Ensuring Occupational Health and Safety for Overseas
Filipino Seafarers
Virgel C. Binghay
Associate Professor
School of Labor and Industrial Relations
University of the Philippines
E-mail: vcbinghay@ph.inter.net
Abstract
Filipino seafarers, or seamen as they are more popularly referred to in the
Philippines, are the lesser known overseas Filipino workers, a term usually used to
mean land-based migrant workers. Yet, much of the world’s maritime industry
continues to rely on Filipino seafarers to handle mostly 3D (dirty, dangerous,
demeaning) jobs onboard foreign vessels. The Philippines is now the world's top
supplier of seafarers accounting for 20 percent of the world's total; this means that
one in every five seamen onboard is a Filipino.
The paper focuses on discussing the situation of our Filipino seafarers
abroad, giving emphasis to the fact that despite a safety-conscious regime
instituted over the years, the welfare of seafarers remain to be deplorable. Like
many other migrant workers from the Philippines, many of them are exploited and
subjected to discrimination, abuse, maltreatment, and unfair labor practices
worldwide. More importantly, maritime workplace has always been identified as a
high risk workplace; the industry remains fraught with health and safety hazards
that increase seafarers’ risks of accidents, illnesses and mortality. Yet, in spite of a
worldwide recognition of the danger that innately goes with seafaring occupation,
few efforts have been devoted for the improvement and strict enforcement of
measures to prevent or minimize these work-related risks confronting maritime
workers.
Occupational health and safety is a basic human right, universally accepted
both by the international and local community and enshrined in fundamental policy
statements. For this, the paper concludes as it calls for the full enforcement of
occupational health and safety measures in the field of seafaring as an essential
and basic component of any policy aimed at addressing the plight of Filipino
seafarers around the globe.
Keywords: Seafarers, migrant workers, discrimination and abuse, health and safety
hazards, social protection, human rights
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Ensuring Occupational Health and Safety for Overseas Filipino Seafarers
Introduction
Cox and Cox (1996), professors from Loughborough University of Technology and
University of Nottingham in United Kingdom, respectively, once commented that no
society can ever claim to be civilized if it does not show honest concern for the health and
safety of its workforce. The statement was due to their belief that such concern reflects, in
part, an understanding of the value of human resource to the survival and success of its key
organizations (Cox and Cox, 1996).
In the same way that society's concern for the health and safety of its workforce
reflects an understanding of the value of human resource to the survival and success of its
key organizations, we can also say that an organization's concern for health and safety of its
workforce reflects an understanding of the value of human resource to the survival and
success of its key operations. This is why we can say that occupational health and safety are
important issues in everybody's workplace.
The health and safety of our workplaces depends on a variety of factors such as the
nature of the work, the hazards of the materials used, the level of training given to workers,
the condition of equipment used to perform the job, and many others. Apparently, it also
depends, in a lot of ways, on the efforts of employers, workers, governments and various
interest organizations.
Almost all published studies and statistics have identified the ship as one of the most
dangerous workplaces and shown seafaring as an occupation with a high mortality rate
compared to other groups in the society. This has very important implications to us because
it is the Philippines which dominates the seafaring occupation; Filipino seafarers account
for around 20 percent of the world's total supply of seafarers onboard (Opiniano, 2002).
Filipino seamen also make a substantial contribution to the economy. They send to their
families back in the Philippines as much as one billion dollars each year. With the latest
remittance figures, the BSP reported that seafarers contributed as much as 1.294 billion US
dollars for 2003, or one sixth of the total remittances of US 7.640 billion dollars during the
said period.
This scenario provides for the basis of this paper to reiterate the need for the sincere
enforcement of occupational health and safety measures and guidelines by employers and
governments to ensure better working conditions for all the seafarers in the world who are
most of the time made to handle 3D types of jobs onboard international ships.
The first task of this paper is to provide a discussion about the sources of protection
for Filipino seafarers, extending from the basic principles espoused by the 1987
Constitution to the provisions contained in the Migrant Workers Act of 1995, with a focus
on policy statements geared towards the promotion of healthy and safe workplace for our
workers. The second task of this paper is to provide an overview about the general situation
of our Filipino seafarers; the predicament they usually encounter from the pre-departure
stage of their employment up to the time they are onboard. In discussing the seafarers'
ordeal onboard, the author focused on the health and safety risks commonly associated with
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Ensuring Occupational Health and Safety for Overseas Filipino Seafarers
a work on the high seas. The point of this discussion is that seafarers remain to be on their
mercy when it comes to getting humane conditions of work. The concluding and
recommendation notes of the author follow after this.
