The Nordic countries are ranked among the most gender equal countries worldwide. Equality, political, and civil rights, leading to the high participation of women in the workforce, have paved the way for this egalitarian view. However, women remain the minority in managerial positions in general, and they are also strongly underrepresented in many male‐dominated sectors of the blue economy. The aim of this article is to introduce and discuss gender equality in the blue economy, and to assess the status of gender research in the Nordic context. To achieve this, a purposive interdisciplinary literature review resulted in three encompassing themes on how women’s participation is hindered, overlooked, and undervalued. Using these themes as an analytical lens, we propose that the underlying mechanisms are similar within fisheries, aquaculture, and maritime transportation in how they affect women’s participation. Still, there is a lack of statistics and research within parts of the blue sector. To move forward, there needs to be a shift in focus from policy to practice. One starting point could be to implement current knowledge, e.g., regarding workplace design and tailoring equipment to fit a diverse workforce. We call for scaling up best practices and evaluating policy performance and effectiveness. These are prerequisites for sustainable recruitment and retention of the blue sector workforce and the only way forward for countries aspiring to be truly gender equal.

Seafaring is a masculine-coded occupation with a strong professional culture that values practical experience. Traditionally, youths were accepted on board ships to be guided, socialised, and often bullied into the working and living cultures at sea. The maritime industry is characterised by several factors known from research to constitute a hotbed for workplace bullying and harassment, such as sustained high workload, role conflicts, jargon, and precarious work. Women and minority groups are especially exposed to bulling and harassment in these kind of working environments. At policy level, these issues are addressed by the International Safety Management Code and the Maritime Labour Convention, which require employers to identify and prevent occupational safety and health risks. This study analyses the extent and scope of the peer reviewed literature on workplace bulling and harassment at sea, and what recommendations have been proposed in previous research. The results show that workplace bullying and harassment is a substantial problem in the maritime industry. While research in this field is growing, there is a general need for future research based on strong research designs. Given the complete lack of scientific intervention studies, this should be prioritised in future research. Further, there is a need to address underlying causes of workplace bullying and harassment and ensure decent employment and working conditions at sea. Managers ashore as well as officers on board must be provided with adequate resources, usable tools, and sufficient time for a proactive work. This work should be included as part of the safety management system.

Seafaring shares many characteristics with contemporary working life ashore. However, a major difference is that seafarers can spend up to 12 months aboard a ship that constitutes a work, living and recreational environment. Onboard work includes many stressors that can potentially contribute to workplace bullying and harassment, which in turn can affect safety critical operations. The aim of this study was to identify underlying causes in the organizational and social work environment that can cause workplace bullying and harassment at sea, and to suggest appropriate preventive and promotive strategies and measures. Data were collected mainly through World Café workshops with 56 participants from the Swedish maritime industry. Seafarer occupational health, safety, and wellbeing is largely determined by interdependent factors at micro, meso, and macro levels, where different stakeholders play various roles. Strategies and measures starting at the individual seafarer, and gradually expanding outwards toward the maritime industry are suggested. It is important that a victim of bullying or harassment receives adequate support. Creating crew courage enables employees to both recognize troubling situations and know how to act and respond to a situation. To bridge the gap between policy and practice, the legislative framework needs translating into practical procedures to make sense to the middle manager at the sharp end, with limited knowledge, time, resources, and decision latitude. Future research should evaluate the effectiveness of work environment interventions – what works, for whom, and under which circumstances.

Att krankande sarbehandling i olika former forekommer pa jobbet ar tyvarr inget nytt och sjalvklart galler det aven till sjoss. Trots detta blev #metoo en ogonoppnare for manga nar det stod klart h ...

The aim of this study was to test the usefulness of polyurethane foam (PUF) passive air samplers as stationary, and, for the first time, as personal samplers for one week’s sampling period of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in occupational air. Routine monitoring of workplace exposure is commonly performed with active sampling. However, active samplers can sometimes be unsuitable; e.g., it is difficult to make time-integrated measurements, longer than one day, and they can be noisy and obstructive. Indoor air quality on ships is an important aspect of the environment which has not been studied extensively on ships. For seafarers, good indoor air quality becomes particularly important as the ship represents both a working and living environment. In this study, measurements were carried out on two occasions on two different ships, at different workplaces, and for various personnel categories. On each ship, measurements were performed before and after a change of the type of fuel that the ships were operating on. We found a considerable wide range of PAHs exposure levels for the various workplaces and personnel categories on the ships. The stationary measurements, sum 32 PAHs, ranged from 33-39,000 ng m−3 and the personal exposure measurements ranged from 61-8,400 ng m−3. The results point to that the content of PAHs in the fuel can affect the indoor air environment on the entire ship. Further, the results demonstrate that the PUF sampler can serve as a simple and usable screening tool for estimating and tracking point sources of PAHs in micro-environments. Moreover, this study contributes to increased knowledge of exposure to and sources of PAHs for seafarers.

