Maritime HR - Labour Conditions Regulation On Land and On Board Ship

International Maritime Human Resource Management textbook modules
Modules author: Maria Anne Wagtmann, PhD, mariaannewagtmann@yahoo.com

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You have opened a document with a module of a planned textbook to a course in International
Maritime Human Resource Management. The course and textbook were not completed however.
Therefore, one of the planned authors, Maria Anne Wagtmann, wishes to share the course modules she
wrote with the public, while still retaining the copyright. Thus, these materials may be downloaded by
anyone interested and information about the URLs at which they are placed may be passed on to others.

The overview of entire envisioned course was as follows (total course content: 7.5 ECTS; total 4.0 ECTS
based on external content):
1. Shore-based HRM (1.5 ECTS, 0.5 ECTS based on external content) written by Maria Anne Wagtmann
2. HRM on board ships and in the ship-shore interface, including occupational safety, psychological and
health issues (1.5 ECTS, 1.0 ECTS based on external content) to be written by another author
3. Wage and benefit creation, role of unions and employers organisations (1.5 ECTS, 1.0 ECTS based on
external content) written by Maria Anne Wagtmann
4. Labour conditions regulation on land and on board ship (1.5 ECTS, 1.0 ECTS based on external content)
partially written by Maria Anne Wagtmann, part to be written by another author
5. Personnel selection, retention and career planning, planning and investment in education and training
(1.5 ECTS, 0.5 ECTS based on external content) written by Maria Anne Wagtmann

Elaboration of each course element written by Maria Anne Wagtmann
1. Shore-based HRM (1.5 ECTS, 0.5 ECTS based on external content)
A. Role of HRM ideal and true roles, operational tasks, possible strategy implementation
B. Organisational structure and culture
C. Variation according to maritime firm type, with focus on ports and port firms
D. Variation of HR practices across regions and firms
E. International HR and HR coordination
F. Ethical issues

3. Wage and benefit creation, role of unions and employers organisations (1.5 ECTS, 1.0 ECTS based on
external content)
A. Neo-classical wage equilibrium models
B. Wages and benefits as motivation factors
C. Performance-based pay
D. Unions in general, in maritime transport, national variations and ITF
E. Employers organisations in maritime transport, national variations and
F. Collective bargaining at national level and in the international bargaining forum

4. A Labour conditions regulation on land and on board ship (1.5 ECTS, 1.0 ECTS based on external
content)
A. ILO, EU and national regulation of labour conditions on land, including the roles of occupational
health and safety authorities and other authorities and institutions
B. ILOs 2006 Maritime Labour Convention (partially written by Maria Anne Wagtmann)

5. Personnel selection, retention and career planning, planning and investment in education and
training (1.5 ECTS, 0.5 ECTS based on external content)
A. Variations in selection processes and legislation for shore and ship-based positions
B. Assessing personal and professional qualifications, including psychological, cognitive and skills tests
C. Employee retention and career planning plans
D. Planning education and training
E. Investing in education and training at home and abroad, with focus on MET in economies of
transition and developing countries
MODULE 4A, OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH IN THE MARITIME AND PORTS SECTOR - BY MARIA ANNE WAGTMANN

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First Part (0.7 ECTS) ILO, EU and national regulation of labour conditions on land,
including the roles of occupational safety and health authorities and other
authorities and institutions
4.1 What are labour conditions and what is occupational safety and health?
When we speak of labour conditions, we are broadly speaking of every aspect that has do with the
relationship between employers and their employees. Thus, labour conditions encompass aspects such as
the use or lack of use of employment contracts, wage issues, including the presence or absence of a
minimum wage, the presence or absence of discrimination, unfair dismissal and child labour, the presence
or absence of workplace representation through, e.g., unions, and codetermination, and, finally, the
occupational safety and health practice. As we have discussed wage and dismissal issues and workplace
representation issues (including codetermination) in Module 3 and we have also touched upon the issue of
discrimination in Modules 1 and 3, in this module we will mainly discuss occupational safety and health.
There is an official international definition of occupational safety and health, which was initially formulated
at the Joint International Labour Organisation (ILO)/World Health Organisation (WHO) Committee on
Occupational Health at its first session in 1950, yet revised at the twelfth session of this joint ILO/WHO
committee in 1995. The definition stands currently as follows:
"Occupational health should aim at: the promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of
physical, mental and social well-being of workers in all occupations; the prevention amongst
workers of departures from health caused by their working conditions; the protection of
workers in their employment from risks resulting from factors adverse to health; the placing
and maintenance of the worker in an occupational environment adapted to his physiological
and psychological capabilities; and, to summarize, the adaptation of work to man and of each
man to his job."
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Four reasons are commonly stated for focusing on occupational safety and health:
1. A moral reason: Employees should not be put in danger of injury, death or other damage to their
health at their workplaces, nor should third persons (e.g. customers, suppliers, or others) who visit the
workplace or its proximity.
2. Minimization of the costs: Here, the main drivers are usually health and social services providers, for
governments and other stakeholders realize that each injury, death or other workplace-related health
problem can result in medical costs and can potentially result in social service costs (e.g. costs of sick
pay, pensions, retraining, ergo- and physical therapy). They therefore seek to minimize these types of
costs through the regulation of occupational safety and health, such as to keep taxes and/or insurance
premiums low. However, also employers may in many circumstances be able to optimise costs by
investing in occupational safety and health.
3. Avoiding legal battles: In cases of accidents or where employees claim damage to their health, legal
battles can be costly. However, fines and damage payments vary vastly from country to country.
Moreover, in some countries such cases are mainly pursued through civil law, whereas in other
countries both civil and criminal law are commonly used.
4. Positive reputation effects for the employing organisation: By focusing on occupational safety and
health, an employer may be signalling to its current employees as well as to potential applicants for

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employment and other stakeholders (e.g. major customers, suppliers, labour unions, the local
community) that it is a responsible stakeholder. This can have positive effects e.g. in regard to whether
people perceive the company as a good employer, a responsible business partner or an asset to the
community in which it is situated.
However, unfortunately, there are huge differences in the world in the level of attention given to
occupational health and the level of protection achieved, meaning that some populations of employees are
more at risk at work than others. According to a 2007 Factsheet from the European Agency for Safety and
Health at Work:
Countries with less developed OSH systems spend a far higher percentage of GDP on work-
related injury and illness taking resources away from more productive activities. [...] The ILO
estimates that work-related illness and accidents cost up to 10 % of GDP in Latin America,
compared with just 2.6 % to 3.8 % in the EU.
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This circumstance is of course also related to differences in the level of education among employees and
employers and huge variations in the amount of money available for investments in occupational safety
and health. However, it is to be noted that the seafaring and other maritime transportation-related heavy
labour jobs in ports (e.g. dock work, also called stevedoring) are also relatively heavily burdened by
occupational safety and health problems.
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In the following sections 4.2 and 4.3, we will mainly focus on how occupational safety and health systems
for land-based jobs function in EU countries and in other countries around the world. After this, in Section
4.4, we will look at specific issues for land-based jobs in ports.
4.2 Regulation of occupational safety and health in the European countries and in the EU
Despite the differences between world regions, in most parts of the world, occupational safety and health
conditions in land-based work are regulated at the national level or in some federally organized countries,
for example the United States, to some extent at the federal state level. However, in the European Union,
there is also supranational legislation. The 1992 Treaty on the European Union, also called the Treaty of
Maastricht allowed for EU legislation in the field of safety and health at work through the form of
directives. EU directives are legally binding, yet have to be transposed into national laws by the Member
States, which means that there are variations in their implementation in the EU member states. This
circumstance is illustrated by learning object 1.
[Here learning object 1 contains a dynamic graphical illustration of how the final texts of
occupational safety and health-related directives are created and voted on in the EU system.
Therefore it discusses the national implementation in EU countries through, e.g., national uni-
or bicameral legislative assemblies.]
The 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam amended some of the articles in the 1992 Treaty on the European Union.
Moreover, it changed the numbering system of the previous treaties articles fundamentally. Therefore, in
the following box, excerpts of the two articles from the Treaty of Amsterdam that deal with occupational
health and safety are found.


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Box 4.1 From the EU Treaty of Amsterdam (1997): Provisions concerning Occupational Safety and Health
Excerpt of Article 136
The Community and the Member States [...] shall have as their objectives the promotion of employment,
improved living and working conditions, so as to make possible their harmonisation while the improvement
is being maintained, proper social protection, dialogue between management and labour, the development
of human resources with a view to lasting high employment and the combating of exclusion.

To this end the Community and the Member States shall implement measures which take account of the
diverse forms of national practices, in particular in the field of contractual relations, and the need to
maintain the competitiveness of the Community economy. [...]

Excerpt of Article 137
1. With a view to achieving the objectives of Article 136, the Community shall support and complement the
activities of the Member States in the following fields:

- improvement in particular of the working environment to protect workers' health and safety;
- working conditions;
- the information and consultation of workers;
- the integration of persons excluded from the labour market, without prejudice to Article 150;
- equality between men and women with regard to labour market opportunities and treatment at work.