Protection of Seafarers
There are now more than one million Filipino seafarers registered at the Philippine
Overseas Employment Agency or POEA (Ty, 2001). Yearly, Philippine maritime schools
and training centers produce around 20 thousand new graduates; of which only a small
percentage will find a job at sea (Ty, 2001). Lured by promises of higher salary and foreign
travel, and reinforced by the fact that the local shipping industry cannot absorb them,
Filipino seafarers have to compete for work in this ever-tightening global market. Official
figures from the POEA show that the deployment of sea-based workers abroad have
steadily increased over the years, reaching 209,593 in 2002.
The legal rights of Filipino seafarers come from two primary sources: the law and their
employment contract.
The Philippine Constitution of 1987 mandates the State to "afford protection to
labor, local and overseas, organized or unorganized, and promote full employment and
equal employment opportunities for all". It also guarantees the right of Filipino workers to
"humane conditions of work". The Philippine Labor Code of 1974 sets provisions on
overseas employment of our workers, the hiring and employment of seafarers, the creation
of the National Seamen's Board or NSB, operations of crewing agencies, unionism, dispute
settlement, the right to collective bargaining, the right to strike, and related aspects which
have implications on seafarers. Further, the Code sets legal provisions on occupational
health and safety promotion and enforcement.
Philippine Republic Act 8042, otherwise known as the Migrant Workers and
Overseas Filipino Act of 1995, is also an essential source of legal rights for our seafarers.
The Act provides for specific policy thrusts such as the guarantee of migrant workers
rights; deregulation or phase out of regulatory functions of specific government agencies,
stricter rules on illegal recruitment and the corresponding penalties for such activities,
selective deployment, repatriation of workers, and reintegration programs for return
migrants.
Further, the Act specifically declared that "the State shall deploy overseas Filipino
workers only in countries where the rights of Filipino workers are protected." The
government recognizes any of the following as a guarantee on the part of the receiving
country that it affords the protection of our workers: the country has existing labor and
social laws protecting the rights of migrant workers; has signed multilateral conventions,
declaration or resolutions relating to the protection of migrant workers; has concluded a
bilateral agreement with the government protecting OFWs; and has been taking a positive
concrete measures to protect the rights of migrant workers.
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Ensuring Occupational Health and Safety for Overseas Filipino Seafarers
On the other hand, the contract is the most important document concerning seafarers'
employment. Philippine laws require that the POEA approve the said contract before
seafarers begin to work overseas. Shipping companies and employment agencies are
required to use the Revised Standard Employment Terms and Conditions Governing
Employment of Filipino Seafarers On-Board Ocean-Going Vessels, designed to protect
seafarers' rights, or a collective bargaining agreement that meets or exceeds the minimum
requirements of the POEA Standard Employment Terms and Condition (Center for
Seafarers' Rights, 2001). Any deviations from the terms of this contract shall be made only
with the approval of the POEA (Center for Seafarers' Rights, 2001).
In the Standard Terms and Conditions Governing the Employment of Filipino
Seafarers On-Board Ocean-Going Vessels prescribed by the POEA it was clearly
pronounced that among the duties of the employer/agency/master are the following:
1. To faithfully comply with the stipulated terms and conditions of this contract,
particularly the prompt payment of wages, remittance of allotment and the
expeditious settlement of valid claims of seafarers.
2. To make operational on board the vessel the grievance machinery provided in this
contract and ensure its free access at all times by the seafarer.
3. To provide a seaworthy vessel for the seafarer and take all reasonable precautions
to prevent accident and injury to the crew including provision of safety equipment,
fire prevention, safe and proper navigation of the vessel and such other precautions
necessary to avoid accident, injury or sickness to the seafarer.(Italics supplied)
4. To observe the Code of Ethics for Seafarers and conduct himself in the traditional
decorum of a master.
