Seafarer injuries in relation to time into tour of duty

Abstract

Research into occupational injuries in the shipping industry has tended to focus on the points of space in which injuries occur, with relatively few studies looking at details regarding when within work patterns injuries happen. This paper explores seafarers’ injury rates in relation to time into tour of duty. The findings are drawn from the injury records and employment records from three multinational shipping companies operating in the tanker, container and offshore sectors of the seafaring industry. They show that there are some relationships between seafarers’ occupational injury rates and time into tour of duty. Moreover, they indicate that owing to current injury reporting practices, shipping companies are unable to assess how time into tour of duty relates to the safety of their labour force. Consequently, the importance of recording additional details of seafarers’ work patterns in all injury reports is noted.