Sailors’ Society discusses the next steps for Wellness at Sea

23/07/18

While the voting procedure for the 2018 SAFETY4SEA Awards is open, Sandra Welch, Deputy CEO, Sailors’ Society explains the motivation behind the ‘Wellness at Sea’ project for which the organization has been shortlisted in the ‘Sustainability’ category alongside a number of other distinguished nominees. By improving on board health and well-being, we are making for a more sustainable safe industry, Mrs Welch notes while she encourages ship owners to prioritize crew wellness and invest in training. Considering that loneliness, isolation and fatigue are barriers towards a resilient industry, Sailors’ Society, under the wider umbrella of Wellness at Sea project, continues investing in efforts to help seafarers and contribute to their safety at sea. Overall, we need to keep in mind that the industry functions sustainably when the following three are ensured: ‘Healthy seafarer, healthy ship, healthy balance sheet’ , Mrs Welch concludes.

SAFETY4SEA: Your organization has been shortlisted for the 2018 SAFETY4SEA Awards in the ‘Sustainability’ category alongside a number of other distinguished nominees. What is the background and the key drivers behind this nomination/shortlisting?

Sandra Welch: Wellness at Sea was developed in response to a call from the industry to address the issue of poor mental health and the associated risks that can arise as a result of a life at sea.

A seafaring career can be incredibly rewarding. However, we noticed that although the training seafarers undergo prior to going to sea is excellent, it often concentrates on the traditional hard skills required, which can leave new recruits underprepared for some of the harsh realities that life at sea brings.

When we hear of incidents at sea being the result of ‘human error’, the term often disguises a variety of underlying problems. Issues such as fatigue, poor mental health and stress, combined with the unique challenges of a seafaring career, can affect seafarers going about their daily work and can prove the difference between safe transit and a major incident.

In 2014, Sailors’ Society chaired a round table discussion highlighting the importance of identifying mental illness at sea, the effects of which lead to crew attrition, risks in safety and efficiency, and costly re-routing of ships.

That’s why, just a year later, we created our Wellness at Sea coaching programme, which helps equip seafarers with soft skills.

We hope that graduates of the course, which explores five aspects of wellness – social, emotional, intellectual, physical and spiritual – will be able to recognise and pre-empt signs of physical or mental ill health for both themselves and crewmates, before they impact on seafarers’ lives and the safety of the ship and cargo.

Wellness at Sea has now extended beyond the coaching programme to include an e-learning platform , conferences, seminars and a free app for seafarers. More than 4,000 seafarers have benefitted from its teaching. By improving on board health and well-being, we are making for a more sustainable safe industry.

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