With these policy statements, we can discern that ensuring a safer and healthier work
environment has long been recognized as a major factor for the protection of maritime
workers' rights. However, in as much as it is recognized that the State has indeed come up
with commendable policies, there is also a widespread recognition of the need to build
capacity and sincerity to implement, and to fund programs envisioned by all these policies.
Later on, we can see how assertive action especially on the part of the employers and to a
large extent, unclear and stringent policies on the part of the government, are making health
and safety remain to be an elusive goal for Filipino seafarers overseas.
Situation of Filipino Seafarers
Seafarers are fixed term contractual employees. The POEA standard employment
contract for seafarers specify that period of employment should not be longer than 12
months and any extension of the contract shall be subjected to the mutual consent of both
parties. The process of employing Filipino seafarers abroad embodies a trilateral
employment relationship that involves the local recruiting agent (i.e., crewing or manning
agency), the foreign shipowner, and the crew (Amante, 2003).
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The ordeal of a Filipino seaman starts even while he is still looking for a job on the
high seas – during the "job search" period.
In his research entitled Philippine Global Seafarers: A Profile, Amante (2003), a Mols
Sorenson research fellow at Cardiff University - Seafarers International Research Centre in
United Kingdom and a Professor at the University of the Philippines - School of Labor and
Industrial Relations, described the job search as the period covering the time spent
applying, the time spent processing papers for a new employment contract, and the time
spent waiting to board the ship.
The job search period is no easy for a Filipino seafarer. In the same research
mentioned, Amante (2003) found out that seafarers studied spent 7.2 months on the average
for job search – senior officers spent 7.3 months for job search, junior officers' time is
slightly less at 6.9 months, ratings spent 7.3 months and cadets had the longest job search
period at 13 months (Amante, 2003). This is in comparison with a 9.9-month average
length of the seafarers' employment contract – senior officers had an average contract of 9.5
months, junior officers had 9.3 months, ratings had slightly longer contracts at 9.8 months
and cadets had 10.8 months (Amante, 2003). This means that seafarers spent about the
same time looking for a job as they spent working on board.
Another problem confronting seafarers is the prevalence of unscrupulous recruitment
agencies. In the past, the basic routine of corrupt recruitment agencies is to ask from
prospective seafarers a huge amount of money in order to get a break in the seafaring
occupation. Although some agencies, particularly those with established names, have
already improved, there are still a few which are doing this type of exploitation except that
nowadays, their operations have gone worse (Ty, 2001). The extent of abuse especially to
newcomers has become very degrading (Ty, 2001).
For instance, manning agencies which has other businesses like construction
companies, piggery, poultry, farms, fishponds, etc. are using the new graduates to work
without pay for as long as one year in exchange of the chance to get their first work
experience on board ship. Others agencies also use their new graduate applicants to work
for them as janitors, messengers, car washers, and other similar jobs. Some of them are
even made to pay for "training fees" (Ty, 2001). The worst part is that trainees are not
really assured of a job after the "training"; they could only hope as manning agencies
usually defend that they also have a long list of trainees waiting on line. During the
enlistment, applicants are simply given the choice to "whether take or leave the job"
because anyway, with thousands of graduates desperate to find a job at sea, there would be
a lot of them who will be willing to try and take chances.
Another thing is the increasing greediness of these private agencies in terms of
charging fees to their recruits. Unlike in the past when placement fee is paid directly,
nowadays, a manning agency will just ask the seaman to sign a document stating that he
owe the agency a certain amount of money and this is done when he is already in the airport
so as not to give the seaman much option but to sign on the document (Ty, 2001).
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Ensuring Occupational Health and Safety for Overseas Filipino Seafarers
What is more disappointing though is the fact that seafarers do not only suffer from
private entities. Amante (2003) revealed that seafarers complain about "expensive, timeconsuming, overlapping procedures, as well as red tape in the processing of papers,
certificates and documents" in terms of their dealings with government agencies. They are
made to go back and forth in different agencies for their papers and the overlapping
functions of government agencies breed fraudulent certification, corrupt fixers, extortion
and inconsistencies in policy implementation (Amante, 2003).
Yet, the ordeal of common Filipino seafarers do not end there. Once onboard,
seafarers are again set to face another ordeal. Crescencio M. Siddayao, former head of the
National Seamen Board once said:
Seafarers employment is unique in the sense that employment aboard
ocean-going ship inevitably subjects the worker to rigorous isolation and
confinement. The ship is not only a place of work for him but also a home.
He lives a regimented life throughout the employment period -- at work or
off duty. He is at all times subject to the command or whims of the master
of the ship. Also, he is at the mercy of the perils and danger of the high
seas.
Indeed, it is well known that Filipino seafarers are not having smooth sailing -- many of
them are victims of discrimination, abuse, maltreatment and unfair labor practices
(Opiniano, 2000).
1. Blacklisting
For instance, shipowners and manning agencies still maintain the practice of
blacklisting, a practice which prevents them from being employed on other ships
(Opiniano, 2000).
POEA Deputy Director Lorna Fajardo said the agency has a system in place to address
seafarers' problems on blacklisting (Opiniano, 2000). However, NGOS working for
seafarers' welfare beset the POEA for having its own watch list (Opiniano, 2000). The
watch list reveals Filipinos who are temporarily disqualified from participating in the
overseas employment programs of the country pursuant to decisions, warrant of arrest, and
departure orders (Amante, 2003). The list requires seafarers with such pending cases to
clear their names first with their previous employer or manning agency, otherwise they will
be prevented from getting further employment on board (Opiniano, 2000). This, NGOs
said, is not different from blacklisting (Opiniano, 2000).
The International Transport Workers Federation or ITF specified that blacklisting
violates Article XIII, Section 3 of the Philippine Constitution, which mandates the State to
"promote full employment and equal employment opportunities for all" (Opiniano, 2000).
2. Lower Benefits
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In several cases, seafarers receive lower benefits than what is stated in their contract;
either that, or they have to go through a lot of sacrifices to get what is due them (Opiniano,
2000).
In a paper submitted to the International Communication on Shipping (Icons), the
Associated Marine Officers' and Seamen's Union of the Philippines (AMOSUP) reported
that Protection and Indemnity Clubs (P&I) and their local correspondents had, for a lot of
times, succeeded in lowering the benefits for seafarers and their families (Opiniano, 2000).
Meanwhile, ITF-Philippine executive director Susan Cueva reported that claims of
"countless" other injured and dead seafarers remained unresolved and law firms and unions
are pursuing these claims in behalf of the seafarers or their heirs (Opiniano, 2000).
Ray Lopez, a former industrial organizer in what later became the militant May 1
Federation and is now active in the Philippine Seafarers Organizing Ministries, succinctly
described how Filipino seafarers suffer from slave like working conditions:
There is a new form of slavery now, with ships flying flags of convenience
employing multi-national crew at very low wages and under slave like
conditions. They are subject to physical, sexual, and mental abuse by some
of their white officers… On the trampers or pirate ships they often earn as
little as 250 dollars per month, plus 50 dollar bonus in exchange for
unlimited overtime. This is way below what is stated in the contact, which
is simply not honored.
3. Longer Working Hours
Carl Benett of Gilmous Research noted a very important point with regards to
maritime accidents: "Navigation is all about human factors… the reasons behind human
errors are key to understanding navigation failures. In fact, the history of navigation is
actually the history of human error" (UFS, 2004). He reported that the Maritime and Coast
Guard Agency had confirmed that 80 percent of maritime accidents today are the result of
human error (UFS, 2004). One must be wondering why in spite of all the technology loaded
on to ships today, accidents and maritime incidents are still happening in such a way that
human error is still at the core of them.
Bennett pointed out the growing trend towards the "de-skilling, depersonalizing, and
ultimately endangering of seafarers' lives," as the primary explanation for this (UFS, 2004).
He explained: "Fatigue, excess speed, poor watchkeeping, poor bridge design, poor
training, the blame culture… they all contribute to navigational errors, and they all stem
from the trend towards devaluing the human navigator. Improve human condition of
seafarers, and the chances are you'll reduce the number of navigational errors" (UFS, 2004).
Bennett raised the constant drive to reduce crewing levels where people can be
working 80 to 90 hours a week on busy waterways and warned that such reduced crewing
levels are causing fatigue and contributing to information overload among the workers
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Ensuring Occupational Health and Safety for Overseas Filipino Seafarers
(UFS, 2004). As he explained, "you need to know a lot of things to navigate a modern ship
-- position, weather, speed, heading, relative vessel positions, water depth -- you need to
know it all but you should not need to know it all once" (UFS, 2004).
