SAFETY4SEA - Crew Wellness Survey Report

SAFETY 4SEA Crew Wellness Survey Report | Q4 2019 3 SAFETY 4SEA Crew Wellness Survey Report | Q4 2019 2 safety4sea.com safety4sea.com T raditionally, the industry thought of seafarers as on- ly ‘occupational’ human be- ings, but the current defini- tion of wellness looks at the human be- ing’s holistic nature. Scope of our Crew Wellness Survey, which gathered un- preceded interest from the maritime community, was to shed light on how key aspects of wellness are being ad- dressed. From the survey results, you may notice that there is a lot of sensitivity with respect to a lot of factors; different participants would give different results. However, the overall outcome was bet- ter than expected, which means the in- dustry’s awareness and efforts for bet- ter life onboard have started to show results. In any case, while significant steps have already been made by Contents 3 Executive Summary 5 Methods Used 8 Demographics 12 Questions Analysis 12 Social Wellbeing Index (SWI) 18 Emotional Wellbeing Index (EWI) About SAFETY 4SEA EXECUT IVE SUMMARY WELCOME Objective SAFETY4SEA Crew Wellness Survey aimed to ex- amine factors around seafarers’ life while working at sea and provide a picture to shipping organizations as they actually have very little information about it. SAFETY4SEA (incorporating GREEN4SEA & SMART4SEA) is on a mission for Safe Ships & Clean Seas, being the world’s leading source of news and insight on safer, smarter & greener shipping using safety4sea.com (with a top 5 world rank), monthly paper magazines & special publications (circulated in more than 12,000 copies across the globe and onboard ships), along with video & social media. Furthermore, it hosts SAFETY4SEA, GREEN4SEA, SMART4SEA & CAREER4SEA Forums & Awards to foster excellence and share best practices across shipping. To learn more please visit https://about.safety4sea.com Introduction Wellness is currently a prominent topic for discussion within the maritime industry; having seafarers who feel engaged and positive is essential to boost morale on- board, and ensure that the focus is on operational ex- cellence and safety. In this regard, focus has been shed on finding ways to address the five key aspects of wellness for people working onboard: Social, Emotional, Physical, Intellec- tual and Spiritual. To address wellbeing issues, either for seafarers or office staff, a successful approach is needed; strategy, motivation, support and engagement are the keys to- wards that end. In this context, SAFETY4SEA launched the SAFE- TY4SEA Wellness survey during last quarter of 2019. Key Points at a Glance ● ● The most regularly seen complaint from sea- farers was poor communication with their loved ones. ● ● Particular attention was given to socialization and recreational activities onboard. ● ● Crews were mostly satisfied of their emotional and least satisfied of their physical wellbeing. ● ● Ship age and type play a significant role on crew satisfaction. ● ● Male seafarers seem to be more satisfied than females. The survey gathered responses from an unprece- dented 9,768 seafarers, serving onboard 1,072 ships. The survey was anonymous, aiming at providing an index for benchmark. Participants had to complete a questionnaire divided into two parts. The first part in- cluded demographics about ship type, rank, depart- ment, gender and nationality of the seafarer while the second part focused on key elements defining the five key aspects of crew wellbeing. many maritime stakeholders, more ac- tions are needed to maintain and en- hance the level of satisfaction. For ex- ample, issues like poor connectivity in today’s constantly connected world and better socializing opportunities for a better life onboard, constitute areas for improvement. To help spread the message across, let’s keep in mind that when we talk about wellbeing, we need to focus on many aspects and that many initi- atives can enhance the working envi- ronment onboard. What once seafar- ers’ lives at sea were invisible to those ashore, now it is time to shed light and not leave any arising issues to go un- detected. This was the idea of our sur- vey and this should be our industry’s priority. Apostolos Belokas Managing Editor SAFETY 4SEA 24 Physical Wellbeing Index (PWI) 30 Intellectual Wellbeing Index (IWI) 36 Spiritual Wellbeing Index (SPI) 42 Survey Factors 43 Index Analysis 53 Highlights 55 Conclusions