2. To this end, the Council may adopt, by means of directives, minimum requirements for gradual
implementation, having regard to the conditions and technical rules obtaining in each of the Member
States. Such directives shall avoid imposing administrative, financial and legal constraints in a way which
would hold back the creation and development of small and medium-sized undertakings.

The Council shall act in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 after consulting the
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions.

The Council, acting in accordance with the same procedure, may adopt measures designed to encourage
cooperation between Member States through initiatives aimed at improving knowledge, developing
exchanges of information and best practices, promoting innovative approaches and evaluating experiences
in order to combat social exclusion. [...]

4. A Member State may entrust management and labour, at their joint request, with the implementation of
directives adopted pursuant to paragraphs 2 and 3.

In this case, it shall ensure that, no later than the date on which a directive must be transposed in
accordance with Article 249, management and labour have introduced the necessary measures by
agreement, the Member State concerned being required to take any necessary measure enabling it at any
time to be in a position to guarantee the results imposed by that directive.

5. The provisions adopted pursuant to this Article shall not prevent any Member State from maintaining or
introducing more stringent protective measures compatible with this Treaty.

[end box]
Article 136s formulations suggest that some perceive the issue of regulating occupational safety and health
as a difficult balancing act. On one hand, the aim is to improve working and living conditions as well as
proper social protection, whereas on the other, there are considerations about the need to maintain
competitiveness. Here, some possible further occupational safety and health measures may be perceived
by certain stakeholders as necessary toward the eye of ensuring working conditions and social protection,

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whereas other stakeholders may perceive the same measure as being too expensive in relation to the
perceived relative minor preventative effect of the measure and thus also as possibly merely incurring extra
costs on firms and businesses. Due to this dilemma, some governments, private insurers and research
institutions also seek to determine the costs of specific measures versus the benefits and to prioritise
initiatives based on where they would make the greatest difference in terms of saving either societal or
employer-specific costs.
On the other hand, the EU treaty legislation in Article 137 leaves open the possibility of certain countries
going further in specific areas. Based on this, we will now look in more depth at how occupational safety
and health are regulated in Europe, including in two core Northern Maritime University countries.
As the NMU core country United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, together with France and Australia,
has been one of the countries most actively involved in developing international occupational safety
standards
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, we will commence with a look at the UK system.
Structured assignment 4. 1 The Approach of the UKs Health and Safety Executive
Please click on http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/web42.pdf to access the following document: Health and
Safety Executive (2009): A Guide to Safety and Health Regulation in Great Britain. 4
th
edition. ISBN 978 0
7176 6319 4. Thereafter please read pp. 5 24 and then complete the structured assignment below.
On p. 5 it is written that Approved codes have a special place in British health and safety law they set
out ways of achieving standards. Those who depart from a code must be prepared to show that their
own approach is an equally valid way of meeting the legal requirements. In relation to this statement,
please write a least 200 words describing the advantages and disadvantages of a company developing
its own standard, specifically including some cost-benefit analysis considerations. You may write up to
500 words and beyond that also include own full bibliographical references to other relevant literature
you have read if you choose. (if you choose used twice see one line above).
1. On p. 6, it is stated that British health and safety inspectors can visit companies worksites unannoun-
ced. In at least 150 words, please discuss advantages of this practice to the company and at least 1 of
its stakeholders groups. In at least 150 words, please discuss disadvantages of this practice to the
company and at least 1 of its stakeholder groups. You may write up to 600 words and beyond that also
include own full bibliographical references to other relevant literature you have read, if you choose..
2. The process of the British Health and Safety Executives (henceforth: HSE) consultation with
stakeholders is described on pp. 7-9 of this document. Please discuss in at least 200 words what you
perceive as (a) the advantages and disadvantages to the HSE of this consultation process, (b) the
advantages and disadvantages to firms of this consultation process. You may write up to 500 words if
you choose and beyond that also include own full bibliographical references to other relevant literature
you have read.
3. On p. 12, under the heading Diversity, it is suggested that messages from the HSE have to be
accessible and cultural acceptable. Please explain in your own words why you believe that the HSE
seeks to create accessible messages and what the underlying criteria for accessible messages might
be. Here, you may write between 200 500 words. Beyond that, you may also include own full
bibliographical references to other relevant literature you have read, if you choose.

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4. In relation to pp. 13 14, explain with your own words what the advantages and disadvantages are of
the British government using both (a) regulations and (c) codes of practices to regulate occupational
health. Here, you may write between 150 350 words. Beyond that, you may also include own full
5. In relation to p. 16, please explain what advantage there might be to port-based firms and ports that
the New Approach EU directives of the EUs Treaty of Rome allow manufacturers to manufacture
products to harmonised standards, which in turn enable the products to carry the claim that they meet
the health and safety requirements in EU directives. Here, you may write between 200 500 words.
Beyond that, you may also include own full bibliographical references to other relevant literature you
have read, if you choose.
6. On p. 18, please discuss the extent to which a companys impact assessment of a possible investment in
a new piece of machinery that meets all occupational health and safety requirements would resemble
or differ from the HSEs impact assessment. Here, you may write between 300 800 words. Beyond
that, you may also include own full bibliographical references to other relevant literature you have
read, if you choose.
7. On p. 19 it is stated that the maximum fine level in criminal cases of breeches of health and safety
legislation heard by the magistrates of England and Wales is UK 20,000. Please present in 150-350
words your own opinion of whether that limit is too high or too low. Beyond that, you may also include
own full bibliographical references to other relevant literature you have read, if you choose.
8. On p. 22, the process of consultation is also described. Please discuss what you perceive as the
advantages and disadvantages of the consultation process to (a) individual employers and (b) individual
employees. Here, you may write between 200 500 words. Beyond that, you may also include own full
9. In relation to p. 24, please discuss the societal advantages and disadvantages of requiring employers to
take out compulsory insurance against their civil liabilities concerning injuries or disease sustained by
their employees at work. Here, you may write between 150 350 words. Beyond that, you may also
include own full bibliographical references to other relevant literature you have read, if you choose.
10. Several places in the text, a number of specific considerations about small and medium-sized firms have
been briefly touched upon. Based on this, please write between 150 350 words about specific
problems that the HSE must take into consideration, in order to ensure that its policies are
implementable in small and medium-sized firms. Beyond that, you may also include own full
11. Please write Yes or No after each of these maritime industry employee categories, to indicate
whether their workplaces are subject to inspection by the UKs Health and Safety Executive:
o A Gantry crane operator at the Port of Southampton in Southern England_________
o A pilot who pilots ships in the South Wales Pilotage area, in cases where pilotage is required by
law________
o An office employee at Lloyds Register in London__________

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o An employee working on an offshore installation in the UK coastal waters off the coast of
Scotland_________
o The entire crew of a short sea shipping vessel that transports goods from Northern Ireland to
Scotland_________
[End of structured assignment]
Occupational safety and health regulation on land in other EU countries
As mentioned previously, there are variations in the implementation of EU occupational safety and health
directives in the respective EU member states, and individual EU countries may maintain or introduce more
stringent protective measures, as long as they are compatible with the underlying EU treaties. For
example, Swedish SMEs (i.e. Small and Medium sized Enterprises) are subjected to a separate inspection
and control system from larger enterprises so-called factory inspectors. The Swedish SME-specific
occupational health and safety system works through regional representatives, whose tasks are:
To inspect and investigate working conditions in SMEs;
To foster employee participation in occupational health and safety issues, and
To promote adequate risk prevention actions.
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The various EU members states are also free to focus on specific industries or sectors, where they perceive
that focus occupational safety and health is especially necessary or beneficial. For example, of the Western
European EU nations (EUR 15), 4 indicated in the late 1990s that they would place extra occupational safety
and health focus on maritime ports.
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It is also the case that various EU countries are in different phases of developing their occupational safety
and health system. As was stated in an EU bulletin from 2001:
If we take Italy, it starts with an OSH system that is limited to regulations and a labour
inspectorate. A second step is the transformation into a system with risk evaluation,
ergonomics and environmental impact analysis. Finally, a system may develop where lifestyles,
reintegration at work and action for retired people will be common. In some Member States
the approaches of the second phase were implemented only 'yesterday' as an innovation, in
some only 'today' and some others will only reach it tomorrow or perhaps the day after
tomorrow.
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These variations are also reflected in differences in the number of full-time inspectors per 100,000 inhabi-
tants among selected European coastal countries, as indicated in Table 4.1 below.
Table 4.1 Number of full-time OSH inspectors per 100,000 employees in various European countries
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Note: The NMU project country Germany could not be included in the above table, because the German federal states
(In German: Lnder) are responsible for employing Germanys public sector OSH inspectors. Moreover, alongside
public sector investigation, the Germany statutory accident insurance funds (UVT) also are responsible for some
inspection measures that seek to ensure preventative action in firms, as indicated in the sources listed in footnote 8.
Belgium Denmark Finland France Greece Ireland Italy Netherlands Norway Spain Sweden UK
5.3 11.9 17.5 3.5 4.1 4.5 17.7 4.8 10.6 2.1 10.0 11.1
Number of full-time OSH inspectors per 100,000 full-time employees