BACKGROUND: Working in front of computer screens is visually demanding and related to adverse eye symptoms. Occurrence of glare further increases visual fatigue. OBJECTIVE: This paper presents results from an examination of visual ergonomics in control room environments at two Swedish process industries. METHODS: Visual conditions were examined and evaluated in nine control rooms and eighteen process operators answered questions about their perceived workload and visual experiences. RESULTS: When working in the control rooms, the mental workload was rated significantly higher by the participants, compared to experienced performance. The operators further experienced significantly higher visual fatigue and blurred vision compared to double vision and sore eyes. Visual demands were increased in conditions where contrast glare was present, as well as frequent changes of focusing distances, and low contrast between background and characters in computer screens. CONCLUSIONS: Suboptimal visual working conditions in the control rooms contributes to increased visual demands on the operators. Presence of glare is leading to visual fatigue and an unnecessary high mental load. The findings support the relevance of considering principles of general and visual ergonomics when designing and organizing work in control rooms. Workstation design should also be flexible to allow for individual and contextual adjustments.

The present study focuses on the pattern of organizational commitment and job satisfaction among seafarers working on passenger vessels, compared to those working on board other types of ships. The dependent variable in the study is organizational commitment. Work position, age and job satisfaction are used as independent variables. The question posed in this study is whether the pattern of organizational commitment and job satisfaction differ depending on the proximity to passengers. The material is based on a survey sent to a random sample of seafarers in the Swedish Transport Agency's register of seafarers. It has been analyzed with descriptive statistics and multivariate regressions comparing the two categories of vessels. The results show that organizational commitment is higher on passenger vessels, while the effect of job satisfaction on organizational commitment is slightly higher for ships that do not carry passengers. For managers in the service department, the level of commitment is to a higher extent dependent on job satisfaction. Development and communication of career options and opportunities for the service crew is suggested as a way to enhance organizational commitment and job satisfaction among this group.

Shipping can be regarded as a high-risk domain with a large complexity in operations. Accidents and incidents may involve serious danger for seafarers and passengers, as well as for the environment and society at large. Education and training play a crucial role for the safe conduct of ships. While technical skills have been at the core of a mariner’s skillset, non-technical skills (NTS) have become increasingly important for the safe conduct of merchant vessels. Therefore, knowledge in NTS has become a mandatory requirement for officers serving on board. This knowledge is normally taught in courses labelled Bridge Resource Management, Engine room Resource Management, or Maritime Resource Management. While the number of courses in the industry is steadily increasing, research focused on NTS training and its relation to safety in operation seems sparse. This review article aims to provide an overview of scientific literature focused on training NTS for maritime operations published between 2000 and 2018. Based on the reviewed literature the article identifies and discusses current research gaps, trends and potential future directions to improve maritime resource management training.

Environmental considerations, concerning the negative impacts of ship exhaust gases and particles on ambient air quality, are behind the requirements of cleaner marine fuels currently applied in designated emission control areas (ECAs). We investigated the impact of a ship operating on two types of fuel on the indoor air quality onboard. Gaseous and particulate air pollutants were measured in the engine room and the accommodation sections on-board an icebreaker operating first on Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO, 1%-S), and later Marine Diesel Oil (MDO, 0.1%-S). Statistically significant decrease of SO2, NOx, PM2.5 and particle number concentration were observed when the ship was operating on MDO. Due to the higher content of alkylated PAHs in MDO compared to HFO, the concentration of PAHs increased during operation on MDO. The particulate PAHs classified as carcinogens, were similar to or lower in the MDO campaign. Chemical analysis of PM2.5 revealed that the particles consisted mainly of organic carbon and sulfate, although the fraction of metals was quite large in particles from the engine room. Principal Component Analysis of all measured parameters showed a clear difference between HFO and MDO fuel on the indoor environmental quality on-board the ship. This empirical study poses a first example on how environmental policy-making impacts not only the primary target at a global level, but also brings unexpected localized benefits at workplace level. The study emphasizes the need of further investigations on the impact of new marine fuels and technologies on the indoor air environments on board.

The service crew is a vital part of the customer experience on board passenger ships, but also has important duties in the safety organization in case of emergencies. Yet, they are not always recognized as seafarers and have received less attention in research that addresses occupational safety and health in the maritime domain. This study explores the occupational safety and health for the service crew working on Swedish passenger ships. The purpose is to analyze causes of work-related ill-health, investigate and identify important aspects of the physical, organizational and social working conditions. The study has adopted a mixed methods approach, including survey questionnaires, register data on reported long-term sick leave, and field visits on board. Key findings show that service crew on passenger ships report the highest levels of perceived exertion. They also have the highest rates of long-term sick leave lasting 60 days or more. Most diagnoses are related to musculoskeletal and psychological disorders. Important factors in the shipboard work environment include high physical load and strenuous working postures, poor workplace design, long working hours, limited time for recovery, and the perceived mental and emotional load that comes with unclear boundaries between work and recreation and the social interaction with customers and colleagues. The most prominent health promotive factors to reduce the perceived exertion are appropriate manning, time to rest, working with managers that attend to problems and experiencing good working relations with other departments on board.

