TITLE 4. HEALTH PROTECTION, MEDICAL CARE, WELFARE AND SOCIAL SECURITY PROTECTION
Regulation 4.1 – Medical care on board ship and ashore
Purpose: To protect the health of seafarers and ensure their prompt access to
medical care on board ship and ashore
- 1. Each Member shall ensure that all seafarers on ships that fly its flag
are covered by adequate measures for the protection of their health and that
they have access to prompt and adequate medical care whilst working on
board.
- 2. The protection and care under paragraph 1 of this Regulation shall, in
principle, be provided at no cost to the seafarers.
- 3. Each Member shall ensure that seafarers on board ships in its territory
who are in need of immediate medical care are given access to the Member’s
medical facilities on shore.
- 4. The requirements for on-board health protection and medical care set out
in the Code include standards for measures aimed at providing seafarers with
health protection and medical care as comparable as possible to that which
is generally available to workers ashore
Standard A4.1 – Medical care on board ship and ashore
- 1. Each Member shall ensure that measures providing for health
protection and medical care, including essential dental care, for
seafarers working on board a ship that flies its flag are adopted which:
- (a) ensure the application to seafarers of any general
provisions on occupational health protection and medical care
relevant to their duties, as well as of special provisions
specific to work on board ship;
- (b) ensure that seafarers are given health protection and
medical care as comparable as possible to that which is
generally available to workers ashore, including prompt access
to the necessary medicines, medical equipment and facilities for
diagnosis and treatment and to medical information and
expertise;
- (c) give seafarers the right to visit a qualified medical doctor
or dentist without delay in ports of call, where
practicable;
- (d) ensure that, to the extent consistent with the Member’s
national law and practice, medical care and health protection
services while a seafarer is on board ship or landed in a
foreign port are provided free of charge to seafarers; and
- (e) are not limited to treatment of sick or injured seafarers
but include measures of a preventive character such as health
promotion and health education programmes.
- 2. The competent authority shall adopt a standard medical report form
for use by the ships’ masters and relevant onshore and on-board medical
personnel. The form, when completed, and its contents shall be kept
confidential and shall only be used to facilitate the treatment of
seafarers.
- 3. Each Member shall adopt laws and regulations establishing
requirements for on-board hospital and medical care facilities and
equipment and training on ships that fly its flag.
- 4. National laws and regulations shall as a minimum provide for the
following requirements:
- (a) all ships shall carry a medicine chest, medical equipment
and a medical guide, the specifics of which shall be prescribed
and subject to regular inspection by the competent authority;
the national requirements shall take into account the type of
ship, the number of persons on board and the nature, destination
and duration of voyages and relevant national and international
recommended medical standards;
- (b) ships carrying 100 or more persons and ordinarily engaged on
international voyages of more than three days’ duration shall
carry a qualified medical doctor who is responsible for
providing medical care; national laws or regulations shall also
specify which other ships shall be required to carry a medical
doctor, taking into account, inter alia, such factors as the
duration, nature and conditions of the voyage and the number of
seafarers on board;
- (c) ships which do not carry a medical doctor shall be required
to have either at least one seafarer on board who is in charge
of medical care and administering medicine as part of their
regular duties or at least one seafarer on board competent to
provide medical first aid; persons in charge of medical care on
board who are not medical doctors shall have satisfactorily
completed training in medical care that meets the requirements
of the International Convention on Standards of Training,
Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978, as amended
(“STCW”); seafarers designated to provide medical first aid
shall have satisfactorily completed training in medical first
aid that meets the requirements of STCW; national laws or
regulations shall specify the level of approved training
required taking into account, inter alia, such factors as the
duration, nature and conditions of the voyage and the number of
seafarers on board; and
- (d) the competent authority shall ensure by a prearranged system
that medical advice by radio or satellite communication to ships
at sea, including specialist advice, is available 24 hours a
day; medical advice, including the onward transmission of
medical messages by radio or satellite communication between a
ship and those ashore giving the advice, shall be available free
of charge to all ships irrespective of the flag that they
fly.
Guideline B4.1 – Medical care on board ship and ashore
Guideline B4.1.1 – Provision of medical care
- 1. When determining the level of medical training to be provided on
board ships that are not required to carry a medical doctor, the
competent authority should require that:
- (a) ships which ordinarily are capable of reaching qualified
medical care and medical facilities within eight hours
should have at least one designated seafarer with the
approved medical first-aid training required by STCW which
will enable such persons to take immediate, effective action
in case of accidents or illnesses likely to occur on board a
ship and to make use of medical advice by radio or satellite
communication; and
- (b) all other ships should have at least one designated
seafarer with approved training in medical care required by
STCW, including practical training and training in
life-saving techniques such as intravenous therapy, which
will enable the persons concerned to participate effectively
in coordinated schemes for medical assistance to ships at
sea, and to provide the sick or injured with a satisfactory
standard of medical care during the period they are likely
to remain on board.
- 2. The training referred to in paragraph 1 of this Guideline should
be based on the contents of the most recent editions of the
International Medical Guide for Ships, the Medical
First Aid Guide for Use in Accidents Involving Dangerous
Goods, the Document for Guidance – An International
Maritime Training Guide, and the medical section of the
International Code of Signals as well as similar
national guides.
- 3. Persons referred to in paragraph 1 of this Guideline and such
other seafarers as may be required by the competent authority should
undergo, at approximately five-year intervals, refresher courses to
enable them to maintain and increase their knowledge and skills and
to keep up-to-date with new developments.
