Occupational injury of Vietnamese seafarers on aboard merchant vessels

Seafaring is an arduous and highly specialized profession, with many potential risks of accidents and injuries to the working seafarers. This study aims to describe the characteristics of occupational injuries and some related factors of Vietnamese seafarers on board merchant vessels.

Injured seafarers working on ships of 3 shipping companies in Hai Phong, Vietnam for 2 years, from January 2021 to December 2022, were considered in the study. The retrospective descriptive method was used to collect data on occupational injuries.

Forty-six injured seafarers out of a total of 1250 seafarers were included. The incidence of occupational injuries among seafarers was 46 per 1250 (3.7%). The overall injury incidence was 18.4 per 1000 seafarers per year over the 2-year study period. The most common time for injury accidents was at night (54.3%) and the place where injuries occurred was mainly on the deck of the ship (71.7%). Causes of occupational injuries included slipping (32.6%), closing cargo hatch covers (13.0%), unloading cargo (13.0%), and repairing ship engines (10.9%). The nature of injuries was mainly soft tissue injuries (52.2%); sprains, dislocations (15.3%); fractures (10.9%); burns (6.5%). Injuries to the shoulder, forearm, and hand (52.2%); thighs, legs, feet (32.6%); head (6.5%). Some factors related to injury include working experience less than 10 years, OR = 2.45 (95%CI: 1.36-4.42); intermediate education level, OR = 2.30 (95%CI: 1.17-4.54); non-officer, OR = 2.76 (95%CI: 1.36-5.59). Deck group crew, OR = 2.19 (95%CI: 1.14- 4.18); deadweight tonnage of ships under 10 thousand tons, OR = 5.88 (95%CI: 2.07-16.73) compared to ships over 50 thousand tons.

Occupational injuries are a major health problem among Vietnamese seafarers. To prevent occupational injuries, it is necessary to improve living and working conditions on board ships and strengthen training and practice of occupational safety and hygiene on board ships.