By Dr Moses Amweelo
SEAFARERS, especially those who work on ocean-going vessels, constitute a group of workers who are both vulnerable and underserved regarding their safety and protection. They are exposed to numerous environmental factors which affect their health.
In case of accident and injury on board ship, they cannot be examined and treated by a doctor and their access to medical facilities on shore is limited by time and distance to the nearest port.
During their work on ships, seafarers are exposed to a variety of noxious agents which affect their health. In the engine room, the noise levels on many ships exceed the recommended limit of 90 dB (A) and may reach 110 dB (A), which poses the risk of damage to hearing, particularly among engine-room crew members exposed to noise for long periods of time.
An additional factor is shipboard vibration generated by machinery, and by the movement of the ship in rough weather conditions, which results in motion sickness (kinetosis).
Noise and vibration cause substantial problems for work and recreation on board.
The thermal environment is also important for health. Ships move through different climatic zones that can be very hot and humid, or very cold.
The temperatures in the engine room are very high. Although modern ships are equipped with air-conditioning systems and remote control facilities in the engine room, seamen often suffer from exposure to heat.
Air pollution, which can arise from the cargo carried (petroleum products, chemical compounds), the engines, refrigeration system, etc., are serious problems on board.
When loading an oil tanker, a large amount of hydrocarbons is released on the deck and vapours may penetrate into the living quarters.
On ferries and ro-ro ships, the exhaust fumes from vehicles are an additional exposure.
Dust generated by loading bulk cargoes is inhaled by both dockers and the ship’s crew.
When performing various kinds of jobs, seamen are exposed to high concentrations of toxic vapours, such as solvents used while painting, refrigeration gases, etc. When inspecting and cleaning cargo holds and tanks, seamen are exposed to the dangerous, and possibly deadly, effect of toxic gases.
Entry into the confined space of a ship, when the atmosphere is short of oxygen or has contained any toxic gas or vapour (hydrocarbons, benzene, hydrogen sulphide, carbon monoxide), is potentially very hazardous. Also, fumigation of ships sometimes causes fatal accidents among crew members.
During their voyages, seafarers are exposed to exotic diseases that may not be known in their home countries. A good example is malaria.
In most occupations on shore, working and living conditions are normally separated into the place of work and the home.
For seafarers, their ship is their workplace and their home for long periods of time. In fact, for most of the year during their active professional life.
The established working schedule of regular watch-keeping, the unvarying living conditions and quarters, and the ever-present, never-changing company of other crew members give rise to pressures not well tolerated by many seamen.
Additional factors are the long lasting separation from family and people known on shore in the home country, and deprivation of leisure opportunities which are open to workers employed on land.
On many ships nowadays, crew members include people of many different nationalities, cultures, and religions, and they have differing customs back grounds. They speak different languages, eat various foods, have various attitudes.
Very often this situation creates animosities on board and contributes to stress, frustration and lack of job satisfaction; the mental health of seafarers may be affected, leading, e.g. to alcohol abuse.
Yet another factor on modern ships is technical progress. Operations are automated and computerized. In connection with this, the number of crew has decreased, from about 35-40 men on an average ocean-going cargo ships 30 years ago to a crew of about 12 – 28 at present.
Working conditions on ships have changed. Seafarers are under more stress, they are pressed by time. Modern vessels spend less time in ports than previously.
Many tankers, bulk carriers, ro-ro and container ships load cargo and discharge at deep-water terminals moored to offshore buoys; they do not berth in commercial ports. This shortens the time available for crews for visits to a doctor on shore, for medical examinations and treatment, and also for leisure and human contact in countries visited.
Seafarers feel separated from other people, they have little contact with their fellow workers on ships with small crews; all this affects their well-being and health.
Ships collide and many are lost in rough weather conditions every year. Drowning is an important occupational risk for their crews. Accidents among seamen occur very often, though their incidence may not be higher than among workers employed on land.
But according to available statistics, mortality among injured seamen is several times higher than that recorded for other occupational groups. Injuries among seafarers result in heavy human, social and material costs.
About two in five accidents occur on deck, and another two in five occur in engine rooms. More accidents take place on cargo ships than on tankers, or passenger ships. More accidents are recorded on small and old ships than on large and new ones.??????’??