4. Double Standards
Below is a testimony of a Filipino seaman who has sailed with various ships and is
now a chief-officer in an established shipping company:
Later on I learned that there were many illegal things in the way the
company was treating us, especially Filipinos… There was (also) double
standard, all the Europeans onboard had better working conditions, with
regular time shifts. Most of the Filipino crew, especially the key hands on
deck line like the bosun, welder and the crane operator, had only very
limited sleep during good weather when the work rank for 24 hours
Ty (2001) reported that many seafarers reacted to this personal account, as it mirrors
almost stories of every new seafarer entering the industry.
5. Health and Safety Risks
On top of these concerns, however, and among the most urgent issues that must be
addressed, is the fact that almost all published studies and statistics have shown that
seafarers belong to an occupation with a high mortality compared to other groups in the
society (Hansen HL, 1995). Seafarers remain to be prone to either external or internal
causes of death which could be prevented if only countermeasures to minimize health
hazards and life-threat at sea are sincerely implemented and observed.
5.1. External Causes
Despite a safety-conscious regime instituted over the years by the International
Maritime Organization, maritime disasters such as the SS Norway's boiler room explosion
in May 2003 continue to happen. In that particular incident, which is regarded as the most
fatal cruise-ship accident in the United States over a decade, seven of the eight who died
were Filipinos, as were of the 14 of the injured (Pabico, 2003). A month following this
incident, four Filipino mariners also lost their lives in an explosion aboard the Malteseflagged tanker Exfinos, off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, while two others were
injured (Pabico, 2003). As mentioned earlier, the Philippines is among world's top supplier
of seafarers and one in every five seamen onboard international ocean-going vessels is
Filipino. For this reason, the chances of having Filipinos among the casualties in any major
maritime disaster are high. (Pabico, 2003)
Seafarers of other nationalities are not spared from the high risk of maritime accidents.
Lincoln and Conway (1999) provided us a background about the conditions of Alaska's
commercial fishing workers. The authors described the arctic and sub-arctic waters of
Alaska as a very hazardous work setting, with specific hazards posed by great distances,
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Ensuring Occupational Health and Safety for Overseas Filipino Seafarers
seasonal darkness, cold waters, high winds, brief fishing seasons and icing. Reportedly,
over 90% of these deaths have been due to drowning or drowning and hypothermia,
primarily associated with vessel capsizings and sinkings (Conway et al, 1998). During the
1990-94, drowning was the leading cause of occupational death in Alaska although during
1991-1994, there was a substantial decrease in Alaskan commercial fishing-related deaths
(Conway et al, 1998). This is due to the enforcement of US Commercial Fishing Industry
Vessel Safety Act of 1988 which required the implementation of comprehensive prevention
measures for all fishing vessels in offshore cold waters, including immersion suits and other
personal flotation devices, survival craft (life rafts), emergency position-indicating radio
beacons, and crew training in emergency response and first aid (Conway et al, 1998). The
authors confirmed that specific measures tailored to prevent drowning in vessel capsizings
and sinkings in Alaska's commercial fishing industry have been very successful so far.
They also pointed out, however, that these events continue to occur, and place fishermen
and rescue personnel at substantial risk. The authors went on to point out that additional
strategies must be identified to reduce the frequency of vessels capsizing and sinking, to
enable parallel improvements in the mortality among crab fishermen, and to prevent
fishermen falling overboard and drownings associated with them.
Also, a survey was conducted among Polish seafarers on work-related accidents and
injuries. Reportedly, their average incidence rate of fatal accidents from 1990 to 1995 was
22.07 per 1000 men each year. Tomaszunas and Weclawik (1998) observed that the causes
of death were drowning, violence, suffocation, contusion, and disappearance from ship
voyage. The incidence rate of accidents in the surveyed population varied from year to year
but there was no observed tendency of lowering the incidence rates (Tomaszunas and
Weclawik, 1998). The authors concluded as they called for the improvement of accident
prevention measures on ships.
