Ramazzini Center/Basic course in occupational health research/Panamá UMIP/Proposal for the research project (Thesis)

ABSTRACT

Background
The seafaring employees often face more difficult working conditions in the sea than the employees working on land. Their mental health is affected by the environment in which they live, often coupled with long working hours that contribute to stress, anxiety, loneliness, depression and suicide. The quality of the mental work environment is dependent on a number of well-known indicators which are the object for the study in the survey.

Objectives
To provide systematic and current knowledge about the psycho-social working environment for seafarers in Panama. The survey of the psycho-social working conditions is intended to be a part of a monitoring program of seafarer’s Maritime Health and Safety Indicator Monitoring Program in different countries and the surveys are intended to be repeated every 3-5 years. The intention is to deliver a valid basis for a continuously update of the best and safest working environment.

Methods
A cross-sectional based study will be performed by the use of mail distributed questionnaires to the seafarers. The content is demographic informations, questions about psychosocial work environment, about the way work affects their private life and family, about the whole company they work at and about their own health and well-being. A space is left for writing about your personal working conditions, stress, health etc. The survey of the psycho-social working conditions is intended to be part of a monitoring program of safety and health risk indicators by benefitting our supervision of the Maritime student’s graduation thesis. The Copenhagen Psycho-social Questionnaire (COPSQ) was developed by the National Centre for the Working Environment Copenhagen, Denmark. COPSQ open hereIt has been used in many countries in different languages and validation studies have has shown to be a valid tool for workplace assessment of the psychosocial work environment. General Health Questionnaire GHQ-12 and Covid-19 used in Italy 2020.

The use of the results for the benefit of the company and the seafarers
When the employees have filled in the questionnaire, the overall results for the workplace and for each of the departments are calculated. If the survey seems to indicate problems with the psychosocial work environment, the work environment committee or other relevant actors at the workplace should discuss how to act on the basis of the results. If help from the outside is needed, the shipping companies may contact consultants from outside.