- 4. The medicine chest and its contents, as well as the medical
equipment and medical guide carried on board, should be properly
maintained and inspected at regular intervals, not exceeding 12
months, by responsible persons designated by the competent
authority, who should ensure that the labelling, expiry dates and
conditions of storage of all medicines and directions for their use
are checked and all equipment functioning as required. In adopting
or reviewing the ship’s medical guide used nationally, and in
determining the contents of the medicine chest and medical
equipment, the competent authority should take into account
international recommendations in this field, including the latest
edition of the International Medical Guide for Ships, and other
guides mentioned in paragraph 2 of this Guideline.
- 5. Where a cargo which is classified dangerous has not been included
in the most recent edition of the Medical First Aid Guide for Use in
Accidents Involving Dangerous Goods, the necessary information on
the nature of the substances, the risks involved, the necessary
personal protective devices, the relevant medical procedures and
specific antidotes should be made available to the seafarers. Such
specific antidotes and personal protective devices should be on
board whenever dangerous goods are carried. This information should
be integrated with the ship’s policies and programmes on
occupational safety and health described in Regulation 4.3 and
related Code provisions.
- 6. All ships should carry a complete and up-to-date list of radio
stations through which medical advice can be obtained; and, if
equipped with a system of satellite communication, carry an
up-to-date and complete list of coast earth stations through which
medical advice can be obtained. Seafarers with responsibility for
medical care or medical first aid on board should be instructed in
the use of the ship’s medical guide and the medical section of the
most recent edition of the International Code of Signals so as to
enable them to understand the type of information needed by the
advising doctor as well as the advice received.
Guideline B4.1.2 – Medical report form
- 1. The standard medical report form for seafarers required under
Part A of this Code should be designed to facilitate the exchange of
medical and related information concerning individual seafarers
between ship and shore in cases of illness or injury.
Guideline B4.1.3 – Medical care ashore
- 1. Shore-based medical facilities for treating seafarers should be
adequate for the purposes. The doctors, dentists and other medical
personnel should be properly qualified.
- 2. Measures should be taken to ensure that seafarers have access
when in port to:
- (a) outpatient treatment for sickness and injury;
- (b) hospitalization when necessary; and
- (c) facilities for dental treatment, especially in cases of
emergency.
- 3. Suitable measures should be taken to facilitate the treatment of
seafarers suffering from disease. In particular, seafarers should be
promptly admitted to clinics and hospitals ashore, without
difficulty and irrespective of nationality or religious belief, and,
whenever possible, arrangements should be made to ensure, when
necessary, continuation of treatment to supplement the medical
facilities available to them.
Guideline B4.1.4 – Medical assistance to other ships and international cooperation
- 1. Each Member should give due consideration to participating in
international cooperation in the area of assistance, programmes and
research in health protection and medical care. Such cooperation
might cover:
- (a) developing and coordinating search and rescue efforts
and arranging prompt medical help and evacuation at sea for
the seriously ill or injured on board a ship through such
means as periodic ship position reporting systems, rescue
coordination centres and emergency helicopter services, in
conformity with the International Convention on Maritime
Search and Rescue, 1979, as amended, and the International
Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue (IAMSAR)
Manual;
- (b) making optimum use of all ships carrying a doctor and
stationing ships at sea which can provide hospital and
rescue facilities;
- (c) compiling and maintaining an international list of
doctors and medical care facilities available worldwide to
provide emergency medical care to seafarers;
- (d) landing seafarers ashore for emergency treatment;
- (e) repatriating seafarers hospitalized abroad as soon as
practicable, in accordance with the medical advice of the
doctors responsible for the case, which takes into account
the seafarer’s wishes and needs;
- (f) arranging personal assistance for seafarers during
repatriation, in accordance with the medical advice of the
doctors responsible for the case, which takes into account
the seafarer’s wishes and needs;
- (g) endeavouring to set up health centres for seafarers to:
- (i) conduct research on the health status, medical
treatment and preventive health care of seafarers;
and
- (ii) train medical and health service staff in
maritime medicine;
- (h) collecting and evaluating statistics concerning
occupational accidents, diseases and fatalities of seafarers
and integrating and harmonizing the statistics with any
existing national system of statistics on occupational
accidents and diseases covering other categories of
workers;
- (i) organizing international exchanges of technical
information, training material and personnel, as well as
international training courses, seminars and working
groups;
- (j) providing all seafarers with special curative and
preventive health and medical services in port, or making
available to them general health, medical and rehabilitation
services; and
- (k) arranging for the repatriation of the bodies or ashes of
deceased seafarers, in accordance with the wishes of the
next of kin and as soon as practicable.
- 2. International cooperation in the field of health protection and
medical care for seafarers should be based on bilateral or
multilateral agreements or consultations among Members.
Guideline B4.1.5 – Dependants of seafarers
- 1. Each Member should adopt measures to secure proper and sufficient
medical care for the dependants of seafarers domiciled in its
territory pending the development of a medical care service which
would include within its scope workers generally and their
dependants where such services do not exist and should inform the
International Labour Office concerning the measures taken for this
purpose.
Regulation 4.2 – Shipowners’ liability
Purpose: To ensure that seafarers are protected from the financial consequences
of sickness, injury or death occurring in connection with their employment
- 1. Each Member shall ensure that measures, in accordance with the Code, are
in place on ships that fly its flag to provide seafarers employed on the
ships with a right to material assistance and support from the shipowner
with respect to the financial consequences of sickness, injury or death
occurring while they are serving under a seafarers’ employment agreement or
arising from their employment under such agreement.
- 2. This Regulation does not affect any other legal remedies that a seafarer
may seek.