Norrish and Cryer (1990), on the other hand, studied the fatal and non-fatal injuries
related to work in commercial fishermen operating out of New Zealand ports. Three data
sources were used by the authors to provide information on the nature of the injuries as well
as their circumstances. High rates of fatal and non-fatal injury were found with most deaths
attributed to drowning; but a higher fatal injury rate was found for the west coast of New
Zealand when compared with the rest of the country (Norrish and Cryer, 1990). The authors
theorized that this is more likely due to combination of factors, including rougher sea
conditions, a lower density of fishing vessels operating in the area, and the sitting of many
west coast fishing ports at dangerous river and harbour bars. The authors also mentioned
that injuries to hands and fingers related to the use of winches, machinery and knives were
common, as were back strains associated with lifting, and a variety of injuries resulting
from falls. They concluded that there is a need for comprehensive injury information source
so that effective preventive strategies and their evaluation can be developed.
5.2. Internal Causes
But one does not need to know the latest maritime accidents to understand how the
shipping industry remains fraught with health and safety risks.
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Pabico (2003), for instance, noted the findings of The Research Unit of Maritime
Medicine in Denmark which concluded that the risk of cancer is high among seafarers.
This could be due to occupational exposures, especially in the engine room and on tankers
and other ships carrying dangerous cargoes. Among those working in the engine room, the
hazards include the presence of asbestos (which has been used extensively on ships as an
insulation material), mineral oils, polyaromatic hydrocarbons from oils, organic solvents
and exhaust gases. Crews on tankers are also exposed to airborne carcinogens like benzene
and organic solvents that affect the nervous system (Pabico, 2003). Pabico (2003) also
claimed that other researches suggest an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases among
seafarers.
Meanwhile, Tomaszunas (1998) of the Institute of Maritime and Tropical Medicine in
Gdynia, Poland reported that malaria infections has been an important health problem for
seafarers and have been regularly reported from Denmark, Germany, France, Belgium,
Italy, Poland, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and other countries. The estimated number
of malaria cases in international seafarers hover from 500 and 1000 each year; and fatalities
among these cases are reported. The author raised that in the strategy of malaria prevention
in this occupational group the most important objective is to prevent death caused by severe
Plasmodium falciparum infections, in which the clinical manifestations occurred during the
ship’s voyage, yet the diagnosis and treatment were delayed.
Another important health issue confronting seafarers is their proneness to sexually
transmitted diseases. Former Philippine Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit said on August
2003 that among OFWs, seamen "are the ones prone to such diseases (STD/HIV-AIDS)
because they spend months on the sea, and are likely to indulge in short-term sexual
relationship…" (Opiniano, 2002).
Although HIV prevalence among male Filipino seafarers is only one percent, their
global exposure to risky practices for HIV should provide enough alarm to concerned
government agencies (Suñas, 2003). Engaging in unprotected sex with higher risk sexual
partners, especially in countries with high HIV prevalence among female sex workers,
renders the seafarers vulnerable to acquiring HIV (Suñas, 2003), and other sexually
transmitted diseases for that matter. They may transmit the virus to unsuspecting partners in
the Philippines, thus making them the bridge through which HIV may spread in the
Philippine general population (Suñas, 2003).
There is therefore a need for a concerted effort to devise innovative ways to increase
Filipino seafarers' level of knowledge on HIV/STD prevention since it is apparent that PreDeparture Orientation Seminars are not delivering the desired impact (Suñas, 2003).
Likewise, the factors that would effect behavior change other than knowledge should be
identified and properly addressed (Suñas, 2003) because apparently, the notorious lifestyle
of seamen once ashore lead to many cases of sexually transmitted diseases. It must be noted
however that the chances of seafarers acquiring sexually transmitted diseases can be twoway. A migrant worker may engage in risky sexual behavior due to an interplay of different
factors including loneliness and lack of social shackles and therefore may contract STDs
abroad in the same way that it is also possible that in the absence of the migrant worker, his
or her spouse may engage in extra-marital relationships (Ybañez, 1999).
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Other relevant literatures include the study co-authored by Jaremin of the Institute of
Maritime and Tropical Medicine in Gdynia, Poland and the study made by Hansen on
Danish merchant ships.
