Port based welfare workers for seafarers: Summary Report
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| Cover image of the Summary Report. Both the Summary Report and Full Report are available for download below. | |
This report is based on the findings of a research project funded by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) Seafarers’ Trust. The project was started in June 2008 and launched in October 2010.
"I like helping seafarers; I give them image of their families, sisters and mother." (welfare worker’s quote)
The report looks at the working lives of the welfare workers who bring services to seafarers, and is based upon a questionnaire filled out by 1,107 welfare workers from 460 different ports. Erol Kahveci has long experience in dealing with seafarers’ issues with the SIRC at Cardiff University and recently with the Working Lives Research Institute at London Metropolitan University.
There are two parts to this report. The first is the summary report, which has been published and contains the main findings of the study in 46 pages. It provides simple descriptive statistics supported by first person accounts, and conclusions and recommendations. The second part of the report is called "Port Welfare Workers Report (Full)". This provides further analytical results, details of the questions asked, tables containing the responses to each question, and is 146 pages long. This has not been published.
The report investigates the age profile of welfare workers, how they do their work, their training, the priority that they put on certain activities for seafarers, their hopes, and their frustrations. It looked at how ship visiting is conducted, the challenges the workers face and the networks that they are part of. It looked at the need for seafarers’ centres and the effectiveness of the training that they receive. One of the most urgent needs for training was in the area of dealing with seafarers’ grievances and justice cases.
This report is an extension of the work which was started in 2006 with the commissioning of research which led to the SIRC report on 'Port Based Welfare Services for Seafarers', based on the views of about 4,000 seafarers of different nationalities on their needs. This is also available on this site.
WLRI and the ITF Seafarers’ Trust would like to thank all those who responded to the questionnaires. We are indebted to the welfare workers who gave their time to answer the semi-structured interview questions and assisted with the more detailed work in ports as a follow up to the survey. In compliance with WLRI’s promise and the wishes of some of them, they are known only to WLRI and remain anonymous.
Please feel free to use this report; please acknowledge Erol Kahveci, the WLRI and ITF Seafarers’ Trust when you use it or reproduce it.
Download the summary report or the full report below:
