International maritime labour standards
The special nature of the conditions of work and life of maritime workers has led the Conference to adopt an extensive range of Conventions and Recommendations applying specifically to seafarers or, in certain cases, to fishing workers, and several other instruments applying specifically to dock workers and inland boatmen.
Standards for seafarers
The instruments, when taken together, constitute a comprehensive set of minimum standards. They are often referred to as the "International Seafarers' Code" and concern nearly all aspects of the conditions of work and life of merchant seafarers. For example, the minimum age for admission to employment is set at 15 years; a medical examination is compulsory prior to employment aboard ship and periodically thereafter; hiring for shipboard jobs should be undertaken with no fee charged to the seafarer; an indemnity should be paid to a seafarer who loses employment because of a shipwreck; articles of agreement should contain certain details and they should be signed under certain conditions; seafarers signed off in a foreign port should be repatriated; seafarers should enjoy certain social security benefits; officer' competency certificates should be issued under certain conditions; food, catering and accommodation should meet particular standards; ship's cooks and able seamen should have certain qualifications; vocational training and welfare facilities should conform to set standards; measures should be taken to help prevent occupational accidents to seafarers and to report, investigate and analyse such accidents; and young seafarers under the age of 18 years must be protected with respect to their health, and safety and general welfare. These subjects and others are dealt with by instruments comprising the Code which has influenced both national legislation and the terms of collective agreements and employment contracts laying down the working conditions of seafarers throughout the world.
Standards for fishermen
Because of the special nature of their work, the terms of their work and the conditions in which they operate, the International Labour Conference has adopted a number of international labour standards which specifically address working and living conditions of fishermen. The first, a Recommendation concerning the limitation of hours of work in the fishing industry, was adopted in 1920 by the Second Session of the International Labour Conference. Since that time, several other instruments have been adopted for this category of workers (some of these supersede earlier instruments concerning the same subjects). The ILO Committee on Conditions of Work in the Fishing Industry was also established and, since its first meeting in 1954, has met three more times - most recently in 1988. In addition to hours of work the instruments cover:
- minimum age,
- medical examination,
- articles of agreement,
- competency certificates,
- accommodation of crews, and
- vocational training.
