Captain Melwyn Noronha was honoured to be invited to attend the Mission to Seafarers Welfare Event, held at the NSW Parliament House in Sydney recently.
Shipping Australia notes that seafarer welfare is a shared responsibility and that all parties who benefit from the work of seafarers ought to contribute to the welfare of seafarers when they are ashore, which is especially relevant given that ship operators have responsibility for seafarer welfare when seafarers are working at sea.
It was a successful day at the Mission to Seafarers event with more than 210 people attending the event.
Mission to seafarers CEO, Clayton Strong, said the excellent turnout was a powerful reflection of the wide-ranging support for the wellbeing of the men and women who work tirelessly to bring us the goods and resources we rely on every day. “Together, we have the opportunity—and the responsibility—to make a real difference in their lives,” he said.
Guest of honour and guest speaker was the Australian Maritime Safety Authority CEO, Ms Kaylene Dale.
AMSA CEO Kaylene Dale said seafaring was one of the most dangerous and demanding professions, however there was no “cookie cutter approach“ to improving their lives. She complimented the various sectors for working together to boost seafarer wellbeing and challenged the industry to see how their efforts could be enhanced for greater impact.
She said the National Workplace Health and Safety Authority in Australia lists 17 Job demands that were risk factors for a person’s psychosocial safety. They are all relatively common for a seafarer.
“If it isn’t already abundantly evident, seafarer wellbeing is directly linked to safety at sea. When crew members are stressed, fatigued, or distracted by personal concerns, their ability to perform critical tasks is compromised, increasing the risk of accidents and operational failures,” she said.