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Patterns of economic incentives to firms and other organisations for compliance to rules and good occupa-
tional safety and health practice and promotion in general also vary, with, e.g., some EU countries predomi-
nantly providing public monies as subsidies, grants or financing, others mainly focusing on incentives imple-
mented through the tax systems/tax structures, yet others putting the main focus on experimenting with
insurance premium variation. Finally there are a number of countries who seek to use combinations of the
above.
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An overview of organisational patterns in the Western European countries is found in the refer-
ences listed in footnote 8.
Some EU countries also report a lack of quality control in occupational safety services, insufficient
implementation of the existing EU directives on occupational safety and health, as well as the completion
of risk analysis without any workplace visits at all; thus it is not surprising that estimates of EU member
countries as to the total societal costs of work-related health problems and accidents also vary from 2.6%
to 3.8% of GNP.
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Structured Assignment 4.2 Aspects of Control by the Danish Working Environment Agency
To illustrate some of the differences found between among EU countries, we will now look at English-
language web pages related to the Danish Working Environment Agency (in Danish: Arbejdstilsynet). Here,
please visit the following web pages:
Screening: http://www.at.dk/sw12199.asp
Red, yellow and green smileys: http://www.at.dk/sw12200.asp
Consultancy notice: http://www.at.dk/sw40641.asp
Certificate: http://www.at.dk/sw12201.asp
Structured assignment for Danish Working Environment Agencys four above-mentioned web pages:
1. First, based on your readings of the above websites, please indicate if there are elements on this Danish
authoritys screening process that also identical or very similar to the process at UKs Health and Safety
Executive as described in the reading for structured assignment 4.1, namely pp.5 24 of Health and
Safety Executive (2009): A Guide to Safety and Health Regulation in Great Britain. 4th edition. ISBN 978
0 7176 6319 4. Here, you may write between 200 500 words. Beyond that, you may also include own
full bibliographical references to other relevant literature you have read, if you choose.
2. Aside from these English-language web pages and web pages in Danish, this Danish authority also
provides information about its services and the Danish legal requirements in Inuit (i.e. the language of
Greenland, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark), German, Polish and Lithuanian. Please
discuss in 150-400 words from the firm perspective what you perceive as being good and/or bad about
the provision of this information in multiple languages. Beyond this word limit, you may also include
own full bibliographical references to other relevant literature you have read, if you choose.
3. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages to the following stakeholders of results of screenings being
published on an OSH authoritys website, allowing the general public to see how an enterprise is doing
in terms of health and safety: (a) The companies that are screened, (b) Current employees, (c) Potential
employees, (d) the general public, i.e. the citizens and residents of the country. Here, you may write

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between 200 500 words. Beyond that, you may also include own full bibliographical references to
other relevant literature you have read, if you choose.

4.3 Regulation of occupational safety and health outside of Europe
In the rest of the world, the nature and extent of occupational safety and health measures vary to an even
greater extent that in Europe. However, it is still possible to describe a very general process of
implementing occupational safety and health measures in firms and other organisations where this is
required or pertinent, as indicated in learning object 4.2.
[Here learning object 4.2 will be inserted. It is loosely based on ILO recommendations and
insights from the discussion of Figure 1 on p. 714 of Pun, Kit-Fai, Richard C.M. Yam & Winston
G. Lewis (2003): Safety management system registration in the shipping industry,
International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, 20(6), s. 704-721, however
adapted to also optionally encompass some extra national institutional features of
implementation in various countries around the world, e.g. the employee co-participation
element found in many EU countries, Canada, Chile and South Africa.]
There are also global efforts to harmonise and raise occupational safety and health standards, through the
International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the International Health Organisation (IHO). In the following we
will mainly focus on ILO. ILO, whose headquarters is situated in Geneva, Switzerland, is the UN agency that
is devoted to advancing opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work in con-
ditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity. Its main aims are to promote rights at work, en-
courage decent employment opportunities, enhance social protection and strengthen dialogue in handling
work-related issues.
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One of the ILOs main focus areas is safety and health at work. In this area, the ILO runs global and regional
campaigns through its Programme on Safety and Health at Work and the Environment (SafeWork). More-
over, it hosts the International Occupational Safety and Health Information Centre (CIS), an internet site
that has been created toward the goal that employees and all others concerns about these issues have
access to preventative information through an internet portal and 140 CIS Centres, which are located
around the globe. The ILO also maintains an international Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety.
The ILO also functions as a global legislative organisation, creating international conventions. In this work,
the ILO is the only UN organisation with a tripartite negotiation structure. As explained by the maritime
labour relations expert Nathan Lillie:
Within the ILO, 181 member country governments and representatives of the social
partners (unions and employers) write the international conventions that are the basis for the
current global labour rights regime. [...] ILO Conventions are passed through voting in
assemblies consisting of unions, employers and governments. Unions and employers are
divided into two social partner groupings of national associations. [...] Governments make up
half the voting group, while each of the social partners is allocated one quarter of the vote
each (2:1:1). Through a process resembling something between diplomatic negotiations and
collective bargaining, the three groups negotiate conventions and recommendations.
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After a convention is passed, it then must be ratified by individual national governments. Ratification
means in this connection making the convention in question legally valid in a specific country by a national

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governmental process of confirmation. In democracies, it is usually the legislative branch of government,
i.e. the national parliament or legislature, which has the responsibility for the ratification of conventions.
However, ratification of conventions is not the same as their implementation. After ratifications,
conventions must be implemented. Full implementation means that if all rules in the convention do not
already exist in the national legislation, new rules must be created in the nation in question, then
administered and recognized/upheld in the nations courts.
In contrast to the situation in the EU, which is a supranational government entity with powers to require
directive implementation and also use EU courts to enforce legislation in its member states, the UN and its
sub-institution the ILO have no power to force the ratification or implementation of conventions or treaties
passed on individual nation states. Here, the International Labour Conference's Committee on the
Application of Standards may merely choose to investigate allegations of breeches of standards and to
publish reports on such breeches. This means that although a certain convention has been passed, it may
not necessarily be ratified by a given country. Moreover, not all countries that have ratified this same
convention will necessarily implement it. This circumstance is one of the prime reasons why the ILO has
less direct power to improve legislation or improvement policies in areas such as occupational safety and
health globally than the EU has toward its member states. However, the ILO occupational safety and health
conventions in combination with its OSH campaigns and information dissemination efforts probably still
play some role in ensuring higher workplace standards, as it is reported that for countries at comparative
income levels, those that have ratified key ILO occupational safety and health conventions have lower
work-related fatality rates than the non-ratifying countries.
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The main ILO convention on occupational safety and health is the Occupational Safety and Health Conven-
tion of 1981 (ILO Convention 155), which to date has been ratified by 54 countries. For the case of work in
ports, it is however important to note that there is a separate ILO convention pertaining to dock work, the
Occupational Safety and Health (Dock Work) Convention of 1979 (ILO Convention 152), which has been
ratified by 26 countries. Table 4.2 lists the countries that have ratified one or both of these conventions.

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Table 4.2 Countries that have ratified ILO Conventions 155 (OSH) and/or 152 (OSH dock work) (Aug 09)

As previously mentioned, especially developing countries often have more severe problems in creating
occupational safety and health authorities capable of improving safety and health standards and cultures in
workplaces. The next structured assignment deals with this issue.
Structured Assignment 4.3 A Latin American Viewpoint on Occupational Safety and Health
Please click on http://www.iadb.org/sds/doc/SOCSafetyandHealth.pdf to access the following document:
Roberto Fontes Iunes (2002): Occupational Safety and Health in Latin American and the Caribbean:
Overview, Issues and Policy Recommendations. Washington DC, USA: Inter-American Development Bank.
Thereafter please read Section III Policy Issues for Latin American and the Caribbean (pp. 8-17) and Section
IV Policy Conclusions and Recommendations (pp. 17-22), then complete the structured assignment below.
Structured assignment:
1. Mini-Case: In recent decades, ship building activity has declined in most Latin American countries that
previously had shipyards. However, there are still some specialised commercial and offshore
shipbuilding firms in, e.g., Brazil. You must therefore imagine that you are a personnel department
employee working with occupational safety and health in a shipyard in Brazil and that you perceive that
some of the shipyards workers working in potentially dangerous jobs have a too laissez-faire attitude
about safety at work. You personally attribute this to complacency and some of the labour market
characteristics mentioned in subsections A (Labor market) and I (Other issues) of Section III of the
assigned reading. Moreover, you would categorize the risks that these shipyard workers are subject to
as being similar to those of the construction industry, as described in Subsection C3 of Section III.
Albania ratified Republic of Korea ratified
Algeria ratified Latvia ratified
Antigua and Barbuda ratified Lebanon ratified
Australia ratified Lesotho ratified
Belarus ratified Luxembourg ratified
Belize ratified
The former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia ratified
Bosnia and Herzegovina ratified Mexico ratified ratified
Brazil ratified ratified Republic of Moldova ratified ratified
Cape Verde ratified Mongolia ratified
Central African Republic ratified Montenegro ratified
China ratified Netherlands ratified ratified
Congo ratified New Zealand ratified
Croatia ratified Niger ratified
Cuba ratified ratified Nigeria ratified
Cyprus ratified ratified Norway ratified ratified
Czech Republic ratified Portugal ratified
Denmark ratified ratified Russian Federation ratified ratified
Ecaudor ratified Sao Tome and Principe ratified
Egypt ratified Serbia ratified
El Salvador ratified Seychelles ratified ratified
Ethiopia ratified Slovakia ratified
Fiji ratified Slovenia ratified
Finland ratified ratified South Africa ratified
France ratified Spain ratified ratified
Germany ratified Sweden ratified ratified
Guinea ratified Syrian Arab Republic ratified
Hungary ratified Tanzania United Republic of ratified
Iceland ratified Turkey ratified ratified
Iraq ratified Uruguay ratified
Ireland ratified Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ratified
Italy ratified Viet Nam ratified
Jamaica ratified Zimbabwe ratified
Kazakhstan ratified
Country ILO Convention 152 ILO Convention 155 Country ILO Convention 155 ILO Convention 152

