10%
OF RESPONDENTS
FELT THE NEED
TO BUY THEIR OWN
PPE BEFORE
JOINING SHIP
FINLANDS SJÖFART J SUOMEN MERENKULKU 49
others. Participants were also from across the onboard
departments (59% deck, 38% engineering) and were
predominantly employed in offi cer roles (82% offi cer, 8%
rating, 10% other).
Again, given the higher prevalence of offi cers in
comparison to ratings among British seafarers generally,
these fi ndings are to be expected.
SOURCING PPE
Seafarers who participated in the study were asked where
they obtained their PPE. Some 65% stated they obtained it
from stores onboard the vessel at the start of each trip.
Another 10% said they purchased their own to take to the
ship, whilst 9% said the shipping company purchased it
and sent it to their home address for them to take onboard.
Of those who stated they obtained their PPE from the
stores onboard, many stated that they had experienced
occasions when the size they required had not been
available. One stated: ‘This happens all the time. You just
have to get a smaller or bigger size.’
Worryingly, another said:
‘I’ve never had a full set of issue gear that fi ts. After
spending my fi rst trip with duct tape and staples
adjusting my overalls and extra socks to fi ll boots, I just
started taking it with me.’
It was particularly concerning to read one cadet
describe his experience as follows: ‘Due to deployments
being short, companies are reluctant to give out PPE –
for the fi rst week of an Icelandic cruise I had no coat or
jumper so had to do mooring in my shirt sleeves in
freezing temperatures.’
The comment made by the cadet indicates that such
PPE was available but the cadet was not provided with it
immediately, instead having little option but to risk his
own health and safety.
In addition to asking how the seafarers who took part
in the study obtained PPE at the beginning of a tour, the
questionnaire also asked what happened if they needed
new PPE during a tour. The vast majority (93%) of those
who completed the question stated that the company
would provide them with it free of charge if needed during
a tour.
PROBLEMS WITH PPE
Seafarers were asked whether or not they had
experienced any problems with their PPE.
Over one third (35%) reported that they
had experienced problems with PPE
during their most recent tour. This
number rose substantially to 73% of
seafarers when asked if they had
experience problems with their PPE
during their entire employment at
sea. Given fi ndings from other
industries, such as the UK healthcare
sector, it was not surprising to see that
when female seafarers’ responses were considered
separately to males, 94% of females stated that they had
experienced problems with PPE during their employment
at sea.
The Code of Safe Working Practices dedicates a whole
chapter to PPE, and states that suitable equipment should
both fi t the seafarer correctly after any necessary adjust-ment
and take account of ergonomic requirements.
However, when asking participants how individual items
of PPE fi tted them during their most recent tour of duty,
the fi ndings were stark. Some 19% of respondents stated
that their boiler suit fi tted them either poorly or not at all.
Over a quarter (26%) of respondents said that their gloves
had fi tted them either poorly or not at all. One participant
stated that ‘Gloves are too big to work with’ whilst another
said ‘The gloves I was wearing were large. I had a better
grip without them.’ Similar numbers of respondents
(12%, 13% and 11% respectively) reported safety footwear/
boots, protective eyewear and safety harnesses to either
fi t poorly or not at all.
Given the responses regarding poorly fi tting PPE, it was
not surprising that half of all participants reported that
they had experienced ill-effects from PPE. Many of these
ill-effects were related to safety footwear, with partici-pants
reporting issues such as: ‘Inadequately fi tting boots,