Computer work is a visually demanding task associated with adverse eye symptoms. Frequent use of digital displays is known to cause a deterioration of the so-called binocular control. Direct glare further reduces the capacity for binocular coordination during computer work, leading to reduced reading ability and increased eye symptoms. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of different luminance levels of direct glare on binocular eye movement control and reading ability in a computer work environment. Sixteen participants with normal binocular vision performed equal reading tasks in a balanced study. Three controlled lighting conditions of direct glare (2000, 4000 and 6000 cd/m(2)) were tested, in addition to no glare. After each trial, the participants answered survey questionnaires regarding their understanding of the text, as well as their subjective experience of workload and perceived vision. Horizontal fixation disparity (FD) was measured before and after the reading tasks to evaluate binocular eye movement control. When comparing the responses of visual experience, a significant difference in reported eye symptoms was found between lighting conditions. Based on the variation (SD), a significant difference was found within mean values of repeated measurements of horizontal FD and a significantly higher variation in a comparison of initial FD values measured during lighting conditions of no glare, to final measured values in all three glare conditions. Reading ability was found to be significantly negative affected with the adversity of lighting conditions. This study supports the contention that binocular eye movement control is reduced caused by direct glare. Even lower degree of disability glare caused eye symptoms. The results establish the argument that working with flat screens raises visual demands.

This paper presents findings from a study concerning the work environment on board Swedish passenger vessels. The study explored work-related experiences of personnel in the service department (hotel, restaurant, catering, shops) based on individual and group interviews, observations, survey data and social insurance statistics concerning sick leave longer than 60 days. The results of this paper are based on ten semi-structured individual and group interviews with 16 respondents. The respondents were HR personnel from six shipping companies and crewmembers working onboard. The results show that in the HR personnel’s perception, healthy work environments are often associated to individual personal health activities, such as access to a gym or healthcare, lectures or other measures directed towards the individual seafarer. Aspects of the organizational and social work environments were barely mentioned as stressors or as contributing factors to an increasing number of sick absences. The interviewed crewmembers, however, highlighted the need for both organizational and social measures to foster healthy work environments. The need for employee participation within the organizational design and decision-making processes, including methods on how to conduct risk assessments prior to physical and organizational changes and follow up their consequences were emphasized. Thus, to create safe and sustainable work environments on board, more attention needs to be directed towards including shipboard personnel in the physical and organizational design of their own work environment rather than promoting a healthy lifestyle through measures directed towards the individual worker.

This paper presents findings from three workshops focused on the physical, organizational and social work environment of service crew working on board Swedish passenger vessels. The first workshop aimed to identify underlying causes of long-term sick leave among employees in the service department, and potential measures that can be taken to reduce ill-health. The second and third workshop explored knowledge of available methods to identify occupational safety and health risks, and suggest health-promotion strategies at individual, team and company levels. A total of 58 persons from the Swedish maritime cluster participated in the workshops. During the workshops, open and structured brainstorming was used to create affinity diagrams to systematically summarize the identified causes, risks and strategies. Although the results presented in this article stem from a research project focused on Swedish passenger vessels, many of the findings may be transferable to an international maritime setting towards a deeper understanding of seafarers' work environment and working conditions.

This paper presents results from a case study at a Swedish paper mill. The study is part of a larger ongoing research project aiming to investigate visual ergonomics in control room environments. Visual conditions were measured and evaluated in five control rooms, and nine process operators answered questions about perceived workload and visual experience. The participating operators rated their mental workload as being the highest, but also mentioned a high physical load and time pressure. Six operators indicated that they had work-related eye problems and experienced pronounced eye fatigue, as well as eye discomfort, sore eyes and blurred vision. In one of the visited control rooms, where the operators indicated that they often experienced eye problems, the operators were clearly subjected to glare. Light was reflected within the field of view from a steel plate outside the control room windows. Compared to recommendations for office workplaces, the illuminance levels were low in all control rooms except one, causing contrast glare since computer screens generally had a higher luminance. Low contrasts were also identified in the computer screens between background and characters. In conclusion, the measured visual conditions could be related to an increased visual load, leading to visual discomfort. This may lead to pain in the neck, shoulders, and contribute towards an unnecessary high mental load. Recommendations are suggested of how lighting conditions van be improved.