11

Finally, some of your middle and top level manager colleagues at the shipyard in your opinion also have
not paid sufficient attention to occupational safety and health issues. You personally attribute this to
complacency, some of the factors listed in subsections F (Regulation, incentives and compliance) and G
(Institutional organisation) of Section III and, for some of these safety-lenient managerial colleagues, a
too one-sided focus on profits alone. Based on this, you must:
(a) List and explain potential advantages of improving the shipyards safety record.
(b) List and explain potential barriers to worker understanding and acceptance of the potential
implementation of a new occupational safety and health plan.
(c) Discuss which factors influence whether there would be positive medium-term (i.e. over a period of
five years) financial return on the potential implementation of a new occupational safety and
health plan.
You must write at least 400 words and at most 900 words in your answer. Beyond that, you may also in-
clude own full bibliographical references to other relevant literature you have read, if you choose.
2. In relation to subsection A (Economic policies) of Section IV of the assigned reading, for each possible
policy types, discuss what you believe the receptiveness of private firms in the Latin American port
sectors would be to each of the following economic incentive types:
(a) fiscal incentives for the use of safety equipment
(b) higher import duties for hazardous products
(c) preferred interest rates or other financial measures for SMEs that invest in safer equipment and
tools
(d) incentive type (d) combined with the requirement of a certain safety record to access such financial
measures
You must write at least 250 words and at most 600 words in your answer. Beyond that, you may also in-
clude own full bibliographical references to other relevant literature you have read, if you choose.
3. Summarize the content of subsection B (Improving regulatory and incentive schemes) of Section IV of
the assigned reading in your own words. You must write at least 250 words in your answer.
[End of structured assignment 4.3]
4.4 Occupational safety and health issues in ports
4.4.1 The complexity problem of multiple nationalities and firm units working in close proximity
Ports may be run in multiple organisational constellations. In the so-called service port model, a
governmental port authority or private sector port operating unit owns and maintains all of the ports
facilities. In a so-called landlord model, both the infrastructure in the sea and on shore is owned by a port
authority. However private enterprises enter into usually long-term leases of quay and other port areas
that enable them to own and run the warehouses, handling equipment, administrative buildings, etc. and
also provide stevedoring and possibly other services such as pilotage as business services. Between these
extremes, there are also intermediate forms such as, e.g., the so-called tool port, in which a landlord
provides almost everything except for, e.g., stevedoring facilities, which are delegated to private

12

enterprises. Today the global trend goes toward more and more ports being organised in the landlord
model.
14
However, as the firms in the landlord model also share some common space in ports and
otherwise work in close proximity of each other, this raises the level of complexity in managing
occupational safety and health issues in ports.
Moreover, ports receive ships from multiple countries, which are often manned by seafarers from yet other
countries. Port authorities and employees have to interact with these ship crews during, e.g., port state
control and the unloading and loading of goods, some of the occupational safety and health risks are
directly related to the possibility of miscommunication, which may result from an insufficient command of
a common lingua franca, which is typically and also officially English in global shipping, but may also de
facto be a regional lingua franca such as Arabic in some ports of the Middle East, Chinese in some ports of
South East Asia, French in some ports in parts of Africa, or Spanish in regional commerce between Brazil
and other South American countries. Moreover, intercultural misunderstandings among ships crews and
shore-based staff, as discussed in Module 1 of this course, may also contribute to miscommunication-
related risks.
However, the type and size of the port in question also often has some influence on which nationalities
frequent the port. For, e.g., the case of container shipping, it is to be expected that fewer nationalities will
frequent a so-called feeder port than a hub port. (A feeder port is a small or medium sized regional port
where containers are picked up by short sea shipping vessels and transported to larger hub port in the
same geographical region, from which they may be sent all over the world.)
Due to these elements as well as the common use of employees from more than one nation in the ports
themselves it is highly recommended that occupational safety and health information be communicated
in unequivocal and easy-to-understand language in the ports official languages, which are typically one or
more national languages and the official lingua franca of the port. Moreover, for many ports, it is to be
considered whether this information should also be disseminated in any unofficial lingua franca actually in
use.
A further issue is that most nautical accidents actually occur in or near ports and coastal waters whereas
only 19% of all nautical accidents occur in open water.
15
Here, although occupational safety and health on
board ship will be treated separately in the third part of this learning module 4, it is to be mentioned that in
the case of minor accidents, the crews of ships may thereafter be involved in some irregularly performed
maintenance activities in port areas a factor which can in some circumstances also cause some concern
with regard to the ports occupational safety and health management standards.
There are also dispute in various countries and varying regulations about the extent to which ship crew
members may perform duties in ports, the so-called cargo self-handling issue. In EU, the general rules
about services in larger ports in EU member states were attempted liberalised to some extent through two
controversial Port Service Directive proposals from December 2003 and October 2004, which were put
forth by the EU Commission, yet both rejected by a broad majority in the European Parliament. Here, what
was attempted was the abolition of national rules in place in many European countries which allowed the
port operators the right to choose and employ the dockworkers to load and unload cargos, so that, e.g.,
ships crews, workers employed by employment bureaus or other casual labourers might also be employed.
In this issue, European dockworker unions and port operators were typically against the liberalising to allow
self-handling services, whereas shipowners and shippers most commonly were in favour of such
liberalisations.
16
Here, one of the reasons given from the opposition side was the fear that the rate of

13

occupational accidents and near-miss incidents would increase and that occupational safety and health
standards would be more difficult to maintain in the more multi-actor scenario of the liberalised self-
handling of goods.
Taking the occupational safety and health perspective, the authors are of the opinion that goods self-
handling reforms do indeed present new major challenges to occupational safety and health management
in ports, as employees who are not permanently based in ports and only present in these ports for short
periods of time cannot easily be educated about port policies in a very short period of time. Moreover,
foreigners who are not residents of the country in which the port is situated are generally much less
knowledgeable of any national occupational safety and health legislation which may be in force in the ports
and of the way in which the port in questions more permanent staff typically will have sought to
implement this national legislation in the port. Thus it can be said that such goods self-handling schemes
make implementing and communicating about the occupational safety and health policies a much more
difficult task, meaning that the rate of accidents and near-misses is likely to be higher in ports with self-
handling schemes and that in such ports more incidents may also occur, in which observed behaviour is not
in compliance with local occupational safety and health standards.
4.4.2 The ILOs Port Sector Recommendations
In addition to Occupational Safety and Health (Dock Work) Convention of 1979 (ILO Convention 152), which
was previously covered in Section 4.2, in2005 the ILO also published a so-called ILO Code of Practice for the
ports sector, which was titled: Safety and health in ports. About the ILO Codes of Practice, the ILO has
specified the following:
ILO Codes of Practice contain practical recommendations intended for all those with a re-
sponsibility for occupational safety and health in both the public and private sectors. Codes of
Practice are not legally binding instruments and are not intended to replace the provisions of
national laws or regulations, or accepted standards. They aim to serve as practical guides for
public authorities and services, employers and workers concerned, specialized protection and
prevention bodies, enterprises and safety and health committees. Each Code is first prepared
by the Office and finalized at a tripartite meeting composed of experts nominated by the
Governing Body in their personal capacity. Codes of Practice are submitted to the Governing
Body for approval of publication.
17

As such, these codes of practice may in fact inspire actors in industrial sectors in countries that have not
ratified the related the related ILO conventions. In other words, for the specific case of ports, individual
ports in countries or the entire port sector of a country may choose to implement part or all of the ILO
Safety and health in ports Code of practice, even though the country has neither ratified nor
implemented the port sector-related Occupational Safety and Health (Dock Work) Convention of 1979 (ILO
Convention 152).
Structured Assignment 4.4 Comparison of ILO Safety and health in ports Code of practice and the
general occupational safety and health administrative principles of the UKs Health and Safety Executive
In structured assignment 4.1, you were required to read the following: pp. 5 24 of Health and Safety Exe-
cutive (2009): A Guide to Safety and Health Regulation in Great Britain. 4
th
edition. ISBN 978 0 7176 6319 4
(accessible from: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/web42.pdf). You will use this reading in this assignment as
well.