Standard A4.2 – Shipowners’ liability
- 1. Each Member shall adopt laws and regulations requiring that
shipowners of ships that fly its flag are responsible for health
protection and medical care of all seafarers working on board the ships
in accordance with the following minimum standards:
- (a) shipowners shall be liable to bear the costs for seafarers
working on their ships in respect of sickness and injury of the
seafarers occurring between the date of commencing duty and the
date upon which they are deemed duly repatriated, or arising
from their employment between those dates;
- (b) shipowners shall provide financial security to assure
compensation in the event of the death or long-term disability
of seafarers due to an occupational injury, illness or hazard,
as set out in national law, the seafarers’ employment agreement
or collective agreement;
- (c) shipowners shall be liable to defray the expense of medical
care, including medical treatment and the supply of the
necessary medicines and therapeutic appliances, and board and
lodging away from home until the sick or injured seafarer has
recovered, or until the sickness or incapacity has been declared
of a permanent character; and
- (d) shipowners shall be liable to pay the cost of burial
expenses in the case of death occurring on board or ashore
during the period of engagement.
- 2. National laws or regulations may limit the liability of the shipowner
to defray the expense of medical care and board and lodging to a period
which shall not be less than 16 weeks from the day of the injury or the
commencement of the sickness.
- 3. Where the sickness or injury results in incapacity for work the
shipowner shall be liable:
- (a) to pay full wages as long as the sick or injured seafarers
remain on board or until the seafarers have been repatriated in
accordance with this Convention; and
- (b) to pay wages in whole or in part as prescribed by national
laws or regulations or as provided for in collective agreements
from the time when the seafarers are repatriated or landed until
their recovery or, if earlier, until they are entitled to cash
benefits under the legislation of the Member concerned.
- 4. National laws or regulations may limit the liability of the shipowner
to pay wages in whole or in part in respect of a seafarer no longer on
board to a period which shall not be less than 16 weeks from the day of
the injury or the commencement of the sickness.
- 5. National laws or regulations may exclude the shipowner from liability
in respect of:
- (a) injury incurred otherwise than in the service of the
ship;
- (b) injury or sickness due to the wilful misconduct of the sick,
injured or deceased seafarer; and
- (c) sickness or infirmity intentionally concealed when the
engagement is entered into.
- 6. National laws or regulations may exempt the shipowner from liability
to defray the expense of medical care and board and lodging and burial
expenses in so far as such liability is assumed by the public
authorities.
- 7. Shipowners or their representatives shall take measures for
safeguarding property left on board by sick, injured or deceased
seafarers and for returning it to them or to their next of kin.
Guideline B4.2 – Shipowners’ liability
- 1. The payment of full wages required by Standard A4.2, paragraph 3(a),
may be exclusive of bonuses.
- 2. National laws or regulations may provide that a shipowner shall cease
to be liable to bear the costs of a sick or injured seafarer from the
time at which that seafarer can claim medical benefits under a scheme of
compulsory sickness insurance, compulsory accident insurance or workers’
compensation for accidents.
- 3. National laws or regulations may provide that burial expenses paid by
the shipowner shall be reimbursed by an insurance institution in cases
in which funeral benefit is payable in respect of the deceased seafarer
under laws or regulations relating to social insurance or workers’
compensation.
Regulation 4.3 – Health and safety protection and accident prevention
Purpose: To ensure that seafarers’ work environment on board ships promotes
occupational safety and health
- 1. Each Member shall ensure that seafarers on ships that fly its flag are
provided with occupational health protection and live, work and train on
board ship in a safe and hygienic environment.
- 2. Each Member shall develop and promulgate national guidelines for the
management of occupational safety and health on board ships that fly its
flag, after consultation with representative shipowners’ and seafarers’
organizations and taking into account applicable codes, guidelines and
standards recommended by international organizations, national
administrations and maritime industry organizations.
- 3. Each Member shall adopt laws and regulations and other measures
addressing the matters specified in the Code, taking into account relevant
international instruments, and set standards for occupational safety and
health protection and accident prevention on ships that fly its flag.
Standard A4.3 – Health and safety protection and accident prevention
- 1. The laws and regulations and other measures to be adopted in
accordance with Regulation 4.3, paragraph 3, shall include the following
subjects:
- (a) the adoption and effective implementation and promotion of
occupational safety and health policies and programmes on ships
that fly the Member’s flag, including risk evaluation as well as
training and instruction of seafarers;
- (b) reasonable precautions to prevent occupational accidents,
injuries and diseases on board ship, including measures to
reduce and prevent the risk of exposure to harmful levels of
ambient factors and chemicals as well as the risk of injury or
disease that may arise from the use of equipment and machinery
on board ships;
- (c) on-board programmes for the prevention of occupational
accidents, injuries and diseases and for continuous improvement
in occupational safety and health protection, involving
seafarers’ representatives and all other persons concerned in
their implementation, taking account of preventive measures,
including engineering and design control, substitution of
processes and procedures for collective and individual tasks,
and the use of personal protective equipment; and
- (d) requirements for inspecting, reporting and correcting unsafe
conditions and for investigating and reporting on-board
occupational accidents.
- 2. The provisions referred to in paragraph 1 of this Standard shall:
- (a) take account of relevant international instruments dealing
with occupational safety and health protection in general and
with specific risks, and address all matters relevant to the
prevention of occupational accidents, injuries and diseases that
may be applicable to the work of seafarers and particularly
those which are specific to maritime employment;
- (b) clearly specify the obligation of shipowners, seafarers and
others concerned to comply with the applicable standards and
with the ship’s occupational safety and health policy and
programme with special attention being paid to the safety and
health of seafarers under the age of 18;
- (c) specify the duties of the master or a person designated by
the master, or both, to take specific responsibility for the
implementation of and compliance with the ship’s occupational
safety and health policy and programme; and
- (d) specify the authority of the ship’s seafarers appointed or
elected as safety representatives to participate in meetings of
the ship’s safety committee. Such a committee shall be
established on board a ship on which there are five or more
seafarers.
