Surveillance of deaths on board Danish merchant ships, 1986-93: implications for prevention.

Abstract

Objective-To describe and analyse the types and circumstances of all natural and non-natural deaths among seamen on board Danish merchant ships. Methods-Data on 147 cases were obtained from maritime authorities, an insurance company, shipping companies, hospitals, death registers, and death certificates in the period from 1986-93. Results-The 53 natural deaths were dominated by cardiovascular diseases and infectious diseases. Insufficient treatment on board was identified as a contributing factor for death in some cases. Medical advice was not always sought and the advice given was in some cases insufficient. 73 fatal accidents were identified.The incidence of accidents of 5.29110 000 person-years was 11-5 times higher than the incidence of 0-46/10 000 for the Danish male workforce ashore. 23 accidents (31%) were due to maritime casualties and 26 (36%) were occupational accidents. The remaining 24 (33%) were accidents during off duty hours including six self intoxications. Rough weather, inadequate awareness of safety, lack of use of personal protection devices, and inexperience were associated with many of the fatal injuries directly related to work. Alcohol played a major part in 12 out of 18 fatal injuries occurring during off duty hours. Conclusions-The maritime workplace was identified as a high risk workplace and in many aspects differs from the conditions ashore. Acute diseases and serious injuries pose special risks to seamen because of a lack of direct access to professional medical care at sea. Primary prevention of certain diseases is needed and possible. Improved training, improved systems of work, improved safety awareness, and greater use of personal protection devices are needed to prevent fatal injuries. Medical training of ships' officers providing medical care on board and specific training of doctors giving medical advise to ships should be improved to meet the needs. (Occup Environ Med 1996;53:269-275)

Occupational Risks and Challenges of Seafaring

“…According to a Danish mortality study, the incidence of accidents among seafarers was 11.5 times higher than among the Danish male workforce ashore 6) . An explanation offered by the authors is the risk of maritime disasters in which the workplace itself disappears or is severely damaged.…”

“…International Maritime Organization (IMO) statistics reveal that 80% of accidents onboard cargo ships are caused by the human factor 4) . The available mortality studies about English, Danish and Polish seafarers onboard merchant ships cover the 1980s and 1990s [5][6][7] . The non-natural causes were divided into accidents occurring during the off-duty hours, occupational accidents occurring as a direct consequence of work onboard and maritime disasters (death caused by shipwreck or capsizing) (Fig.…”

“…In the 1980s and 1990s deaths due to CVD accounted for 55% to 70% of all natural causes of death among seamen on British and Danish merchant ships 5,6) . Deaths due to other illnesses (gastrointestinal, infectious diseases or neoplasm) appears to have played minor roles.…”

The Psychological General Well-Being Index (PGWBI) for assessing stress of seafarers on board merchant ships

“…Subjective factors are those depending from the personality of each worker, and are related to his attitude to face stressful conditions, to find satisfaction with job, to be resilient, etc. All these aspects contribute to the capacity of each employee to cope with possible dangerous circumstances during his work as physical accidents and psychological troubles [11][12][13][14].…”

Sexual risk among female workers on cruise ships

“…except fishermen: UK seafarers, for example, have an occupational mortality rate that is twice as high as construction industry workers and eight times as high as workers in manufacturing (Roberts and Williams 2007), and Danish seafarers have an occupational mortality rate 11 times that of workers ashore (Hansen 1996). Seafarer morbidity is also reported to be high for many infectious diseases (Bloor et al 2000).…”