Dear SEA HEALTH & WELFARE
Is it necessary for crew members working with sewage to be vaccinated against hepatitis? Does this also apply to engineer officers? And what about the cleaning staff?
Best wishes,
Peter
Dear Peter
Well, it’s a question we answer now and then. If the people in question work with pumping sewage waste from large groups of people ashore – and if this process entails a real risk of exposure – the affected employees should be offered the vaccine against hepatitis A (hepatitis B is not relevant in this respect).
The ship and its type should be mentioned in the assessment. The probability of a real risk would be larger in the case of a ship with many passengers on board than if it is a small ship, where the engineer officer’s job is emptying a holding tank on board a small ship with a permanent crew. The risk of some of them suddenly contracting hepatitis A would be highly improbable.
If it is considered that vaccination is necessary, the employer has to cover the expenses. You can find the rule by consulting the Danish Maritime Authority Notices, Chapter IX, section A, rule 2.2.
The cleaning staff do not fall within this category. They should be properly instructed in the most stringent sanitary requirements since vomiting and faeces, as you know, can pose a number of other and sometimes even greater health risks than infectious hepatitis. You can implement this information when preparing a risk assessment for the cleaning tasks on board – as well as in relation to the training and instruction of the crew
Enjoy.
Anne Ries
Senior consultant at SEA HEALTH & WELFARE