14

However, before going on to the assignments questions, please also read: Sections 2.2 (Management of
safety and health) to 2.5 (Reporting and investigation of accidents) on pp. 20-31 of ILO (2005): ILO code of
practice: Safety and health in ports, Geneva, Switzerland: ILO which is found at:
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/safework/cops/english/download/e_ports.pdf.
Structured assignment questions:
1. Using 200 450 words, please indicate the extent of similarity and differences between the
General requirements of Subsection 2.2.1 of the ILO Code of Practice and the corresponding
formulations in A Guide to Safety and Health Regulation in Great Britain. If there are elements
present in these passages of the ILO Code of Practice which are not mentioned in A Guide to
Safety and Health Regulation in Great Britain, please also mention this.
2. Concerning Subsection 2.2.2 (Risk assessment systems) of the ILO Code of Practice, please
indicate points of similarity and difference between this ILO Code and the corresponding
formulations in A Guide to Safety and Health Regulation in Great Britain. Here, as the UKs Health
and Safety Executive also has published a separate document called Five steps to risk
assessment, you do not need to deal with the problematic that there is less detail in A Guide to
Safety and Health Regulation in Great Britain. Your answer may be between 300 800 words in
length.
3. Similarly, please compare the formulations of Subsections 2.4.2 (Safety and health committees)
and 2.4.3 (Safety representatives) of the ILO Code of Practice to the corresponding presentation
of Consultation in A Guide to Safety and Health Regulation in Great Britain for differences in
approach. Here, once again, you do not need to deal with the problematic that there is less detail
in A Guide to Safety and Health Regulation in Great Britain. Your answer may be between 200
450 words in length.
4. Please re-examine the formulation of Subsection 2.4.2 (Safety and health committees) of the ILO
Code of Practice. Here, (a) please consider whether any of the issues covered in this Subsection
are specific to the ports sector. Moreover, (b) please consider whether these formulations are
optimal to ports organised in various forms of port organisation (i.e. landlord, service port and
tool port models). Your answers to these two questions may compose a sum of between 300
800 words in length. Should you have used any other sources in answering this question, you
may also include own full bibliographical references to these sources.
5. Please assess whether the specifications concerning the Investigation of accidents (Subsection
2.5.3 of the ILO Code of Practice) are similar or different from the information on accident
investigation procedures. You may also include own full bibliographical references to other
relevant literature you have read. Here, once again, you do not need to deal with the
problematic that there is less detail in A Guide to Safety and Health Regulation in Great Britain.
Your answer may be between 200 450 words in length.
[End of Structured Assignment 4.4]
4.4.3 Other national and international port occupational safety and health measures
First, it must be noted that there are a number of private sector firms operating ports in more than one
country. Some of these have sought to optimise occupational safety and health across countries using
standardized methods. Moreover, a few have also sought to make safety campaign material suitable for
use in ports in multiple countries. The following structured assignment takes its point of departure in a
safety campaign video, which has been made for audiences in multiple countries.
Structured Assignment 4.5 DP Worlds Global Campaign Serious About Safety

15

As an introduction to specific port safety issues, you must watch the DP Worlds (a multi-national port
company with roots in Dubai, United Arab Emirates) Serious about Safety video, which is found at:
http://portal.pohub.com/portal/page?_pageid=761,282710&_dad=pogprtl&_schema=POGPRTL. Please
note that the playing time is almost 21 minutes. However, as this assignment also contains a few questions
which you must answer after having watching the video, you may choose to read the questions below
before seeing the video. Moreover, note-taking during the video viewing might also be a good idea. It is
also possible to review specific parts of the video by moving the white upward-pointing arrow placed
immediately below the grey bar indicating the download progress with your computers mouse.
1. Please list the main points of safety prevention made in relation to the Fatal Five in the video.
The Fatal Five are as follows:
Pedestrians
Mobile Equipment
Handling Goods
Working at Heights
Contractors

2. In the document, Health and Safety Executive (2009): A Guide to Safety and Health Regulation in Great
Britain. 4
th
edition. ISBN 978 0 7176 6319 4 (accessible from:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/web42.pdf), which was first used in connection with Structured
Assignment 4.1, please read the diversity statement on p. 12. As DP Worlds CEO and other executive
managers indicate that the company is committed to protecting the health and safety of all of its
employees, please write and explain your opinion on whether the video meets the ideal of speaking to
its workforce in the ports in all of the countries in which DP World operates, with a message that all of
these employees will find accessible and culturally acceptable. Here, you may write between 200 500
words. Beyond that, you may also include own full bibliographical references to other relevant
literature you have read, if you choose and if you have used such literature in your considerations.
3. Based on your knowledge of the degree of national implementation of ILO Conventions and
measures from this course until now as well as the statements made in the video, please indicate
which one of the three statements, which refer to Subsections 2.4.2 (Safety and health
committees) and 2.4.3 (Safety representatives) of the ILO (2005): ILO code of practice: Safety and
health in ports, Geneva, Switzerland: ILO (
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/safework/cops/english/download/e_ports.pdf as
used in Structured Assignment 4.4), is most likely to be true in your opinion:
a) Subsections 2.4.2 and 2.4.3 of the ILO Code of practice on Safety and health in ports have
been sought fully implemented at all DP Worlds ports.
b) Subsections 2.4.2 and 2.4.3 of the ILO Code of practice on Safety and health in ports have
been sought implemented at some of DP Worlds ports.
c) Subsections 2.4.2 and 2.4.3 of the ILO Code of practice on Safety and health in ports have
not been sought implemented at any of DP Worlds ports.
Choose one of the three possible answers. Then please write a justification of between 150 and 400 words
of why you chose the answer that you chose. Beyond that, you may also include own full bibliographical

16

references to other relevant literature you have read, if you choose and if you have used such literature in
your considerations.
Structured Assignment 4.6 Fulfilling the Swedish OSH Requirements for Dock Work
An English-language translation of the current provisions of the Swedish Work Environment Authority on
Dock Work and this authoritys recommendations for the implementation of these provision is found at:
http://www.av.se/dokument/inenglish/legislations/eng0109.pdf in the document Swedish Work Environ-
ment Authority (2001): Dock Work. Stockholm, Sweden: Swedish Work Environment Authority (In Swedish:
Arbetsmiljverket), AFS 2001:9. Please read pp. 4 24 of this document.
You are the HR manager of a Swedish stevedoring firm in a major Swedish port, which is regularly visited by
Russian ships from St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad. As there have been a lot of small, but also a few major
misunderstandings about the organization of work in a Swedish port, you are considering some of the
above rules and guidance passages together with some information about related firm policy to several
Russian ship managers, who manage the Russian ships that regularly call at the major Swedish port and also
use your firms services. You perceive that it would be best to contact the Russian ship managers, as the
crew composition of the ships that frequent your port seems to vary quite a bit, and as the Russian ship
managers could give orders to all shipmasters and crews about the optimisation of the work done in your
port.
1. Please list which of the Swedish Work Environment Authoritys provisions it would be relevant to
inform the Russian ship managers about. Please also list which of the Guidance passages it would be
relevant to inform about. Here, only a short list is necessary.
2. If you have left any of the provisions or guidance passages out, please explain why you have done so.
Alternatively, if you have included all passages, please justify why you believe that they are all relevant
to pass on to the Russian ship managers. Here, you may write between 150 and 400 words. Beyond
that, you may also include own full bibliographical references to other relevant literature you have
read, if you choose and if you have used such literature in your considerations.
3. Your workforce of dockers (also called stevedores or longshoremen) is mainly composed of Swedish,
Polish and Lithuanian citizens. The Swedish dockers generally speak Swedish and acceptable English, as
they have learned English for several years in school and have also received some information on the
job about English-language dock working vocabulary. Some of the Polish and Lithuanian dockers speak
English as well as the Swedes, whereas others only speak a little English and are actually more fluent in
Russian. Your experience is that some of the Russian ship crew representatives communicate in
perfectly acceptable English, whereas some others have problems in communicating with the Swedish
staff in English. A few of the Polish and especially Lithuanian workers would actually prefer to speak
Russian with the Russian representatives, yet other Poles and Lithuanians are against this. Discuss
whether or not you need to or it would be beneficial to make a more clear language policy than what is
specified in Section 4 of the provisions. If you deem that it is necessary and/or beneficial to make such
a policy, please elaborate upon the specifics of the proposal you would like present to the Russian ship
managers. Here, you may also write between 150 and 400 words. Beyond that, you may also include
own full bibliographical references to other relevant literature you have read, if you choose and if you
have used such literature in your considerations.


