It is a well-known
fact that seafaring is one of the most hazardous occupations, in regards to
personal health and safety concerns of seafarers. Apart from accidents,
seafarers are prone to certain serious diseases and health hazards due to the
nature of onboard work, change in climatic conditions, type of cargo carried,
working hours, materials being handled, epidemic and endemic diseases, personal
habits etc.
Because of their nature of work, seafarers are bound to visit
many ports in different parts of the world and are thus exposed to various
pandemic and epidemic diseases
For a sick seafarer to be entitled to medical benefits
under the POEA-Standard Employment
Contract (SEC), he must have suffered work related illness
which is defined as any sickness
resulting to disability or death as a result of one of the twenty-four
(24) occupational diseases listed under Section 32-A of the said contract with
the conditions set therein satisfied.
.
The list includes an infectious disease that a seafarer may suffer
during the effectivity of his contract which
is defined as a disease resulting from the presence and activity of
pathogenic microbial agents in the body. These agents include pathogenic
viruses, pathogenic bacteria, fungi, protozoa, multicellular parasites, and
aberrant proteins known as prions Infectious
diseases are recognized as an occupational hazard in seafaring and are closely
connected to the conditions of working and living onboard. These may
either result from person-to-person transmission of infectious agents or
through food, water or insects onboard ships or in ports, as well as from pre-existing
conditions.
The seafarer may suffer any of the following Infections: (a) Pneumonia
(b) Bronchitis (c) Sinusitis (d)
Pulmonary Tuberculosis (f) Anthrax (g) Cellulitis (h) Conjunctivitis (Bacterial and Viral) (i) Norwalk Virus (j) Salmonella (k) Leptospirosis (l)
Malaria (m) Otitis Media (o) Tetanus
(p). Viral Encephalitis . The list also contain other infections resulting in complications
necessitating repatriation.
Most infections relentlessly find entry points to human
populations through diverse mechanisms. Respiratory diseases are commonly
acquired by contact with aerosolized droplets, spread by sneezing, coughing,
talking, kissing or even singing e.g. bronchitis, PTB, pneumonia, sinusitis,
pneumonia. Gastrointestinal diseases are
often acquired by ingesting contaminated food and water e.g. Norwalk Virus, Salmonella,
Leptospirosis. Others may be due to
contact with animals/ insects/ bacteria
e.g Malaria, Conjunctivitis (Bacterial and Viral), Tetanus, anthrax.
The seafarer is required to prove that: (1) he suffered an
illness; (2) he suffered this illness during the term of his employment
contract; (3) he complied with the procedures prescribed under Section 20-B;
(4) his illness is one of the enumerated occupational disease or that his
illness or injury is otherwise work-related. A seafarer suffering from any of the infections
would still have to satisfy four
(4) conditions before his or her disease may be compensable:
1. The
seafarer's work must involve the risks describe therein;
2. The disease
was contracted as a result of the seafarer's exposure to the described
risks;
3. The disease
was contracted within a period of exposure and under such factors necessary to
contract it; and
4. There was no
notorious negligence on the part of the seafarer.
In other words, to be entitled to compensation and benefits
under this provision, it is not sufficient to simply establish that the
seafarer's illness or injury has rendered him permanently or partially
disabled; it must also be shown that there is a causal connection between the
seafarer's illness or injury and the work for which he had been contracted .
Since one of the requirement for an illness to be compensable is
that the seafarer suffered said illness during the effectivity of the POEA
contract, it is imperative that his condition or symptoms must be documented while he is on board the
vessel, such as headaches, fever, coughs,
sore throat. chills, nausea, and shivering, skin rashes. Otherwise, his claim for disability benefits
might be denied due to failure to prove that said illness occurred while his
contract is still in force.
Prevention of
food and waterborne disease starts from well-constructed accommodation, galley,
water system and food storage areas. Safe sources for catering materials,
training of cooks and everyday ship hygiene and maintenance are essential.
