Investigation of Stress on Seafarers by Biochemical Inspections and Heart Rate Measurements

It is naturally to be expected that occupational stress on seafarers has specific characters compared to workers engaged in other industries. Because the physical rigors of working and living at sea has been endured as a part of job. The purpose of this paper is to figure out physical changes on seafarers resulted from ordinary shipboard life on the ocean-going cargo vessel. To do this, we performed biochemical inspections testing blood and urine for 28 crews, and measured heart rate of officers engaging in some bridge duties. The tests showed that creatinine, uric acid, total cholesterol, HDL-C, LDL-C of some crews fell down to level which could make a bad impact on human body. And the heart rate of deck officers had vibrated with rather wide amplitude whenever they have got some work-related psychological pressure.