Advice and assistance are free for SUR members

The Seafarers' Union of Russia effectively implements social support programs for seafarers - the Union members, including consultations on a variety of issues. Hundreds of seafarers and their family members take advantage of this opportunity every year. 

Recently, a 2nd Engineer, got injured on board a vessel, applied to SUR. He injured his leg while on watch. However, doctors at the Russian hospital where he was being treated considered the problem with his leg, namely phlegmon, to be a disease, and not a consequence of an industrial injury. 

The seafarer himself thought differently. He considered the question of receiving compensation on a certificate of incapacity due to an occupational accident to be an open question. 

He turned to SUR for advice and support. Following clearing up the circumstances of the accident and reconstruction of the events that preceded the inflammatory process, the case took a new turn.

It turned out that the seafarer began to experience health problems following a fall incident during a fire in the ship's engine room - the hematoma progressed into a phlegmon. The SUR Chief Technical Labor Inspector Evgeny Khizhnyak provided specific recommendations on the incident to the 2nd Engineer.

The shipping company carried an investigation into the accident and arranged all the relevant documents. - In such situations, the advisory support of the trade union is of great importance. We have seen this many times, when seafarers injured on board came to us, -  the SUR Chief Technical Labor Inspector Evgeny Khizhnyak said.

It is a reminder, that SUR has a Technical Labor Inspection, which combines specialists from territorial organizations of different regions of the country. All of them take part  in accident investigations, visit vessels to monitor the working conditions of seafarers – SUR members, consider complaints concerning safety and health protection and provide detailed consultations to seafarers and their family members.

Photo: author Dmitry Bardovsky