1.1.9. Medical Response
Because of the high-risk nature of work in the seafood sector, appropriate medical care is vital in ensuring worker safety. Operators of high-seas or distant-water fishing vessels should take particular care, given the harsh working conditions and the long periods that the vessel is out at sea.
Below, you will find guidance on the indicators for this standard.
Guidance
Adequate medical supplies are available (i.e. there is a first aid kit);
In factories, farms, or large vessels, there is a trained first aid responder;
On large vessels, making long trips, fishers have a valid medical certificate attesting to their fitness to work;
Workers are provided with medical care for workplace injuries and are repatriated if necessary at employer’s expense;
Injuries sustained in the course of work are subject to worker’s compensation, lost time pay, and payment of medical expenses, if not by law, then by employer;
Workers are trained in emergency response and first aid.
Additional Information
Medical Supplies
- Complete first aid kits with up-to-date medical supplies are vital in providing immediate care for workers in the event of an accident or illness.
- Vessels must have appropriate medical equipment on board. This should be sufficient for the number of workers on board.
Medical Care
There should be at least one worker who is qualified or trained in first aid with the necessary knowledge to address any injuries.
Sample questions to guide you when assessing the Unit of Assessment against the standard:
Is there someone among your crew/staff/employees who has formal first aid response training?
Do all workers (especially on long-haul vessels) have a medical certificate attesting to their fitness to work?
Are workers provided with medical care if they sustain a work-related injury, and if necessary repatriated at expense of company?
Are medical supplies available to all workers at all times?
If workers sustain any injuries during work would they receive worker’s compensation, lost time pay, and payment of medical expenses by the company?
Applying What You Learned
Case Study Assessment
Instructions: Read the case study below and answer the questions that follow.
Jose Carlos says he is lucky to work for a company that provides him a formal contract which indicates payment of minimum wage and legal benefits, considering that he has very little formal education and only has artisanal fishing as a work experience. He has been working for this company for almost eight years and has been assigned to five different vessels owned by the company. Some of the vessels and the captains are better than others, but he says in the end what matters is he gets paid what he hopes is at least the minimum wage and gets his social insurance, which is important for times of sickness, or when a natural disaster hits his town and he needs to take a loan from his social insurance.
He also appreciates the fact that, while on the vessel, workers are provided access to communication, though limited to a few minutes weekly. In one of the vessels, amenities and accommodations are really good, and the safety devices and instructions are in place. He gets to have more sleeping and personal spaces. While in the others, the sleeping quarters are more cramped. However, in all the vessels, food is considerably good and sufficient in serving size, something he knows is not the case in other vessels operated by other companies.
However, there are some issues, too, similar to what he has heard from his friends working in other vessels. Jose Carlos has noticed that not all the things that are in the employment contract he signed are applied on the vessel. For instance, when they are on the vessel the understanding is that workers have to work for as long as there is work to do. There is no such thing as overtime hours, or overtime pay. Rest day after six consecutive days of work is not guaranteed. Sure, there are times when work on the vessel is light, but there are more days and nights when work is continuous, and no one monitors the working hours. They just need to follow the instructions of the boss. When their vessel is docked in foreign ports, they may or may not be allowed to leave the vessel or be allowed to take breaks. When the vessel is docked to land fish in the company’s fish port, workers are also expected to render work.
In the beginning, Jose Carlos and his fellow workers used to record the number of hours worked, and asked the HR to explain to them how their pay was calculated. But the payment system as explained by the HR was difficult to understand. The contract also indicates that workers are paid per ton of product caught, but also states that workers must receive at least the legal minimum wage for the sector, which, as far as the workers understood is based on work done during regular hours.
He says another thing that made understanding their pay system difficult is that they receive their pay every three months, after all the catch is unloaded and the calculations are completed. By the time pay is released, workers would be getting ready to board the vessel for the next fishing trip again. Jose Carlos says that the number of working hours or days on the vessel are not indicated on the pay slip, and he sometimes sees figures that seem to be monetary fines and deductions, but doesn’t always have the time to have this explained. He knows that fines are implemented as part of disciplinary action, as the HR once told them. He also remembers that penalties may not exceed 10% of the monthly pay, which he thinks is fair, considering this is the same practice in all the other vessels his friends work in. But there are sometimes other deductions indicated in the pay slip that he isn’t always sure about.