Diseases and work-related injuries in Polish seafarers and conditions of their work on foreign-flag ships.

A questionnaire survey was conducted in 1994-1996 among Polish seafarers employed on foreign-flag ships, in order to collect their opinions and experiences on work and life on these ships, and to estimate the morbidity and injuries incidence. The majority of 1103 respondents were satisfied with the conditions of work and life on these ships: their food, accommodation, the health and safety of work, standard of health care on board were good or satisfactory; they had no problems with living and working together on the same ship with seamen of other nationalities. But about 7.8% of respondents complained that the safety and health of work on their ship was unsatisfactory, or conditions of work "endangered their health and life". The self-reported morbidity (calculated rate 176.8 per 1000 men per year) and accidents (rate 114.5 per 1000 per year) was recorded.