Maritime
Seafaring is international in nature and the shipping industry as a whole has become increasingly conscious of the impact that drug and alcohol use can have on operations. The health of seafarers is not only a major concern of seafarers themselves but also a primary concern of the ship owner/operator/manager. With approximately 80% of maritime accidents caused by human error, sickness and injury benefits represent a growing proportion of the shipping industry’s third party liability insurance claims.
In 1997, as part of an effort to assist the maritime industry maintain the health of seafarers and to contain costs, the ILO, in collaboration with the WHO, published “Guidelines for Conducting Pre-Sea and Periodic Medical Fitness Examinations for Seafarers” which outlines best practice. As part of an assessment of a seafarer’s fitness for duty, the physician must assess mental health and “consumption of alcohol and use of psychotropic drugs, which (may) adversely affect the health of the seafarer or the safety of the ship”. By Administrations adopting these Guidelines, it is hoped that, drug and alcohol abuse will be identified at a stage that allows treatment before, rather than after an accident has occurred. Significantly, the inclusion of checks for drug and/or alcohol abuse in medical examinations confirms the view that drug and alcohol abuse is a medical condition.
The maritime business, in particular ship operation, is highly competitive. Profits are very often low and in many cases marginal. Ship owner/operator/management decisions are too often “bottom line” driven. Collisions, explosions, groundings, fires, sinking or capsizing can be catastrophic for all concerned. Long-term carelessness and neglect, to which substance abuse may contribute, can result in a steady drop in performance that, over time, may cause greater financial loss than events of a more dramatic and easily identified nature. Ship owners/operators and managers cannot therefore afford to ignore any issues that affect productivity. Substance abuse undoubtedly contributes to lower performance and productivity.
A study showed that when airline pilots had to perform routine tasks in a simulator under three alcohol test conditions, the following results were obtained:
• 1st test: before any alcohol ingestion
• 10% could not perform all tasks correctly
• 2nd test: after reaching a blood alcohol concentration of 0.10/100ml
• 89% could not perform all tasks correctly, and
• 3rd test: fourteen hours later, after all alcohol had left their systems
• 68% could not perform all tasks correctly.
There is every reason to believe these findings apply equally to seafarers! In addition, because virtually all work carried out on a ship has a safety implication, the term “seafarer” should be applied to all persons working on ships and not just those in executive positions.
The United Kingdom’s Department of Transport has passed regulations prohibiting transport workers from working under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. These regulations include “provisions for post-accident and ‘for cause’ testing of workers, as well as a requirement for employers to demonstrate due diligence in ensuring that employees are not under the influence of a drugs or alcohol at work. Several employers in industries covered by these regulations have broadened their company programs to include other types of testing and educational programs”
A comprehensive, company-wide alcohol and drug abuse programme should cover all employees including management and address all actions and activities related to drugs and alcohol. Creating a comprehensive programme for any company engaged in ship operations is a great challenge that needs to take into account vessel ownership, flag state registration requirements, management issues, working environment, personnel issues, cultural variations and cost. The long-term sustainability of a programme will be enhanced by, and its success may depend on, integration into other health or medical programmes or on-going safety systems such as a company’s health, safety and environmental management system.
TOP |