17

Structured Assignment 4.7 Safety Guidelines for Shore-based Work at Mumbai Port
This assignment is based on the following document: Mumbai Port Trust (2008): Safety Guide Lines
for Port Users of Mumbai Port, Mumbai, India: Mumbai Port Trust, downloadable from:
http://www.mumbaiport.gov.in/newsite/PORTINFO/Safety%20Guideline_newRNSpc.pdf. Please
read pp. 4-23.
Mini-Case: You are the manager of a small firm with 20 employees that uses the facilities of the
Mumbai Port. 17 of your 20 current employees have only had basic Indian primary education, which
runs until the child in question is around 14 years of age.
18

1. Please write a short plan of how you will educate current and future employees about (a) the
general causes and prevention of accidents (b) accident reporting responsibilities and
requirements at their place of work at the Mumbai Port and (c) the General Safety Tips on pp. 10
-11 of the document, as well as the relevant employees about the Guidelines for Handling of
different Types of Cargoes in the Port (pp. 12-22).
2. An employee has asked you how he should react if he sees employees from other firms violating
the guidelines. Please write a short answer to the question of how you require your employees
to react in this situation and then write an explanation of why you would require your
employees to react in this way.
You must write at least 400 words and at most 900 words in your answer. Beyond that, you may also
include own full bibliographical references to other relevant literature you have read, if you choose.
[End of structured assignments 4.5 4.7]
By completing these structured assignments 4.1 to 4.7 and reading the text sections 4.1 to 4.4.3,
including the external texts and other learning objects, you should have achieved a good introduction
to how occupational safety and health are managed in shore-based work in various countries, both
by national authorities and supranational government units and by firms. Moreover, through the
structured assignment, you should have learned how to find occupational safety and health
information from various countries for implementation in shore-based maritime organizational units.
However, you have not learned exhaustively about all aspects of these issues in the country(-ies) or
specific industry(-ies) in which you work or will work in the future. Therefore further study may be
necessary on your part, to prepare you for working with these issues in specific workplace settings.
Moreover, whenever necessary, you are strongly urged to seek legal counsel and implementation
guidance from relevant stakeholders, such as national OSH authorities, OSH advisory councils,
employers organisations or employees organisations, as well as from specialised lawyers.
Should you have questions to the unit, please contact the responsible course instructor or the author
of these first textual sections, Maria Anne Wagtmann, Ph.D., mariaannewagtmann@yahoo.com.


18

Second Part (0.3 ECTS) ILO Maritime Labour Convention
4.5 An introduction to ILO Regulation of Labour Regulations on Board Ships

Through the past decades, much legislation about labour conditions on board ships has been agreed upon
in the UN organization the International Labour Organisation (henceforth: ILO). In February 2006, the Mari-
time Labour Convention was unanimously adopted by the International Labour Maritime Conference, after
extensive tripartite negotiations.

At this time, please also go in and read the main (?) text external ILO link on the tripartite negotiations in
the maritime sector, which is found at:
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/sector/sectors/mariti/shipping/socdial.htm. Here, everything
under the headline Shipping: Social Dialogue must be read.

Turning to the content of the Maritime Labour Convention, only a few things in this Convention are actually
new, as much of the Convention is actually a consolidation of 68 existing maritime ILO conventions and
recommendations, the oldest of which dates back to 1920. In order to understand this further, please read
the text at the following external ILO links:

http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/sector/sectors/mariti/shipping.htm. Here please read all of
the text under the heading Shipping: Introduction to ILO activities in the shipping industry.
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/sector/sectors/mariti/shipping/standards.htm. Here,
please read all of the text under the heading Shipping: Standards and rights at work. Then please also
note that under the heading Maritime Labour Standards, this web page also seeks to provide an
overview of relevant maritime ILO and national labour standards.
Finally, please read the text under the headline Shipping: Standards & rights at work - Maritime
Labour Convention, 2006 as found at:
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/sector/sectors/mariti/shipping/standards-mlc.htm.

In the last link, it is mentioned that the form and structure of the Convention is quite unique and new, as in
it one finds both legally binding standards, which are also called by some persons hard law instruments
and non-mandatory guidelines, also known as soft law instruments. In connection with this, please also
read the English-language Wikipedia article on soft law as found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_law.

Dr. Peter B. Payoyo, who is the programme manager of the Philippine Seafarers Assistance Programme in
Rotterdam
19
and the Chairman of the International Committee on Seafarers Welfare (ICSW)
20
has given his
interpretation of the underlying rationale for the unique combination of both hard and soft law in one
conventions as follows:

The structure of the MLC is unique in that it departs from the usual approach of allocation
agreed-upon provisions under either a Convention or a Recommendation track. Instead,
the MLC is one integral package consisting of Articles, Regulations and the Code: The
Articles and Regulations setting out the core rights and principles and basic obligations of
ratifying States, and the Code containing the details of the implementation of the Regulations,
spelled out as mandatory Standards as well as non-mandatory Guidelines. The MLC,
structure in this manner, is said to serve a two-fold purpose: on the one hand, to allow
considerable flexibility in the implementation of these rights and principles. Hence, the motto

19

and central virtue of the MLC: Firmness with respect to rights, flexibility with respect to
implementation.
21

We will look a bit further at this unique combination of hard and soft law-instruments in a coming section
about this convention. However, to understand the expectations of the various stakeholders, we will look
more in depth at the negotiation process and the de facto limits to the regulatory power of such a
convention through a structured assignment.

Structured assignment 4.8 The Expectations of Stakeholders to the MLC and its de facto regulatory power
This assignment is based on excerpts from the following article Lillie, Nathan (2008): The ILO Maritime
Labour Convention, 2006: A New Paradigm for Global Labour Rights Implementation, Chapter 8 in
Papadakis, Konstantinos (2008): An emerging global industrial relations framework, Geneva: International
Institute for Labour Studies, International Labour Office, pp. 191-218, downloadable from:
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inst/download/cross.pdf. Please note that the stated link does
not only provide Chapter 8 of this book, instead it provides all chapters of the book. Thus you will have to
navigate to the start of the article on p. 191. The article is written at an advanced political process and
policy analysis level. Therefore if you would prefer, you may choose to read the entire article before
reading the specific passages which will be assigned as readings for this assignment, as indicated together
with the assignments questions below.

1. First, please read Peter Payoyos account of the driving forces behind the process to create the MLC:

It was in fact the shipowners group which put the seminal idea of a consolidated convention
on the table, arguing that they wanted a sensible and impartially applied [international]
labour standards, so that a level playing field could be created, where standards of service
instead of poor labour conditions would dictate customer preference. Furthermore, the
shipowners, more than the trade unions, gave urgency to the case for consolidating maritime
labour standards, stating that if the ILO could not satisfy the needs of the sector another
forum would have to be found.

For the shipowners, levelling the playing field is most crucial objective of the MLC. This
objective revives the fair economic competition justification put forward by advocates of
international labour standards in the 19
th
and early 20
th
century [....] It must be noted that this
particular objective to international labour regulation had already lost its validity and appeal
and was replaced by social justice, promotion of peace and pursuit of economic
development as the underlying objective to ILO standard setting.

The shipowners got what they wanted. And in this they were unconditionally supported by
governments as well as the labour unions. Labour conditions as a factor in international
competition in the shipping industry must be removed in order to avoid a race to the bottom.
Put another way, shipowners must not be allowed any competitive advantage for maintaining
substandard labour conditions onboard.
22

After this, please read the following passages in the above-mentioned Lillie text: The Introduction (pp.
191-194), Labour Marketing Competition (pp. 201204), ILO as an institutional setting for labour stan-
dards negotiations (pp. 205-208) and Actors and interests (pp. 208-213).

a) After this, please summarize the content Lillies writings on (a) various shipowner representative
configurations of the employers contingent during the tripartite negotiations, (b) the employee/union

20

representatives during the tripartite negotiations and (c) various government stances. Please write at
least 400 words and not more than 900 words.
b) Finally, please discuss in your own words the extent to which Lillies writings supplement, support or
are in conflict with the above account of Payoyos concerning the political process to create the MLC.
Here, it is possible for you to find all three elements (i.e. passages in Lillies work that supplement,
passages in Lillies work that support and passages in Lillies work that are in conflict with Payoyos
work). Please write at least 400 words and not more than 900 words.
c) Finally, please discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using different sources with some
potentially conflicting statements in the assessment of how various stakeholders view a certain piece of
legislation. Please write at least 250 words and not more than 500 words about this. Beyond that, for
this point, you may also include own full bibliographical references to other relevant literature you
have read, if you choose.