The aim of the study made by Jaremin et al (1997) was to identify causes,
circumstances, and mortality rates among Polish seamen and deep-sea fishermen. The
group studied is composed of 113,260 employees of one shipping company and two fishing
enterprises (Jaremin et al, 1997). The authors calculated the mean annual rates of mortality
(130.6) and fatal accident (67.8) per 100,000 employees and observed that rates occurred to
be higher than those among the male population of the same age group (20-59) employed in
various industries in the land economy. The authors also noted that unlike in general
population, 52% of deaths were due to external causes primarily, sea catastrophes, injuries,
poisoning and missing. Among internal causes, circulatory diseases accounted for over
80% of deaths including one fifth of the cases that was due to acute myocardial infarction
(Jaremin et al, 1997). The following circumstances were found out to be specific to deaths
occurring during the voyage: deaths at open sea, no possibility of evacuating sick person to
medical institution, limited access to qualified medical assistance, limited access to
effective rescue from outside, poor life-saving facilities, and difficult communication
(Jaremin et al, 1997). Further, it was indicated that in a substantial percentage of fatal cases,
an adverse effect of the work performed, navigation and weather conditions proved to be
hazardous, life-threatening and primarily responsible for the fatal outcome (Jaremin et al,
1997). Reportedly, sixty percent of deaths were acknowledged by the shipowners as workrelated or accidents at work (Jaremin et al, 1997).
Hansen (1996), meanwhile, described and analyzed the types and circumstances of all
natural and non-natural deaths among seamen on board Danish merchant ships. Data on
147 cases in the period 1986-1993 were obtained from maritime authorities, an insurance
company, shipping companies, hospital, death registers, and death certificates (Hansen,
1996). Hansen (1996) reiterated that the maritime workplace is a high risk workplace and in
many aspects differ from the conditions ashore. The author explained that acute diseases
and serious injuries pose special risks to seamen because of a lack of direct access to
professional medical care at sea. He also noted that primary prevention of certain diseases
is needed and possible -- improved training, improved systems of work, improved safety
awareness and greater use of personal protection devices are needed to prevent fatal
injuries; and medical training of ships' officers providing medical care on board and
specific training of doctors giving medical advise to ships should be improved to meet the
needs (Hansen, 1996).
These occupational health and safety threats constantly faced by seafarers are the main
reasons why NGOS have been assailing unclear or unreasonably stringent Philippine
government policies on seafarers' employment particularly, the New Standard Employment
Contract prescribed by the POEA (Opiniano, 2000).
In particular, they protested Section 20 of the standard contract declaring that an
injured or sick seafarer, or his heirs (if the seafarers dies), can claim benefits only if his
injury, illness, or death have been thoroughly proven to be work-related (Opiniano, 2000).
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They also strongly opposed the provisions on seafarers' quit claims and called for the full
disclosure of a seaman's medical history (Opiniano, 2000).
Under the old contract, deaths or injuries need only to occur during the seafarer's
employment, which begins at the time of his or her departure at the point of hire and ends
on his or her return to the said point upon the end of the contract (Pabico, 2003). As long as
this was the case, few employers would even bother to ask about the circumstances of
deaths or injuries and claim payments were automatically remitted within three months
following the death or injury of the seafarer (Pabico, 2003).
Nowadays, seafarers or their families are given the burden of proving that a death or
injury is work related and this is very disadvantageous on their part as they and their
families do not have access to documents (such as medical history) to prove their claims
(Pabico, 2003).
Because of the POEA standard contract's work-related clause ordered to be applied to
claiming benefits for deaths, illnesses and injuries, Attorney Edwin dela Cruz, president of
the International Seafarers Action Center (ISAC), commented that the claims process has
become more litigious, allowing employers to question how the seafarers' fate and
misfortunes are work-related (Pabico, 2003). And since the claims process has become
more litigious, it also implies that seafarers and their families will have to spend a lot of
money pursuing their claims and will have to wait for a long period of time given the speed
of case decisions in the country.
This time too, when the seafarers' claims get approved at the arbiter level of the
National Labor Relations Commission, employers are more inclined to bring the cases up to
the Commission level, and even all the way to the Court of Appeals rather than to submit to
the decision given at the arbiter level (Pabico, 2003).
