Work Medicine

How are medical examinations for workers at sea?

There are two types of recognition for workers at sea. These may be the acknowledgments for normal cargo work, on cargo ships and on cruise ships, for which an accreditation is required according to the SOLAS Convention (Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea) and then there are others acknowledgments for offshore workers who are those who work on the oil rigs and other jobs that are done on the high seas that also need the same recognition.

To do these recognitions you must be accredited in several organizations. We are accredited in Norway, Belgium and Oil & Gas United Kingdom.

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Medical examinations for offshore workers

For offshore surveys, the Oil & Gas United Kingdom regulations are very strict, due to the fact that they have carried out an important study in which it is concluded that the largest accidents are determined by transfers by helicopter. For this reason, they require certain body measurements and a physical condition so that workers can exit through the window or exit the helicopter in the event of a fall into the sea or can leave the oil platform in the event of a fire in the middle of the sea.

As in all other requirements for nautical workers, color vision is important to distinguish all alarms, port and starboard ...

Medical examinations for the rest of maritime workers

In the recognition for sailors one of the most important things is the vision of colors and be in good physical condition. We also have hearing limits that must be over 40% because otherwise they could not have their qualifications or access emergency calls.

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What kind of tests are performed for both medical examinations?

In offshore surveys, the usual tests are an audiometry, a vision control with color vision, a urinalysis and medical examination. In the medical examination we enter with the body mass index (BMI) that has to be within the established limits.

The recognitions for sailors carry the same medical explorations, but oriented the other way. Here the body mass index is not so important because they do not really value the one that has to leave a helicopter that has fallen to the sea.

For sailors, recognition is usually color vision, hearing, medical examination and medical impression which is very important. When it is a cruise it also depends on the job position because if they work with food, that is, they are food handlers, it carries a special recognition like all food handlers in Spain and Europe and they have a more extensive questionnaire for the position of job. Usually the rest is the same, audiometry, vision control, color vision and medical examination. With a urinalysis it is the simplest but there are some companies that ask for more specific things such as blood tests, more extensive with sometimes special tests such as HIV, hepatitis markers, etc.

Hearing and vision colors are very necessary for boat workers because they are the safety measures of the boat. They have to be able to react in an emergency to the lights and the sounds since if someone is deaf and is in the bow of the ship it is dangerous or doing surveillance work on the bridge and it is night and a ship is coming and does not know if the light It's red or green is a problem because you don't know where that boat is coming from. These functions are essential in many jobs and especially at sea because otherwise they are not suitable for security work.

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Dr. Manuel Blanco Roca

Specialist in General Medicine and Occupational Medicine Expert in Maritime, Nautical and Underwater Medicine (hyperbaric) Director of the White Medical Center

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Dr. Manuel Blanco Roca

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