- 3. The laws and regulations and other measures referred to in Regulation
4.3, paragraph 3, shall be regularly reviewed in consultation with the
representatives of the shipowners’ and seafarers’ organizations and, if
necessary, revised to take account of changes in technology and research
in order to facilitate continuous improvement in occupational safety and
health policies and programmes and to provide a safe occupational
environment for seafarers on ships that fly the Member’s flag.
- 4. Compliance with the requirements of applicable international
instruments on the acceptable levels of exposure to workplace hazards on
board ships and on the development and implementation of ships’
occupational safety and health policies and programmes shall be
considered as meeting the requirements of this Convention.
- 5. The competent authority shall ensure that:
- (a) occupational accidents, injuries and diseases are adequately
reported, taking into account the guidance provided by the
International Labour Organization with respect to the reporting
and recording of occupational accidents and diseases;
- (b) comprehensive statistics of such accidents and diseases are
kept, analysed and published and, where appropriate, followed up
by research into general trends and into the hazards identified;
and
- (c) occupational accidents are investigated.
- 6. Reporting and investigation of occupational safety and health matters
shall be designed to ensure the protection of seafarers’ personal data,
and shall take account of the guidance provided by the International
Labour Organization on this matter.
- 7. The competent authority shall cooperate with shipowners’ and
seafarers’ organizations to take measures to bring to the attention of
all seafarers information concerning particular hazards on board ships,
for instance, by posting official notices containing relevant
instructions.
- 8. The competent authority shall require that shipowners conducting risk
evaluation in relation to management of occupational safety and health
refer to appropriate statistical information from their ships and from
general statistics provided by the competent authority.
Guideline B4.3 – Health and safety protection and accident prevention
Guideline B4.3.1 – Provisions on occupational accidents, injuries and diseases
- 1. The provisions required under Standard A4.3 should take into
account the ILO code of practice entitled Accident prevention on
board ship at sea and in port, 1996, and subsequent versions and
other related ILO and other international standards and guidelines
and codes of practice regarding occupational safety and health
protection, including any exposure levels that they may
identify.
- 2. The competent authority should ensure that the national
guidelines for the management of occupational safety and health
address the following matters, in particular:
- (a) general and basic provisions;
- (b) structural features of the ship, including means of
access and asbestos-related risks;
- (c) machinery;
- (d) the effects of the extremely low or high temperature of
any surfaces with which seafarers may be in contact;
- (e) the effects of noise in the workplace and in shipboard
accommodation;
- (f) the effects of vibration in the workplace and in
shipboard accommodation;
- (g) the effects of ambient factors, other than those
referred to in subparagraphs (e) and (f), in the workplace
and in shipboard accommodation, including tobacco
smoke;
- (h) special safety measures on and below deck;
- (i) loading and unloading equipment;
- (j) fire prevention and fire-fighting;
- (k) anchors, chains and lines;
- (l) dangerous cargo and ballast;
- (m) personal protective equipment for seafarers;
- (n) work in enclosed spaces;
- (o) physical and mental effects of fatigue;
- (p) the effects of drug and alcohol dependency;
- (q) HIV/AIDS protection and prevention; and
- (r) emergency and accident response.
- 3. The assessment of risks and reduction of exposure on the matters
referred to in paragraph 2 of this Guideline should take account of
the physical occupational health effects, including manual handling
of loads, noise and vibration, the chemical and biological
occupational health effects, the mental occupational health effects,
the physical and mental health effects of fatigue, and occupational
accidents. The necessary measures should take due account of the
preventive principle according to which, among other things,
combating risk at the source, adapting work to the individual,
especially as regards the design of workplaces, and replacing the
dangerous by the non-dangerous or the less dangerous, have precedence
over personal protective equipment for seafarers.
- 4. In addition, the competent authority should ensure that the
implications for health and safety are taken into account,
particularly in the following areas:
- (a) emergency and accident response;
- (b) the effects of drug and alcohol dependency; and
- (c) HIV/AIDS protection and prevention.
Guideline B4.3.2 – Exposure to noise
- 1. The competent authority, in conjunction with the competent
international bodies and with representatives of shipowners’ and
seafarers’ organizations concerned, should review on an ongoing
basis the problem of noise on board ships with the objective of
improving the protection of seafarers, in so far as practicable,
from the adverse effects of exposure to noise.
- 2. The review referred to in paragraph 1 of this Guideline should
take account of the adverse effects of exposure to excessive noise
on the hearing, health and comfort of seafarers and the measures to
be prescribed or recommended to reduce shipboard noise to protect
seafarers. The measures to be considered should include the
following:
- (a) instruction of seafarers in the dangers to hearing and
health of prolonged exposure to high noise levels and in the
proper use of noise protection devices and equipment;
- (b) provision of approved hearing protection equipment to
seafarers where necessary; and
- (c) assessment of risk and reduction of exposure levels to
noise in all accommodation and recreational and catering
facilities, as well as engine rooms and other machinery
spaces.
Guideline B4.3.3 – Exposure to vibration
- 1. The competent authority, in conjunction with the competent
international bodies and with representatives of shipowners’ and
seafarers’ organizations concerned, and taking into account, as
appropriate, relevant international standards, should review on an
ongoing basis the problem of vibration on board ships with the
objective of improving the protection of seafarers, in so far as
practicable, from the adverse effects of vibration.