2. Please read the section Significance of the ILO Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 on pp. 194-197.
First, please note that other political and societal analysts may have slightly or markedly different views
on the advantages and disadvantages of industry regulation through conventions vis vis other
potential industry regulatory or governance mechanisms. However, despite this, please write a
summary of this section of at least 400 words and not more than 900 words.

Beyond the requirements of this course, if you have a need or an interest in doing so, you may of course
also search for alternative viewpoints on the issue of the optimal labour standards regulatory institutions,
using some of the works on the courses International List of Maritime HR Literature or own literature
searches for works as your point of departure.

[End of structured assignments 4.8]

4.6 An introduction to Content Areas and the Flag State, Port State and Labour Supplying State Control
Mechanisms in the Maritime Labour Convention

An official ILO web page states the following about the content of the maritime labour convention:

The Convention is organized into three main parts: the Articles coming first set out the broad
principles and obligations.

This is followed by the more detailed Regulations and Code (with two parts: Parts A and B)
provisions.

The Regulations and the Standards (Part A) and Guidelines (Part B) in the Code are integrated
and organized into general areas of concern under five Titles:

Title 1: Minimum requirements for seafarers to work on a ship
Title 2: Conditions of employment
Title 3: Accommodation, recreational facilities, food and catering
Title 4: Health protection, medical care, welfare and social security protection
Title 5: Compliance and enforcement.

These five Titles essentially cover the same subject matter as the existing 68 maritime labour
instruments, updating them where necessary.

21

It occasionally contains new subjects, particularly in the area of occupational safety and health
to meet current health concerns, such as the effects of noise and vibration on workers or other
workplace risks.
23

Moreover, the convention entails certification responsibilities for ships over 500 gross tonnes. Each ships is
required to have a maritime labour certificate issued, which certifies that the labour conditions on board
have been inspected and found in accordance with national flag state laws and regulations that the ships
flag state has used to implement the MLC. Moreover, the ship owning or ship operating companies will also
have to get a more general document for all of the ships owned or operated, namely a declaration of
maritime labour compliance, which will specify the means adopted by the ship owning or ship operating
company to make certain that all ships operated will continuously be complying with the MLCs require-
ment.

[Here learning object 4.3 will be inserted. Its content is as follows: An explanation of the so-
called double control mechanisms between (a) flag state and port state and (b) flag state and
labour supplying state and how this control overlaps with the activities of the ITF Inspectors
and certain seafarer welfare organisations (e.g. the law and advocacy group of the Seamens
Church Institute, http://www.seamenschurch.org/474.asp) to date have done work in the
areas covered by the ILO maritime conventions (Here of course all actors, e.g. flag states, port
states, labour supplying states, employers, employers organisations, employees, unions and
welfare organisations will be treated critically and in a balanced manner)]

4.7 The Implementation of the Maritime Labour Convention in Maritime Ship owning or Ship
operating Firms
As also stated in learning object 4.3, Appendix A5-I of the MLC states that the following aspects of
seafarers working and living conditions must be inspected and approved by the flag State before certifying
a ship:
Minimum age
Medical certification
Qualifications of seafarers
Seafarers' employment agreements
Use of any licensed or certified or regulated private recruitment and placement service
Hours of work or rest
Manning levels for the ship
Accommodation
On-board recreational facilities
Food and catering
On-board medical care
On-board complaint procedures
Payment of wages

Moreover, as also stated in the learning object, all of the above areas, with the exception of medical
certification, are subject to a detailed inspection by an authorized port state control officer; this is specified
in the MLCs Appendix A5-III.


22

Based on this, a December 2008 article in Lloyds List stated the following with regard to shipping firms
preparing themselves for the MLC:
It is to be expected that the flag states [...] will employ Responsible Organisations to audit
ships and shipping companies for their certificates and to undertake intermediate inspection
between years 2 and 3 of the five-year duration of the MLC. And maritime labour regulations
being very different from the sort of surveys of structure and machinery, or even ISM Code
inspections, the ROs have quite a commitment to ensure that they have suitable people in
place. [...]
But the process needs planning, preparation and a good deal of thought, for none of this will
be a simple formality. Some 20 documents, covering the five titles of the convention, will be
required, and all companies will need to revisit and possibly adjust their processes and
practices to ensure compliance.
24

A number of classification societies and/or other firms that deal with certification, especially in the area of
safety, health and other labour quality standards, have begun to work as the so-called responsible
organisations mentioned in this article. Moreover, shipping interest organisations have published written
documents and/or created written and e-learning documents on implementation and compliance, with
some of them working in cooperation with private sector companies to develop these materials. Here, it is
however envisioned that the compliance planning and insurance methodology will not differ that much
from the occupational safety and health system methodology described in learning object 4.2 of the
previous section 4.3 of this module.
As examples of such responsible organisations work with the maritime labour convention to date, please
examine the text on the following web pages of DNV. Here, it is to be noted that we are not advertising for
or against the services of the DNV; instead we are merely using this companys information as an example:
On the web page
http://www.dnv.com/industry/maritime/servicessolutions/statutoryservices/mlc/dnv_servic
es.asp, please read the entire text below the heading DNV MLC 2006 services
Moreover, please read the text passage May MLC 2006 certification be started now on the
web page
http://www.dnv.com/industry/maritime/servicessolutions/statutoryservices/mlc/start_of_m
lc_certification.asp.
It is also interesting to note that the International Shipping Federation has published the following work for
ship owning [shipowning would be okay, too, but at previous instances you have used a space in between
as well]or ship operating companies on the MLC: International Shipping Federation (2006): ILO Maritime
Labour Convention: A Guide for the Shipping Industry. London: Marisec Publications. This guideline is, in
turn, included in a blended-learning training package (i.e. learning with face-to-face interaction, e-materials
and paper materials) that has been developed by Videotel in cooperation with the International Maritime
Employers Committee. As an example of what a company training programme in the Maritime Labour
Convention might entail, you are now requested to view Videotels promotion video for its training
package. Please note that we are not advertising for or against the educational material on the MLC as
developed by Videotel in cooperation with the International Maritime Employers Committee; instead we
are merely using this promotional video as an example to spark reflection and understanding about

23

potential training programs. The promotion video is found at the bottom of the web page:
http://www.mlc2006.com/.

4.8 The Seafarers Perspective on the Maritime Labour Convention

Structured Assignment 4.9 A Labour Union Political Perspective on the MLC

For this assignment, please read the article Delivering global rights, which is found on the International
Transport Workers Federation web page http://www.itfglobal.org/transport-international/ti28-deliver.cfm.
For your information, this article was also published in the ITFs publication Transport International
Magazine, Issue 28 of July 2007. After this, please provide answers to the following questions:

1. Based on the themes covered in the article, some of the aspects previously covered in this module
4and your own knowledge of the maritime sector, please discuss the potential advantages and
disadvantages for (a) seafarers and (b) maritime employers of relatively uniform EU implementation of
the Maritime Labour Convention through an EU directive. Please write at least 300 words and not
more than 700 words about this. Beyond that, for this point, you may also include own full

2. Please explain, in terms of general flag state and labour supplying state responsibilities what ITF
Seafarers Section Chair Brian Orrell is saying in the following quote from the article about a major
supply country such as, e.g., the Philippines but possible also another country, if the country in
question does not ratify the MLC and implement it:

Our argument was that while ships will still want people from the Philippines, if they havent
ratified, once the Convention is in force, shipowners will have to ensure that the seafarers on
their ships have been recruited in accordance with the Convention.

The onus is on the flag state to issue a certificate and they will have to be satisfied that
procedures have been properly carried out. They may well get to the stage where they feel it is
simply easier to go to another country which has ratified, where mechanisms are in place to
help ensure procedures are carried out in compliance with the MLC, and then the Philippines
could find it is starting to lose its position.

Please write at least 300 words and not more than 700 words about this. Beyond that, for this point, you
may also include own full bibliographical references to other relevant literature you have read, if you
choose.

Structured Assignment 4.10 A Seafarer Welfare Perspective on the Maritime Labour Convention
This questions in this assignment require a comparison of various welfare and health problems that Filipino
seafarers experience as described in Binghay, Virgel C. (2006): Ensuring Occupational Health and Safety
for Overseas Filipino Seafarers, Paper of the School of Labor and Industrial Relations of the University of
the Philippines,
http://www.freewebpp.com/upsolair/Ensuring%20Occupational%20Health%20and%20Safety%20for%20O
verseas%20Filipino%20Seafarers.pdf and the content of the Maritime Labour Convention, as specified
above and also in the Convention text itself, which is found at: http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/cgi-
lex/convde.pl?C186. Here it is suggested that the article by Binghay is read first in its entirety, to get a

24

general overview of the main health and welfare concerns of seafarers from the Philippines. Moreover,
some of the author of this learning materials students have experienced that they could not get access to
the abovementioned article directly through the link, but if they did a search machine search for the articles
title in their internet browser, the article then surfaced. This solution is recommended if the link to the
Binghay article does not seem to work.

