Incidence of occupational injuries and diseases among seafarers: a descriptive epidemiological study based on contacts from onboard ships to the Italian Telemedical Maritime Assistance Service in Rome, Italy

Abstract

ObjectivesWorkers at sea have high mortality, injuries and illnesses and work in a hazardous environment compared to ashore workers. The present study was designed to measure the incidence of occupational injuries and diseases among seafarers and quantify the contribution of differences in rank and job onboard on seafarers’ diseases and injuries rates.DesignDescriptive epidemiological study.Setting and participantsThis study’s data were based on contacts (n=423) for medical requests from Compagnie Maritime d'Affrètement/Compagnie Générale Maritime (CMA-CGM) container ships to the Italian Telemedical Maritime Assistance Service in Rome from 2016 to 2019, supplemented by data on the estimated total at-risk seafarer population on container ships (n=13 475) over the study period.Outcome measuresDistribution of injuries by anatomic location and types of diseases across seafarers’ ranks and worksites. We determined the incidence rate and incidence rate ratio (IRR) with a 95% CI.ResultsThe total disease rate was 25 per 1000 seafarer-years, and the overall injury rate was 6.31 per 1000 seafarer-years over the 4 years study period. Non-officers were more likely than officers to have reported gastrointestinal (IRR 2.12, 95% CI 1.13 to 4.26), dermatological (IRR 3.66, 95% CI 1.27 to 14.42) and musculoskeletal (IRR 2.25, 95% CI 1.11 to 5.05) disorders onboard container ships. Deck workers were more likely than engine workers to be injured in the wrist and hand (IRR 3.25, 95% CI 1.19 to 10.23).ConclusionsRates of reported injury and disease were significantly higher among non- officers than officers; thus, this study suggests the need for rank-specific preventative measures. Future studies should consider risk factors for injury and disease among seafarers in order to propose further preventive measures.

Self-Reported Modifiable Risk Factors of Cardiovascular Disease among Seafarers: A Cross-Sectional Study of Prevalence and Clustering

“…As for the rank, the prevalence of self-reported modifiable CVD risk factors, except diabetes was significantly higher among non-officers compared with officers. This might be due to workrelated stress because, as different studies reported that non-officers work is characterized by long working hours, night shift work, short average sleep time, suffer from frequent sleep interruption, irregular working times, and more physically demanding [9,17,34,35].…”

“…Various studies have reported that a high percentage of deaths among seafarers was due to CVDs in Polish vessels (62 (19%) of 324 deaths) [5], on Danish merchant ships (35 (66%) of 53 deaths) [6], on Singapore ships (45 (65%) of 69 deaths) [7], and in Isle of Man shipping (16 (80%) of 20 deaths) [8]. In terms of morbidity, CVDs are among the top five (gastrointestinal, CV, musculoskeletal, dermatological and respiratory disorders) major cause of illness from diseases at sea among seafarers [9][10][11][12].…”

Epidemiology for occupational health psychology research: Understanding the approach.

“…For many OHP applications, the period of follow-up is likely to be lengthy, so the concept of person-time is key in thinking about identifying incidence or new cases of disease. For example, in a study of workers at sea (an occupation with high rates of mortality and injury), there were 78 new injuries over a 4-year time period (Sagaro et al, 2021). The incidence rate was 6.31 per 1,000 seafarer-years (person-time) over the 4-year period.…”

Medical training of seafarers: International Maritime Health Foundation (IMHF) Expert Panel Consensus Statement

“…Medical emergencies and various medical conditions on board may seriously impair seafarers' safety and health, as well as future work aspects [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. Therefore, IMHF EP intends to participate in the development or revision of International Maritime Organization (IMO) model courses 1.13, 1.14 and 1.15 in accordance with the provisions of the Revised Guidelines for the development, review, and validation of model courses (MSC-MEPC.2/Circ.15) [13,14].…”