- 2. The review referred to in paragraph 1 of this Guideline should
cover the effect of exposure to excessive vibration on the health
and comfort of seafarers and the measures to be prescribed or
recommended to reduce shipboard vibration to protect seafarers. The
measures to be considered should include the following:
- (a) instruction of seafarers in the dangers to their health
of prolonged exposure to vibration;
- (b) provision of approved personal protective equipment to
seafarers where necessary; and
- (c) assessment of risks and reduction of exposure to
vibration in all accommodation and recreational and catering
facilities by adopting measures in accordance with the
guidance provided by the ILO code of practice entitled
Ambient factors in the workplace, 2001, and any subsequent
revisions, taking account of the difference between exposure
in those areas and in the workplace.
Guideline B4.3.4 – Obligations of shipowners
- 1. Any obligation on the shipowner to provide protective equipment
or other accident prevention safeguards should, in general, be
accompanied by provisions requiring their use by seafarers and by a
requirement for seafarers to comply with the relevant accident
prevention and health protection measures.
- 2. Account should also be taken of Articles 7 and 11 of the Guarding
of Machinery Convention, 1963 (No. 119), and the corresponding
provisions of the Guarding of Machinery Recommendation, 1963 (No.
118), under which the obligation to ensure compliance with the
requirement that machinery in use is properly guarded, and its use
without appropriate guards prevented, rests on the employer, while
there is an obligation on the worker not to use machinery without
the guards being in position nor to make inoperative the guards
provided.
Guideline B4.3.5 – Reporting and collection of statistics
- 1. All occupational accidents and occupational injuries and diseases
should be reported so that they can be investigated and
comprehensive statistics can be kept, analysed and published, taking
account of protection of the personal data of the seafarers
concerned. Reports should not be limited to fatalities or to
accidents involving the ship.
- 2. The statistics referred to in paragraph 1 of this Guideline
should record the numbers, nature, causes and effects of
occupational accidents and occupational injuries and diseases, with
a clear indication, as applicable, of the department on board a
ship, the type of accident and whether at sea or in port.
- 3. Each Member should have due regard to any international system or
model for recording accidents to seafarers which may have been
established by the International Labour Organization.
Guideline B4.3.6 – Investigations
- 1. The competent authority should undertake investigations into the
causes and circumstances of all occupational accidents and
occupational injuries and diseases resulting in loss of life or
serious personal injury, and such other cases as may be specified in
national laws or regulations.
- 2. Consideration should be given to including the following as
subjects of investigation:
- (a) working environment, such as working surfaces, layout of
machinery, means of access, lighting and methods of
work;
- (b) incidence in different age groups of occupational
accidents and occupational injuries and diseases;
- (c) special physiological or psychological problems created
by the shipboard environment;
- (d) problems arising from physical stress on board a ship,
in particular as a consequence of increased workload;
- (e) problems arising from and effects of technical
developments and their influence on the composition of
crews; and
- (f) problems arising from any human failures.
Guideline B4.3.7 – National protection and prevention programmes
- 1. In order to provide a sound basis for measures to promote
occupational safety and health protection and prevention of
accidents, injuries and diseases which are due to particular hazards
of maritime employment, research should be undertaken into general
trends and into such hazards as are revealed by statistics.
- 2. The implementation of protection and prevention programmes for
the promotion of occupational safety and health should be so
organized that the competent authority, shipowners and seafarers or
their representatives and other appropriate bodies may play an
active role, including through such means as information sessions,
on-board guidelines on maximum exposure levels to potentially
harmful ambient workplace factors and other hazards or outcomes of a
systematic risk evaluation process. In particular, national or local
joint occupational safety and health protection and accident
prevention committees or ad hoc working parties and on-board
committees, on which shipowners’ and seafarers’ organizations
concerned are represented, should be established.
- 3. Where such activity takes place at company level, the
representation of seafarers on any safety committee on board that
shipowner’s ships should be considered.
Guideline B4.3.8 – Content of protection and prevention programmes
- 1. Consideration should be given to including the following in the
functions of the committees and other bodies referred to in
Guideline B4.3.7, paragraph 2:
- (a) the preparation of national guidelines and policies for
occupational safety and health management systems and for
accident prevention provisions, rules and manuals;
- (b) the organization of occupational safety and health
protection and accident prevention training and
programmes;
- (c) the organization of publicity on occupational safety and
health protection and accident prevention, including films,
posters, notices and brochures; and
- (d) the distribution of literature and information on
occupational safety and health protection and accident
prevention so that it reaches seafarers on board ships.
- 2. Relevant provisions or recommendations adopted by the appropriate
national authorities or organizations or international organizations
should be taken into account by those preparing texts of
occupational safety and health protection and accident prevention
measures or recommended practices.
- 3. In formulating occupational safety and health protection and
accident prevention programmes, each Member should have due regard
to any code of practice concerning the safety and health of
seafarers which may have been published by the International Labour
Organization.
Guideline B4.3.9 – Instruction in occupational safety and health protection and the prevention of occupational accidents
- 1. The curriculum for the training referred to in Standard A4.3,
paragraph 1(a), should be reviewed periodically and brought up to
date in the light of development in types and sizes of ships and in
their equipment, as well as changes in manning practices,
nationality, language and the organization of work on board
ships.
- 2. There should be continuous occupational safety and health
protection and accident prevention publicity. Such publicity might
take the following forms:
- (a) educational audiovisual material, such as films, for use
in vocational training centres for seafarers and where
possible shown on board ships;
- (b) display of posters on board ships;
- (c) inclusion in periodicals read by seafarers of articles
on the hazards of maritime employment and on occupational
safety and health protection and accident prevention
measures; and
- (d) special campaigns using various publicity media to
instruct seafarers, including campaigns on safe working
practices.
