A special assessment of working conditions was carried out on board the tanker "Okeansky Prospekt"

A special assessment of the working conditions of crew members was carried out on board the tanker Okeansky Prospekt, operated by OOO SKF EKO, during its stay in Primorsk. The examination was carried out by a dedicated commission consisting of representatives of the employer and the trade union. The Seafarers' Union of Russia was represented in the commission by the SUR Chief Technical Labor Inspector, Yevgeny Khizhnyak. He stressed that m/v Okeansky Prospekt is a modern transport vessel operating under the flag of the Russian Federation and meeting all the requirements of national and international regulations governing maritime safety and environmental issues.

In Russia, harmful working conditions and compensation for their consequences are regulated by the Labor Code and the federal law “On Special Assessment of Working Conditions” (SAWC). So, if the working conditions at the workplace are recognized as harmful, then the employer is obliged to pay a harmful exposure allowance in the amount of not less than 4% of the salary. In addition, depending on the degree of harmfulness of working conditions, employees are entitled to extra days of leave - at least 7 days and the right to early retirement.

Yevgeny Khizhnyak said that the tanker Okeansky Prospekt  was built at the end of 2022 at the domestic shipyard "Zvezda", based in the Far East. He noted that despite the fact that the vessel is in excellent technical condition, the work of seafarers is hard: because of the intensity of the labor process, the influence of noise and vibration, frequent changes in time and climatic zones, and lengthy periods far from home.

-As part of the SAWC, the commission carried out instrumental measurements, checked the illumination, microclimate, the width and height of the alley-ways, the working and rest conditions of the crew members, - Yevgeny Khizhnyak explained. - Documents are currently being processed. As a result of this assessment, the working conditions of seafarers will be assigned a hazard class, which determines the benefits for working in harmful conditions as provided for by Russian legislation.

The SUR Chief Technical Labor Inspector outlined that the working conditions of seafarers have always been and remain hard and harmful. Also, he added that despite the hardship of working at sea, the tanker Okeansky Prospekt provides for perfect recreation conditions: there is a swimming pool on board the vessel, sauna, and sports facilities. 

It should be noted that the SUR Primary Organization of St. Petersburg transferred a treadmill for the seafarers of the tanker Okeansky Prospekt as part of the implementation of the collective agreement concluded between the shipping company and the SUR.

The crew of the Okeansky Prospekt consists of 21 Russians, all of them are SUR members and work under the terms of the SUR collective agreement. The crew's head is one of the most experienced captains of "Sovcomflot", Dmitry Belozerov.