The objective of this paper is to present the rationale for, and the development process of, a new international master’s programme in Ergonomics, here framed as ‘Technology, Work and Health’, at KTH, Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden. The masters’ programme is designed for two years of full-time studies (120 credits). A challenge during this development process, has been to decide not only what to include in the programme, but also what to exclude. The systems-oriented discipline of ergonomics now covers all aspects of human work. Thus, two tracks of specialization are offered: Work Environment Engineering (WEE) and Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE). The programme is given for the first time in the autumn 2018. After the first year it is necessary to evaluate the programme from student and teacher perspectives, to capture effects and improvement possibilities. Naturally, this evaluation includes the usual course evaluations that are done during and after each course. But also, from a recruiting perspective, when we now how many students, from where, and of which background that eventually were awarded a MSc degree. Finally, a programme review with an emphasis on outcomes is essential to establish that the programme meets academic standards, professional discipline expectations among employers of the graduates, and student expectations and satisfaction. The results from this review will provide the incentive for necessary major and minor changes to maintain an up-to-date and high-quality curriculum in a discipline that continues to evolve.

The benefits of having users evaluate product or workplace design during the development process are well known. This is often achieved by letting users interact with one or more models of the design proposal, in order to elicit feedback. The issue for product developers is to choose what type(s) of models to use (from paper drawings to physical or virtual mock-ups or fully working prototypes) and when to use them in the development process, while making optimal use of resources like time, money and personnel. This paper compares three types of simple three-dimensional (3D) models (1:1 scale, 1:16 scale and CAD) representing a ship bridge workstation, examining what kind of feedback they elicit in a design evaluation with representative users. Participants were asked to assess the proposed design and to compare the models' relative merits. The study found that while all three types of 3D models elicited several types of useful design feedback, there were differences in both quantity and content of the feedback elicited by each model type. The physical models elicited more feedback than the CAD model, both regarding content richness (direct and indirect design feedback) and quantity. The tangibility of the models seems to greatly influence acceptance and credibility.

This paper describes the results of the conceptual and practical strategy work performed by the Swedish Ergonomics and Human Factors Society (EHSS) today. The rationale of EHSS is to strengthen the quality of ergonomics/human factors knowledge and practice in Sweden and form a multidisciplinary platform across disciplines and professions for collaboration and for knowledge sharing. EHSS gathers about 350 members, representing different occupations in industry, academia and the public sector. Together, EHSS members hold knowledge and experience in physical, cognitive and organizational ergonomics and its application in working life and society. The overall aim of this paper is to inspire related societies and stakeholders to initiate discussions about strategies and future projects that allow for collaboration and knowledge sharing. Proposedly follow the EHSS model where we have formed a multidisciplinary platform for collaboration across disciplines and professions. The activities initiated and supported by EHSS are one step towards broadening the knowledge and application of HFE in Sweden, and to comprise new arenas of specialization. By participating in the key areas in society such as teaching, standardization, product development and occupational safety and health, the work of EHSS is one piece of the puzzle to improve human activities in the future. The vision is that together, we can improve safety, efficiency and well-being for all.

The study presented in this paper aims at investigating what safety measures that can be taken to improve the operational safety during icebreaker operations in the Baltic Sea. During icebreaker operations, the icebreaker and the assisted vessel operate in close proximity to each other, a distance which can be even smaller if weather and ice conditions are severe. This poses a severe threat to the operation, since the extremely short distance between the vessels leaves no room for error. The results, which are based on data collected through individual interviews and questionnaires, indicate several possible improvements. Firstly, on a regulatory level, the introduction of an ice navigation certificate for deck officers would set a minimal level of formal competency. Secondly, on a knowledge level, more ice navigation training and better language skills work in favour for the safety. Thirdly, on a technical level, having an electronic chart with target tracking capability increases the efficiency and safety of the passage through ice. In addition to these results, this study shows a need to further research the communication and language situation during icebreaker operations.

Despite significant changes in work tasks performed on board, towards more sedentary monitoring and administrative work, the incidence of occupational injuries and disorders remains high among seafarers. In order to improve safety standards, industry stakeholders increasingly require written documentation of numerous routines, procedures and tasks performed on board. These increased demands have however added to the administrative burden. Some say, to the extent that administrative work has become a safety risk in itself. This paper presents the result of a survey investigating how Swedish seafarers perceive their own level of fatigue, stress and over-exertion related to work. The material consists of 1309 respondents originating from a random selection procedure, of which 651 reported to be employed in short sea shipping. Multiple regression analysis (OLS regression), allowing adjusted effects, were applied in several steps of the analysis. The highest levels of exertion were reported by employees in the catering department, positions not generally associated with high administrative burden. Perceived high levels of administrative work do increase the level of exertion, but cannot explain the observed pattern. Future ship and trade-specific studies on physical and mental well-being and complementary studies on the catering department's working conditions and work environment are necessary.