- 3. The publicity referred to in paragraph 2 of this Guideline should
take account of the different nationalities, languages and cultures
of seafarers on board ships.
Guideline B4.3.10 – Safety and health education of young seafarers
- 1. Safety and health regulations should refer to any general
provisions on medical examinations before and during employment and
on the prevention of accidents and the protection of health in
employment, which may be applicable to the work of seafarers. Such
regulations should specify measures which will minimize occupational
dangers to young seafarers in the course of their duties.
- 2. Except where a young seafarer is recognized as fully qualified in
a pertinent skill by the competent authority, the regulations should
specify restrictions on young seafarers undertaking, without
appropriate supervision and instruction, certain types of work
presenting special risk of accident or of detrimental effect on
their health or physical development, or requiring a particular
degree of maturity, experience or skill. In determining the types of
work to be restricted by the regulations, the competent authority
might consider in particular work involving:
- (a) the lifting, moving or carrying of heavy loads or
objects;
- (b) entry into boilers, tanks and cofferdams;
- (c) exposure to harmful noise and vibration levels;
- (d) operating hoisting and other power machinery and tools,
or acting as signallers to operators of such equipment;
- (e) handling mooring or tow lines or anchoring
equipment;
- (f) rigging;
- (g) work aloft or on deck in heavy weather;
- (h) nightwatch duties;
- (i) servicing of electrical equipment;
- (j) exposure to potentially harmful materials, or harmful
physical agents such as dangerous or toxic substances and
ionizing radiations;
- (k) the cleaning of catering machinery; and
- (l) the handling or taking charge of ships’ boats.
- 3. Practical measures should be taken by the competent authority or
through the appropriate machinery to bring to the attention of young
seafarers information concerning the prevention of accidents and the
protection of their health on board ships. Such measures could
include adequate instruction in courses, official accident
prevention publicity intended for young persons and professional
instruction and supervision of young seafarers.
- 4. Education and training of young seafarers both ashore and on
board ships should include guidance on the detrimental effects on
their health and well-being of the abuse of alcohol and drugs and
other potentially harmful substances, and the risk and concerns
relating to HIV/AIDS and of other health risk related
activities.
Guideline B4.3.11 – International cooperation
- 1. Members, with the assistance as appropriate of intergovernmental
and other international organizations, should endeavour, in
cooperation with each other, to achieve the greatest possible
uniformity of action for the promotion of occupational safety and
health protection and prevention of accidents.
- 2. In developing programmes for promoting occupational safety and
health protection and prevention of accidents under Standard A4.3,
each Member should have due regard to relevant codes of practice
published by the International Labour Organization and the
appropriate standards of international organizations.
- 3. Members should have regard to the need for international
cooperation in the continuous promotion of activity related to
occupational safety and health protection and prevention of
occupational accidents. Such cooperation might take the form of:
- (a) bilateral or multilateral arrangements for uniformity in
occupational safety and health protection and accident
prevention standards and safeguards;
- (b) exchange of information on particular hazards affecting
seafarers and on means of promoting occupational safety and
health protection and preventing accidents;
- (c) assistance in testing of equipment and inspection
according to the national regulations of the flag
State;
- (d) collaboration in the preparation and dissemination of
occupational safety and health protection and accident
prevention provisions, rules or manuals;
- (e) collaboration in the production and use of training
aids; and
- (f) joint facilities for, or mutual assistance in, the
training of seafarers in occupational safety and health
protection, accident prevention and safe working
practices.
Regulation 4.4 – Access to shore-based welfare facilities
Purpose: To ensure that seafarers working on board a ship have access to
shore-based facilities and services to secure their health and well-being
- 1. Each Member shall ensure that shore-based welfare facilities, where they
exist, are easily accessible. The Member shall also promote the development
of welfare facilities, such as those listed in the Code, in designated ports
to provide seafarers on ships that are in its ports with access to adequate
welfare facilities and services.
- 2. The responsibilities of each Member with respect to shore-based
facilities, such as welfare, cultural, recreational and information
facilities and services, are set out in the Code.
Standard A4.4 – Access to shore-based welfare facilities
- 1. Each Member shall require, where welfare facilities exist on its
territory, that they are available for the use of all seafarers,
irrespective of nationality, race, colour, sex, religion, political
opinion or social origin and irrespective of the flag State of the ship
on which they are employed or engaged or work.
- 2. Each Member shall promote the development of welfare facilities in
appropriate ports of the country and determine, after consultation with
the shipowners’ and seafarers’ organizations concerned, which ports are
to be regarded as appropriate.
- 3. Each Member shall encourage the establishment of welfare boards which
shall regularly review welfare facilities and services to ensure that
they are appropriate in the light of changes in the needs of seafarers
resulting from technical, operational and other developments in the
shipping industry
Guideline B4.4 – Access to shore-based welfare facilities
Guideline B4.4.1 – Responsibilities of Members
- 1. Each Member should:
- (a) take measures to ensure that adequate welfare facilities
and services are provided for seafarers in designated ports
of call and that adequate protection is provided to
seafarers in the exercise of their profession; and
- (b) take into account, in the implementation of these
measures, the special needs of seafarers, especially when in
foreign countries and when entering war zones, in respect of
their safety, health and spare-time activities.
- 2. Arrangements for the supervision of welfare facilities and
services should include participation by representative shipowners’
and seafarers’ organizations concerned.
- 3. Each Member should take measures designed to expedite the free
circulation among ships, central supply agencies and welfare
establishments of welfare materials such as films, books, newspapers
and sports equipment for use by seafarers on board their ships and
in welfare centres ashore.
