Insights on just culture from seafarers and shipping companies in Indonesia: An exploratory study.

BACKGROUND: Just culture aspires to prompt organizational learning from enhanced feedback by frontline operators. Just culture requires mechanisms to eliminate fear and sanction but not accountability when reporting safety-related issues. Adopted in sectors such as aviation, just culture remains an underdeveloped field in the maritime sector. OBJECTIVE: This study explores how some pre-requisites for a just culture (i.e., ease of reporting, motivation to report, and trust) are perceived and potentially implemented by seafarers' and shipping company safety representatives in Indonesia. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were used to collect qualitative data in an exploratory study involving eleven active seafarers and four safety managers from shipping companies in Indonesia. RESULTS: The conditions for ease of reporting seem present, at least on paper. Shipping companies receive one to two near-miss reports per month. However, incidents seem to be underreported. It appears that companies are unsuccessful in establishing the motivation and trust necessary to enhance safety event reporting. CONCLUSION: The study suggests that the concept of a just culture is not well understood among certain Indonesian shipping companies. The main barriers to implementing a just culture relate to hierarchical structures in the industry, frequent crew changes, blame culture, and lack of anonymous reporting for safety concerns.

A Systematic Review of Assessment Methods for Seafarers' Mental Health and Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Seafarers spend more time at sea than on land, which makes them a hard-to-reach community. Since their mental health and well-being is usually addressed from a land-based perspective, dedicated and validated methods incorporating maritime specificities are lacking. During the COVID-19 pandemic, research into seafarers' mental health and well-being flourished. However, a systematic review of the literature to assess the type and appropriateness of assessment methods pertaining to the mental health and well-being of seafarers has yet to be undertaken. This study reviews 5 databases (ERIC, Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar and EBSCO) to assess the methods used to examine seafarers' mental health and well-being during the pandemic. Peer-reviewed literature alongside grey literature that applied quantitative or qualitative instruments to measure seafarers' mental health and/or well-being, published in English between March 2020 and February 2023, was eligible for the review. Studies from all geographic regions and regardless of nationality, rank and ship type of the subjects were explored. Database searches produced 272 records. Five additional records were identified via other methods. We identified 27 studies suitable for review, including 24 published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and 3 reports and surveys produced by the industry or welfare organizations. Assessment methods used to measure seafarers' mental health and well-being vary significantly in the literature. The frequent use of ad hoc questionnaires limits the possibility to replicate and compare the studies due to various inconsistencies. Furthermore, several validation and reliability measures needed more solidity when applied to the seafaring population. Such inadequate measuring and a mix of assessment methods impacted the comparison of results and might inflate the risks of underreporting or overstating mental complaints.

The Relationship Between Work-Induced Sexual Abstinence and Psychological Health of Chinese Male Seafarers: The Positive Influence of Job Satisfaction.

The specific nature of the seafaring occupation keeps seafarers away from partners and shore life for long periods at sea. Therefore, seafarers suffer many challenges in the workplace including frustration of their sexual needs. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between work-induced sexual abstinence, psychological health and job satisfaction among seafarers. A mixed-method approach focusing on cross-sectional survey-based quantitative research was used. The sample included 617 Chinese active seafarers who experienced sexual abstinence on board. Hierarchical cluster analysis was conducted to divide the respondents into different groups corresponding to 14 psychological problems induced by sexual abstinence and experienced in the workplace. Multiple linear regression analysis was applied to identify the relationship between tolerance level of seafarers to sexual abstinence and their job satisfaction. Four distinct groups of seafarers, influenced differently by sexual abstinence, were identified, namely "Saint," "Adapter," "Average people," and "Sufferer" clusters. Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that tolerance level of seafarers to sexual abstinence was positively influenced by overall job satisfaction, perceived working environment, ability utilization for other jobs, own choice for working as a seafarer and perceived friendliness of co-workers, while it was negatively influenced by perceived job responsibility. The study innovates by examining the relationship between sexual abstinence and the psychological health of seafarers. It also extends the function of job satisfaction, which can contribute positively to the tolerance level to sexual abstinence. Management recommendations to address sexual abstinence issues are proposed to better protect the health and psychological well-being of seafarers and enhance operational safety on board.

Working time limits at sea, a hundred-year construction.

In a view to protect workers from extended work periods as well as to comply with the Versailles Peace Treaty requirements, the International Labour Organization (ILO) regulated hours of work from 1919 using '8-hour workday and 48-h workweek' as yardsticks. However, a historical perspective demonstrates the ILO's difficulties in integrating such standards for sea workers. From 1920 to 1958, the ILO endeavoured to anchor the 8-hour workday principle in maritime conventions on working time and to ensure compliance by quantifying manning levels. Facing sectoral opposition and the obstacle of the minimum tonnage requirement, none of the conventions adopted during the first period entered into force. A second regulatory wave (1995-2007) initiated by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) orientated working time towards fatigue management and adopted the 14-hour workday. Absorbed by the ILO from 1996, this threshold facilitated the implementation of working time standards for sea workers. The existence of autonomous maritime governance at the ILO and the IMO complemented by the incorporation of the tonnage clause in maritime convention allowed the acceptance of the 14-hour workday system in spite of breaching the universal principles established a century ago. The departure between maritime and land standards show that sectoral interests prevail over labour rights. More decisively, current standards detached labour rights from workers' human nature and attached them directly to sectoral interests.