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Researchers at Solent University need as many seafarers as possible to complete a questionnaire to help explore experiences of using personal protective equipment (PPE) on-board ships.

26th February 2020
MaritimeResearchMaritime website

Personal protective equipment (PPE) is vital in reducing the risk of workers experiencing injuries, but it’s not always fit for purpose. Researchers at Solent University need as many seafarers as possible to complete a questionnaire to help explore experiences of using personal protective equipment (PPE) on-board ships.

The Seafarers’ Personal Protective Equipment project is a new piece of research being run by Solent University in collaboration with CHIRP Maritime.

Project lead, Dr Helen Devereux, says: “PPE is vital in reducing the risk of workers experiencing injuries, but we know anecdotally and from our own experience that PPE is not always suitable on board ship. We know that when PPE is not comfortable or practical to wear, workers are less likely to use it. So finding out about seafarers’ day-to-day experiences of using PPE is really important.”

This project aims to explore a wide variety of seafarers’ day-to-day experience of using PPE on-board. The more seafarers who complete the questionnaire, the more that can be learnt about the PPE provided to those working at sea, difficulties being experienced and how these could be addressed to improve working conditions for seafarers in the future. 

The survey can be accessed at: https://solent.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/ppe

For further information contact Dr Helen Devereux: helen.devereux@solent.ac.uk.