Responsibilities, rights and fitness for duty
- Understand the employment terms, the ship's rules, and the seafarer's rights under the Maritime Labour Convention.
- Manage fatigue: the rest-hour rules exist because tiredness causes accidents, and rest is a duty as well as a right.
- Avoid alcohol and drug misuse, which impair judgement and are a safety and disciplinary matter.
- Look after personal health, hygiene and fitness for duty, and support the welfare of shipmates.
The seafarer works under employment terms and ship's rules and has rights — to fair treatment, rest, accommodation, medical care and repatriation — protected by the Maritime Labour Convention. With those rights come responsibilities: turning to fit for duty, managing fatigue by taking the rest the rules provide, and avoiding alcohol and drug misuse, which impair judgement and endanger the ship. Fatigue in particular is a genuine safety hazard, degrading judgement much as alcohol does, so the rest-hour rules are a safety measure, not merely a benefit. Looking after one's own health and supporting shipmates' welfare are part of the seafarer's social responsibility.
WARNING — Fatigue and substance misuse endanger the ship Fatigue impairs judgement like alcohol, and alcohol and drug misuse do so directly. Both are safety hazards: the rest-hour rules and the substance-misuse policies exist to keep the ship safe, and turning to unfit for duty endangers everyone.
NOTE — Rights and responsibilities together The MLC protects the seafarer's rights to rest, fair treatment, medical care and repatriation. With those rights come responsibilities — to turn to fit for duty, manage fatigue and avoid substance misuse — that keep the ship safe.