Cooperation with other international or organisations
International cooperation is essential in the shipping industry. The ILO, therefore, works closely with other international organisations, for example the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the United Nations Commission on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) on different aspects of shipping and port activities.
The Joint IMO/ILO Committee on Training keeps under review an international maritime training guide (Document for Guidance) first developed in 1964. The Committee was created with the purpose of examining and commenting upon proposals on international standards concerning maritime training, qualifications or certification prepared by both organisations. Results from the Committee meetings are submitted to the ILO Governing Body and the IMO Maritime Safety Committee for examination, acceptance and recommended action. The Eighth Session of the Committee held in 1990 discussed fatigue as a factor in the manning and safety of ships. Following the success of that meeting, it was decided that a speMO/ILO Joint Group of Experts, with terms of reference to draw up a uniform framework of procedures for the investigation of maritime accidents, would identify whether and, if so, to what extent, fatigue was a contributory factor to such accidents. The Joint Group met twice (1992 and 1993) agreeing on the procedure to follow. The last session of the Joint IMO/ILO Committee on Training met in January 1994 discussing the revision of the 1978 STCW Convention.
In January 1998 two adLO/IMO Working Groups met. One agreed on draft guidelines on investigation of human factors in maritime casualties and the other agreed on guidelines for the development of tables of seafarers' shipboard working arrangements and format of records of seafarers' hours of work or hours of rest.
Closely related to shipboard safety is the work of the Joint ILO/WHO Committee on the Health of Seafarers which, at the seven sessions since its creation in 1949, has made numerous recommendations on various health problems of ship personnel, a prominent one being the creation of the International Medical Guide for Ships, which was updated in 1988. This unified, modernized and coordinated three existing forms of medical assistance to ships at sea (the ship's medical guide, the medicine chest and the means of obtaining medical advice by radio) and gives an international approach to the problems encountered by a ship's captain faced with injury or disease aboard his ship. The Committee last met in 1993.
An ILO/WHO Consultation was held in November 1997 and agreed on Guidelines for conducting Pre-Sea and Periodic Medical Fitness Examination of Seafarers.
Further collaboration between the ILO, IMO and WHO is manifested by the Medical First Aid Guide for Use in Accidents Involving Dangerous Goods published jointly by the three organisations in 1973. The Guide, which is intended for use in conjunction with IMO's International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code and the International Medical Guide for Ships, contains recommendations for medical first aid to be given after accidents and for preventive measures against poisoning connected with the carriage of dangerous goods.
Also directly related to the hazards faced by seafarers from cargoes carried in their ships areMO/ILO/UN/ECE Guidelines for Packing of Cargo Transport Units (CTUs) which will be published in 1997. These Guidelines, first published in 1978, then updated in 1985 give the essentials of safe packing for use by persons responsible for the packing and securing cargo in freight containers or vehicles and for persons whose task it is to train people to pack those units.