- 4. Members should cooperate with one another in promoting the
welfare of seafarers at sea and in port. Such cooperation should
include the following:
- (a) consultations among competent authorities aimed at the
provision and improvement of seafarers’ welfare facilities
and services, both in port and on board ships;
- (b) agreements on the pooling of resources and the joint
provision of welfare facilities in major ports so as to
avoid unnecessary duplication;
- (c) organization of international sports competitions and
encouragement of the participation of seafarers in sports
activities; and
- (d) organization of international seminars on the subject of
welfare of seafarers at sea and in port.
Guideline B4.4.2 – Welfare facilities and services in ports
- 1. Each Member should provide or ensure the provision of such
welfare facilities and services as may be required, in appropriate
ports of the country.
- 2. Welfare facilities and services should be provided, in accordance
with national conditions and practice, by one or more of the
following:
- (a) public authorities;
- (b) shipowners’ and seafarers’ organizations concerned under
collective agreements or other agreed arrangements; and
- (c) voluntary organizations.
- 3. Necessary welfare and recreational facilities should be
established or developed in ports. These should include:
- (a) meeting and recreation rooms as required;
- (b) facilities for sports and outdoor facilities, including
competitions;
- (c) educational facilities; and
- (d) where appropriate, facilities for religious observances
and for personal counselling.
- 4. These facilities may be provided by making available to seafarers
in accordance with their needs facilities designed for more general
use.
- 5. Where large numbers of seafarers of different nationalities
require facilities such as hotels, clubs and sports facilities in a
particular port, the competent authorities or bodies of the
countries of origin of the seafarers and of the flag States, as well
as the international associations concerned, should consult and
cooperate with the competent authorities and bodies of the country
in which the port is situated and with one another, with a view to
the pooling of resources and to avoiding unnecessary
duplication.
- 6. Hotels or hostels suitable for seafarers should be available
where there is need for them. They should provide facilities equal
to those found in a good-class hotel, and should wherever possible
be located in good surroundings away from the immediate vicinity of
the docks. Such hotels or hostels should be properly supervised, the
prices charged should be reasonable in amount and, where necessary
and possible, provision should be made for accommodating seafarers’
families.
- 7. These accommodation facilities should be open to all seafarers,
irrespective of nationality, race, colour, sex, religion, political
opinion or social origin and irrespective of the flag State of the
ship on which they are employed or engaged or work. Without in any
way infringing this principle, it may be necessary in certain ports
to provide several types of facilities, comparable in standard but
adapted to the customs and needs of different groups of
seafarers.
- 8. Measures should be taken to ensure that, as necessary,
technically competent persons are employed full time in the
operation of seafarers’ welfare facilities and services, in addition
to any voluntary workers.
Guideline B4.4.3 – Welfare boards
- 1. Welfare boards should be established, at the port, regional and
national levels, as appropriate. Their functions should include:
- (a) keeping under review the adequacy of existing welfare
facilities and monitoring the need for the provision of
additional facilities or the withdrawal of underutilized
facilities; and
- (b) assisting and advising those responsible for providing
welfare facilities and ensuring coordination between
them.
- 2. Welfare boards should include among their members representatives
of shipowners’ and seafarers’ organizations, the competent
authorities and, where appropriate, voluntary organizations and
social bodies.
- 3. As appropriate, consuls of maritime States and local
representatives of foreign welfare organizations should, in
accordance with national laws and regulations, be associated with
the work of port, regional and national welfare boards.
Guideline B4.4.4 – Financing of welfare facilities
- 1. In accordance with national conditions and practice, financial
support for port welfare facilities should be made available through
one or more of the following:
- (a) grants from public funds;
- (b) levies or other special dues from shipping sources;
- (c) voluntary contributions from shipowners, seafarers, or
their organizations; and
- (d) voluntary contributions from other sources.
- 2. Where welfare taxes, levies and special dues are imposed, they
should be used only for the purposes for which they are raised.
Guideline B4.4.5 – Dissemination of information and facilitation measures
- 1. Information should be disseminated among seafarers concerning
facilities open to the general public in ports of call, particularly
transport, welfare, entertainment and educational facilities and
places of worship, as well as facilities provided specifically for
seafarers.
- 2. Adequate means of transport at moderate prices should be
available at any reasonable time in order to enable seafarers to
reach urban areas from convenient locations in the port.
- 3. All suitable measures should be taken by the competent
authorities to make known to shipowners and to seafarers entering
port any special laws and customs, the contravention of which may
jeopardize their freedom.
- 4. Port areas and access roads should be provided by the competent
authorities with adequate lighting and signposting and regular
patrols for the protection of seafarers.
Guideline B4.4.6 – Seafarers in a foreign port
- 1. For the protection of seafarers in foreign ports, measures should
be taken to facilitate:
- (a) access to consuls of their State of nationality or State
of residence; and
- (b) effective cooperation between consuls and the local or
national authorities.
- 2. Seafarers who are detained in a foreign port should be dealt with
promptly under due process of law and with appropriate consular
protection.
- 3. Whenever a seafarer is detained for any reason in the territory
of a Member, the competent authority should, if the seafarer so
requests, immediately inform the flag State and the State of
nationality of the seafarer. The competent authority should promptly
inform the seafarer of the right to make such a request. The State
of nationality of the seafarer should promptly notify the seafarer’s
next of kin. The competent authority should allow consular officers
of these States immediate access to the seafarer and regular visits
thereafter so long as the seafarer is detained.
