Wellbeing and Happiness and Their Association With Working Conditions at Sea: A Cross-sectional Study Among the Global Workforce of Seafarers

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate whether seafarers’ self-reported work experiences were associated with wellbeing and happiness while onboard. The study also examined which indicators of the work experiences had an effect in what direction. We analyzed the survey responses from 13 008 seafarers onboard, from 154 different nationalities, serving in 44 different international shipping companies. The outcome measures were wellbeing and happiness, and the exposure variables were work environment factors: satisfaction, expectations, ideal, skills and training, challenges, and workload. General psychosocial work environment onboard and socioeconomic independent variables were also included. We conducted different logistic regression analyses, and presented the results as odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The study found that most seafarers reported high levels of wellbeing and happiness and that these were significantly associated to the work environment factors, except for workload. A stratified analysis, showed that workload modified the effect of the other work environment factors. The study found that there were independently significant associations between work related factors and wellbeing and happiness among seafarers at sea. The findings suggest that a greater emphasis on these outcomes could have a positive impact both on crew retention and safety at sea.