The postdisaster environment presents a multitude of ethical and logistical challenges for researchers interested in gathering timely and unpreserved data. Due to the unavailability of secondary data in the immediate aftermath of disasters, postdisaster researchers have become dependent on qualitative methods that involve engaging with disaster survivors as research participants. This is a common interaction in the Caribbean due to the region’s high occurrence of disasters and human participant engagement by external researchers during the postdisaster phase. However, due to escalating unethical practices since the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Caribbean nations are beginning the process of censuring unapproved postdisaster fieldwork by external researchers. In this study, the authors approach these ethical considerations through a justice lens to propose a checklist for postdisaster researchers interested in ethical fieldwork and justice for their research participants. Correspondence with Caribbean emergency managers confirms the negative perception toward external researchers and the trend of enacting protocols that stop unvetted community access following disasters. However, these local agencies acknowledge the benefits of ethical postdisaster research and are open to serving as research coordinating centers. Such coordinating centers would harness local capabilities and lower the likelihood of the duplication of research topics and the overburdening of survivors as research participants.

This paper presents the findings of a wellness programme implemented by Petrotrin's Employee Assistance Programme department as part of the corporate Health, Safety and Enviroment (HSE) strategy. The author defines wellness as "any programme which stimulates and encourages employees to take personal responsibility for improving their psycho-biosocio-cultural functioning thus improving their general competence in work and non-work areas." The paper also reviews the relationship between Petrotrin's Employee Assistance Programme and organizational goals. Based on quantitative and qualitative methodologies, research data is presented on the factors which militate against wellness in Petrotrin. The findings from six major interventions are also presented and analyzed. The author concludes that there is economic value to be derived as a result of implementing wellness programmes. Specifically, wellness programmes are proposed as an effective strategy to contain health care and failure costs which are related to the frequency and severity of illnesses both on and off the job. The project described in this paper has made a significant contribution to the integrated HSE programme which began in 1995.