Working at sea and psychosocial health problems Report of an International Maritime Health Association Workshop.

Many of the recognised risk factors for psychosocial health problems impact on seafarers because of the nature and organisation of their work. The consequences are serious because of the safety critical nature of many of the tasks at sea and because of the level of health required to continue working remote from care. There is relatively little relevant research on the scale of psychosocial health problems in seafarers and so the justification for taking preventative action is not secure. The workshop was convened to develop a consensus on how psychosocial risks at sea can best be characterised, their consequences in terms of health, well being and performance and the steps which can be taken to provide better information on risks and on the validity of various forms of intervention. A number of interim measures have been proposed in advance of more definitive research results.