Another controversial amendment in the POEA contract is the provision on filing
damages or tort cases. The new standard contract provides that once seafarers or their
families claim death and disability, they can no longer file damages for negligence or torts
cases against a foreign ship (Pabico, 2003). This is seen by some as another concession to
the ship owners as it clearly runs contrary to the ILO's model receipt and release form for
contractual claims which provides for the right of seafarer's legal heirs or dependents to
pursue damage and tort claims in addition to the right to pursue death, illnesses and injury
benefits claims (Pabico, 2003).
This is among the reasons why this most recent POEA standard employment contract,
which applies to those seafarers deployed from June 2002 onwards, is seen by some
seafarer groups as a "sellout" (Pabico, 2003). Attorney Edwin dela Cruz of the ISAC,
commented that the contract only shows that the government regards seafarers as a
commodity in the global labor market whose entitlements need to be diminished so they
can remain marketable (Pabico, 2003). Apparently, the government must have realized that
Filipinos are already losing their competitiveness in today's highly globalized economy
(Pabico, 2003). In the last few years, international ships have begun recruiting more
seafarers from China and Eastern Europe -- mariners who are reported to be relatively at
160 Virgel C. Binghay
Ensuring Occupational Health and Safety for Overseas Filipino Seafarers
par with Filipinos in terms of skills, but are willing to accept lower wages (Pabico, 2003).
For this, the growth in the seafarer deployment has also declined in the last two years and
Filipino seamen are being asked to trade off some of their benefits to remain in demand in
the industry (Pabico, 2003). The government has been working hard trying to stave off the
decline not least because seafarers' yearly remittances continue to be a significant
contribution to the Philippine economy (Pabico, 2003).
Conclusions and Recommendations
Enforcement of legislations aiming to protect the rights of our migrant workers,
particularly our overseas Filipino seafarers, is in no way at par with their economic
contribution to the country. Migrant seafarers are welcome for their cheap labor, but nation
states, both receiving and sending, are not able to guarantee the protection of their rights,
even those which are as basic as the right to a safe working environment.
Basing from the discussions above, we can see two main obstacles or factors why the
assurance of occupational health and safety remains elusive for Filipino seafarers. First is
the lack of interest on the part of employers/ship owners to fully enforce occupational
health and safety measures for seafarers especially that an effective health and safety
management entails a considerable economic costs to ship owners. Second is the lack of
political will both from receiving and sending countries to adopt concerted and more
assertive actions to address the problems related to ensuring a safer and healthier work
environment for sea-based workers.
In general, there is a need to revise existing laws greatly affecting sea-based workers,
primarily the Migrant Workers Act, since the said Act mainly addresses land-based jobs
and any support for our overseas seafarers is stipulated only in the affirmation of very
general principles as Filipinos deserving protection from the State. The Act has been
criticized for having no specific provision directed to seafarers since it has been hastily
prepared after the controversial case of Flor Contemplacion, a Filipina maid in Singapore
wrongfully accused and executed for the slaughter of her young Singaporean ward and
another Filipina maid. Seafarers were not given much attention in that law and this is
problematic especially that rules and employing sea-based OFWs are substantially different
from rules for deploying land-based OFWs.
There is a need to streamline operations and services for seafarers and consequently, a
need to rationalize government agencies involved with seafarers’ education and training,
certification, labor market regulation, employment processing, protection and welfare.
There is also a need to evaluate how the seafaring educational system of the country
may be improved to adequately prepare Filipino seamen for their future jobs at sea.
Maritime schools and shipping firms/employers are also encouraged to look at the
possibility of investing on the preparation of seafarers for life and work with multinational
crews to develop teamwork, good rapport, effective communication, and good decision
making in critical situations to prevent maritime disasters and work-related accidents. The
Virgel C. Binghay 161
Ensuring Occupational Health and Safety for Overseas Filipino Seafarers
same groups of stakeholders are likewise encouraged to develop new initiatives in maritime
competencies such as producing seafarers who are competent on health and safety on
board.
Apparently, there is no quick fix for solving these complex OSH problems for
seafarers. There is a need to strengthen social dialogues among major stakeholders such as
the seafarers group, shipping firms, and governments of receiving and sending countries,
and other stakeholders such as crewing agencies, seafarer unions, maritime schools, and
international labor and multilateral organizations, with regards to upgrading the industry,
promoting seafarers' welfare, and decent work on board ships.
162 Virgel C. Binghay
Ensuring Occupational Health and Safety for Overseas Filipino Seafarers
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