- 4. Each Member should take measures, whenever necessary, to ensure
the safety of seafarers from aggression and other unlawful acts
while ships are in their territorial waters and especially in
approaches to ports.
- 5. Every effort should be made by those responsible in port and on
board a ship to facilitate shore leave for seafarers as soon as
possible after a ship’s arrival in port.
Regulation 4.5 – Social security
Purpose: To ensure that measures are taken with a view to providing seafarers
with access to social security protection
- 1. Each Member shall ensure that all seafarers and, to the extent provided
for in its national law, their dependants have access to social security
protection in accordance with the Code without prejudice however to any more
favourable conditions referred to in paragraph 8 of article 19 of the
Constitution.
- 2. Each Member undertakes to take steps, according to its national
circumstances, individually and through international cooperation, to
achieve progressively comprehensive social security protection for
seafarers.
- 3. Each Member shall ensure that seafarers who are subject to its social
security legislation, and, to the extent provided for in its national law,
their dependants, are entitled to benefit from social security protection no
less favourable than that enjoyed by shoreworkers.
Standard A4.5 – Social security
- 1. The branches to be considered with a view to achieving progressively
comprehensive social security protection under Regulation 4.5 are:
medical care, sickness benefit, unemployment benefit, old-age benefit,
employment injury benefit, family benefit, maternity benefit, invalidity
benefit and survivors’ benefit, complementing the protection provided
for under Regulations 4.1, on medical care, and 4.2, on shipowners’
liability, and under other titles of this Convention.
- 2. At the time of ratification, the protection to be provided by each
Member in accordance with Regulation 4.5, paragraph 1, shall include at
least three of the nine branches listed in paragraph 1 of this
Standard.
- 3. Each Member shall take steps according to its national circumstances
to provide the complementary social security protection referred to in
paragraph 1 of this Standard to all seafarers ordinarily resident in its
territory. This responsibility could be satisfied, for example, through
appropriate bilateral or multilateral agreements or contribution-based
systems. The resulting protection shall be no less favourable than that
enjoyed by shoreworkers resident in their territory.
- 4. Notwithstanding the attribution of responsibilities in paragraph 3 of
this Standard, Members may determine, through bilateral and multilateral
agreements and through provisions adopted in the framework of regional
economic integration organizations, other rules concerning the social
security legislation to which seafarers are subject.
- 5. Each Member’s responsibilities with respect to seafarers on ships
that fly its flag shall include those provided for by Regulations 4.1
and 4.2 and the related provisions of the Code, as well as those that
are inherent in its general obligations under international law.
- 6. Each Member shall give consideration to the various ways in which
comparable benefits will, in accordance with national law and practice,
be provided to seafarers in the absence of adequate coverage in the
branches referred to in paragraph 1 of this Standard.
- 7. The protection under Regulation 4.5, paragraph 1, may, as
appropriate, be contained in laws or regulations, in private schemes or
in collective bargaining agreements or in a combination of these.
- 8. To the extent consistent with their national law and practice,
Members shall cooperate, through bilateral or multilateral agreements or
other arrangements, to ensure the maintenance of social security rights,
provided through contributory or non-contributory schemes, which have
been acquired, or are in the course of acquisition, by all seafarers
regardless of residence.
- 9. Each Member shall establish fair and effective procedures for the
settlement of disputes.
- 10. Each Member shall at the time of ratification specify the branches
for which protection is provided in accordance with paragraph 2 of this
Standard. It shall subsequently notify the Director-General of the
International Labour Office when it provides social security protection
in respect of one or more other branches stated in paragraph 1 of this
Standard. The Director-General shall maintain a register of this
information and shall make it available to all interested parties.
- 11. The reports to the International Labour Office pursuant to article
22 of the Constitution, shall also include information regarding steps
taken in accordance with Regulation 4.5, paragraph 2, to extend
protection to other branches.
Guideline B4.5 – Social security
- 1. The protection to be provided at the time of ratification in
accordance with Standard A4.5, paragraph 2, should at least include the
branches of medical care, sickness benefit and employment injury
benefit.
- 2. In the circumstances referred to in Standard A4.5, paragraph 6,
comparable benefits may be provided through insurance, bilateral and
multilateral agreements or other effective means, taking into
consideration the provisions of relevant collective bargaining
agreements. Where such measures are adopted, seafarers covered by such
measures should be advised of the means by which the various branches of
social security protection will be provided.
- 3. Where seafarers are subject to more than one national legislation
covering social security, the Members concerned should cooperate in
order to determine by mutual agreement which legislation is to apply,
taking into account such factors as the type and level of protection
under the respective legislations which is more favourable to the
seafarer concerned as well as the seafarer’s preference.
- 4. The procedures to be established under Standard A4.5, paragraph 9,
should be designed to cover all disputes relevant to the claims of the
seafarers concerned, irrespective of the manner in which the coverage is
provided.
- 5. Each Member which has national seafarers, non-national seafarers or
both serving on ships that fly its flag should provide the social
security protection in the Convention as applicable, and should
periodically review the branches of social security protection in
Standard A4.5, paragraph 1, with a view to identifying any additional
branches appropriate for the seafarers concerned.
- 6. The seafarers’ employment agreement should identify the means by
which the various branches of social security protection will be
provided to the seafarer by the shipowner as well as any other relevant
information at the disposal of the ship owner, such as statutory
deductions from the seafarers’ wages and shipowners’ contributions which
may be made in accordance with the requirements of identified authorized
bodies pursuant to relevant national social security schemes.
- 7. The Member whose flag the ship flies should, in effectively
exercising its jurisdiction over social matters, satisfy itself that the
shipowners’ responsibilities concerning social security protection are
met, including making the required contributions to social security
schemes.