Structured assignment question:
Based on searches in the text of the Maritime Labour Convention and the descriptions in the Binghay
article, please give your assessment of whether the implementation of the Maritime Labour Convention in
the Philippines and in flag states whose ships employ Filipino seafarers will have any impact on the
following problems which Binghay perceives that Filipino seafarers suffer from:

The practices of what Binghay terms unscrupulous recruitment agencies (discussed in Binghay
2006 on pp. 5-6/153-154)
Blacklisting (discussed in Binghay 2006 on p. 6/154)
Lower benefits (discussed in Binghay 2006 on pp. 6-7/154-55)
Longer working hours (discussed in Binghay 2006 on pp. 7-8/155-56
The risk of acute diseases and serious injuries (discussed in Binghay 2006 on p. 11/159)

Please write a total answer of between 450 and 1200 words to the above points. You may also include own
full bibliographical references to other relevant literature you have read, if you choose.

[End of structured assignments 4.9 and 4.10]

By completing these structured assignments 4.8 to 4.10 and reading the text sections 4.5 to 4.8, including
the external texts and other learning objects, you should have achieved a good introduction to
fundamental political and administrative aspects of the ILOs Maritime Labour Convention. Moreover,
through the structured assignments, you should have learned how to find information from various
countries, interest organizations and firms about implementation of the MLC. However, you have not
learned exhaustively about all aspects of MLC implementation in the specific flag, port or labour supply
states with which you work or will possibly work in the future. Therefore further reading may be necessary
on your part, to prepare you for working with the MLC in specific workplace settings. Beyond this,
whenever necessary, you are strongly urged to seek legal counsel and implementation guidance from
relevant stakeholders, such as classification societies or other organisations that work with MLC certifi-
cation, national implementing authorities, employers organisations and/or employees organisations
and/or maritime lawyers.
Should you have questions on the unit, please contact the course instructor or the author, Maria Anne
Wagtmann, who wrote the course text sections 4.5 4.8, at mariaannewagtmann@yahoo.com. The coming
sections will deal with ship- and fleet-based implementation of the Maritime Labour Convention. For these
coming sections, the responsible author is XXXX XXXXXXX.


25

1
See, e.g., the web page http://e-stud.vgtu.lt/users/files/dest/4722/1_osh_basics.pdf.
2
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (2007): Facts 76/EN National economics and occupational safety and
health. Bilbao, Spain: European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, ISSN 1681-2123.
3
See, e.g., Alderton, T., Bloor, M., Kahveci, E., Lane, T., Sampson, H., Thomas, M., Winchester, N., Wu, B., Zhao, M.
(2004): The global seafarer: living and working conditions in a globalized industry, 224 pp, ILO, Geneva, ISBN 92-2-
112713-3; Binghay, Virgel C. (2006): Ensuring Occupational Health and Safety for Overseas Filipino Seafarers, Paper
of the School of Labor and Industrial Relations of the University of the Philippines,
http://www.freewebpp.com/upsolair/Ensuring%20Occupational%20Health%20and%20Safety%20for%20Overseas%2
0Filipino%20Seafarers.pdf; Bloor, Michael, Michelle Thomas & Tony Lane (2000): Health Risks in the Global Shipping
Industry: An Overview, Health, Risk & Society, 2(3), pp. 329-340; Jegaden, Dominique, Brice Lodde, David Lucas, Jean
Ariel Bronstein, Michel Feraud, Yves Eusen & Jean Dominique Dewitte (2008): Stress in seamen and non seamen
employed by the same company, International Maritime Health, Vol. 59, pp. 53-60,
http://www.imh.mug.edu.pl/attachment/attachment/4762/2008t5.pdf; Naniopoulos, Aristotelis, Ed. (2000): Final
Report Workport, Final report of an EU-financed project under the transport rtd programme of the 4th framework
programme, WA-97-SC-2213, downloadable from: http://www.transport-
research.info/Upload/Documents/200310/workport.pdf.
4
See p. 706 of Pun, Kit-Fai, Richard C.M. Yam & Winston G. Lewis (2003): Safety management system registration in
the shipping industry, International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, 20(6), s. 704-721
5
See p. 6 of European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (2001): Quality of Work A future Community strategy
for safety and health at work, FORUM # 1, downloadable from: http://osha.europa.eu/en/publications/forum/1/view
6
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (1997): Priorities and Strategies in Occupational Safety and Health
Policy in the Member States of the European Union, Bilbao, Spain: European Agency for Safety and Health at Work,
ISBN: 92-828-2007-6.
7
This quote is from p. 11 of European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (2001): Quality of Work New
approaches and Strategies in Occupational Safety and Health , FORUM # 2, downloadable from:
http://osha.europa.eu/en/publications/forum/2/view.
8
Based on p. 475 of European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (2000): Monitoring the state of occupational
safety and health in the European Union Pilot Study, Bilbao, Spain: European Agency for Safety and Health at Work,
ISBN: 92-95007-00-X, downloadable from: http://osha.europa.eu/en/publications/reports/401 and p. 148 of European
Agency for Safety and Health at Work (2001): Monitoring the state of occupational safety and health in the EFTA
Countries Pilot Study, Bilbao, Spain: European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, ISBN 92-95007-19-0,
downloadable from: http://osha.europa.eu/en/publications/reports/403.
9
See European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (2004): Effectiveness of economic incentives to improve
occupational safety and health, Forum # 14, Bilbao, Spain: European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, ISBN 92-
9191-119-4, http://osha.europa.eu/en/publications/forum/14/view or Elsler, D. (2007): European Comparison of
Economic Incentives in Occupational Safety and Health, in C. Berlin & L.-O. Bligrd (Eds): Proceedings of the 39
th

Nordic Ergonomics Society Conference, Oct 1 3 2007 in Lysekil, Sweden, downloadable from:
http://www.nes2007.se/papers/A67_Elsler.pdf.
10
See p. 2-4 of European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (2001): Quality of Work A future Community strategy
for safety and health at work, FORUM # 1, downloadable from:
http://osha.europa.eu/en/publications/forum/1/view.
11
This quote is taken from: http://www.ilo.org/global/About_the_ILO/lang--en/index.htm on 12th August 2009.
12
This combined quote is taken from pp. 192, 193 & 205 of Lillie, Nathan (2008): The ILO Maritime Labour
Convention, 2006: A New Paradigm for Global Labour Rights Implementation, Chapter 8 in Papadakis, Konstantinos
(2008): An emerging global industrial relations framework, Geneva: International Institute for Labour Studies,
International Labour Office, pp. 191-218, downloadable from:
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inst/download/cross.pdf.
13
Wilson, Donald J., Ken Takahashi, Sonoko Sakuragi, Masako Yoshino, Tsutomu Hoshuyama, Teppei Imai & Jukka
Takala (2007): The Ratification Status of ILO Conventions Related to Occupational Safety and Health and Its
Relationship with Reported Occupational Fatality Rates, Journal of Occupational Health, Vol. 49, No. 1, pp. 72-79,
downloadable from: http://joh.med.uoeh-u.ac.jp/e/E/49/E49_1_10.html.
14
See p. 10 of Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (2007). Port and Terminal Management. London UK: TutorShip, the
Distance Learning Programme of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers.
15
See p. 2 in Alderton, Patrick M. (2005): Port Management and Operations, 2nd edition, London UK: Informa
Publications, a title in the Lloyds Practical Shipping Guides series.

26

16
Pallis, Athanasios A. & George-Spiros P. Tsiotsis (2008): Maritime interests and the EU port services directive,
European Transport/Trasporti Europei n. 38, pp. 17-31, downloadable from:
http://www.istiee.org/te/papers/N38/38_PallisTsiotsis.pdf.
17
The quote is from the ILO web page
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/safework/cops/english/index.htm as accessed on 11th August 2009.
18
See, e.g., the Wikipedia article Education in India at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_India
19
The website of the Philippine Seafarers Assistance Programme in Rotterdam is found at http://www.psap-
parola.org/.
20
The website of the International Committee on Seafarers Welfare is found at: http://www.seafarerswelfare.org/.
21
P. 2 of Payoyo, Peter B. (2008): The 2006 ILO Marime Labour Convention as a System of Protection, Paper
presented at the 1st International Ship-Port-Interface Conference The Human Element, 19 21 May 2008 in
Bremen, Germany, available through contact to the author at http://www.psap-parola.org/parola/.
22
P. 3 of Payoyo, Peter B. (2008): The 2006 ILO Marime Labour Convention as a System of Protection, Paper
presented at the 1st International Ship-Port-Interface Conference The Human Element, 19 21 May 2008 in
Bremen, Germany, available through contact to the author at http://www.psap-parola.org/parola/.
23
This information is found on the following ILO web page:
http://www.ilo.org/global/What_we_do/InternationalLabourStandards/MaritimeLabourConvention/FAQs/lang--
en/index.htm.
24
This citation is from the article Get ready to settle the seafarers Bill of Rights, Lloyds List, 8 December 2008, p. 7.

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Modules author: Maria Anne Wagtmann, PhD, mariaannewagtmann@yahoo.com

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