crew Certifications: Set Up Certification Types."
3. Requirements connect your types to the people who need them, by division, position, or asset, so Helm CONNECT can tell you who's compliant and who's missing something. See "Crew Certifications: Set Up Certification Requirements."
4. Responsible parties are the people who get an email when a certification is coming up for renewal. See "Crew Certifications: Set Up Responsible Parties."

Categories and types are the foundation. You can add requirements and responsible parties whenever you're ready.

How Reminders Work

Helm CONNECT can send email reminders before a certification expires, so renewals happen in good time, before anything lapses and affects who can sail. The reminders come from the lead times you set on each certification type, and they can reach two groups:

• The crew member, when the certification type has Email Crew turned on. They get a reminder at each of the type's lead times, for example, 30, 60, and 90 days before expiry.
• The responsible parties assigned to that certification type, so someone on your shoreside team hears about the renewal too, even during crew changes or time off.

Because both come from the certification type's lead times, setting up your types and their lead times is what drives the whole reminder schedule.