AOEMM has successfully organised the first session of MRO Course this year on 14-15 March 2020 at Melia Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. The MRO Course is specifically meant for medical practitioners who may be required to supervise substance misuse testing at the workplace and/or involved in the interpretation of drug test results.
MRO Course is one of the three certification programmes conducted by AOEMM for the last few years to meet the industry needs, particularly the oil & gas industry. The other two certification programmes are AMRO (Assistant Medical Review Officer) and BAT (Breath Alcohol Technician) courses. The former is meant to train and certify those who are required to perform substance misuse testing for both drug and alcohol whereas the latter is meant to train and certify those who are involved in alcohol testing only.
This 2-days course was attended by 45 doctors coming from all over Malaysia including Sabah & Sarawak. Subjects on Overview of Workplace Drug Testing, MRO, Urine Specimen Collection & Point of Collection Testing (POCT), Laboratory Analysis & Results, Pharmacology, Metabolism & Interpretation of Common Drugs of Abuse and MRO Verification Process were covered on Day 1. Subjects on Workplace Alcohol Testing and Return to Duty were covered on Day 2 together with a number of Case Studies to ensure the participants are well-versed with all aspects of MRO functions, duties and responsibilities.
Certification examination in the form of multiple-choice questions (MCQ) was held at the end of the course on Day 2. AOEMM set a high standard on the certification to ensure only competent MRO are certified and ready to serve the industries. Those who passed the exam will have their names listed as Certified MRO in AOEMM website, www.aoemm.org.my. Employers or organisations in need of MRO service can find a suitable MRO from this website. The certification is valid for three years and it can be renewed anytime within 6 months before the expiry date.
The course was conducted by Dr Abu Hasan Samad and Dr Mohd Hatta Usul who in combination have more than 50 years’ experience as MRO. Dr Abu is an Occupational Health Physician who is a certified MRO by MRO Certification Council (MROCC), USA since 1995 and he used to work with ExxonMobil, Petrofac & Schlumberger whilst working. Dr Hatta was trained as MRO by Shell and he used to work with PETRONAS Carigali, Petrofac and EnQuest.
In view of the prevailing COVID-19 issue, as the organizer of the course, AOEMM fully adhered to the rules set up by the Ministry of Health in order to control and prevent the disease from spreading. AOEMM has taken the preventive measures by providing the hand sanitizers and face masks at the registration table and put up a poster reminding the participants on prevention and protection from COVID-19. The participants were again reminded about this COVID-19 issue at the beginning the course. They were also required to declare their state of health by submitting the “Health Declaration Form” to AOEMM Secretariat before coming over for to the course. Participants with “positive” declaration were asked to withdraw from the course and the course fee carried forward to the next course.
AOEMM will conduct three MRO Courses in 2020. The next two courses will be held in Kuala Lumpur on 18-19 July and 24-25 October. Anyone interested in joining the course can register online through AOEMM website, www.aoemm.org.my or contact the secretariat at aoemm.trg@gmail.com