150 VIEWPOINT Every seafarer’s employment journey begins with a preemployment medical examination (PEME), which involves an assessment by a medical professional to determine if they are fit for duty on a cruise ship. At AP Companies, we understand just how essential it is to complete a thorough PEME as it ensures the wellbeing of both the individual crew member, and their colleagues onboard. Unfortunately, a PEME is often seen simply as a formal requirement to tick boxes, rather than as an opportunity to adequately assess an individual’s suitability for a specific position onboard a cruise ship. This underestimation of the examination can be costly to the individual crew member, their colleagues and the cruise line. For example, should the individual have to disembark because of an unreported pre-existing condition, their tasks must be completed by remaining crew members, which increases their workloads and the probability of work-related stress and injury. In some cases, an inadequate or incomplete PEME can even endanger the crew member’s life. Our thorough PEMEs significantly decrease this risk – one of our clients has experienced a 70 per cent reduction in disembarkations over the past three years. AP Companies carries out thorough PEMEs and provides more data than a standard medical assessment to ensure the cruise line has all the necessary details to make an informed decision on every crew member it hires. This saves time and money, and ensures the crew onboard is as fit and healthy as possible. In future, several additional components should be considered for the existing PEME. Once such component is a thorough dental review because nearly 30 per cent of crew port-side medical appointments currently involve dental issues. It would also prove beneficial to include a comprehensive mental health questionnaire to determine suitability for a job at sea, as well as appropriate mental health support services for crew onboard. In addition, the clinics performing PEMEs should be annually audited to ensure they are completing the assessments to an agreed standard. We, at AP Companies, have audited all the clinics we use to carry out PEMEs, as we believe upholding high standards will improve the health and wellbeing of cruise ship crew members across the world. Crystol Lasley is director of maritime medical operations at AP Companies By Crystol Lasley, AP Companies Putting health first Pre-employment medical examinations are mandatory for crew members but it’s essential to improve standards to better protect cruise lines and their employees Photo: AdobeStock/rocketclips
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