Environmental health and safety management in marine vessels on the Qeshm-Bandar Abbas route

Marine vessels like a public place need to comply with environmental health standards and safety standards. The Qeshm-Bandar Abbas path is considered as one of the busiest maritime routes in Hormozgan Province. Considering the high frequency of travel and the importance of observing environmental health standards, this study aims to investigate environmental health indicators related to the health of crew and passengers. Moreover, the level of compliance with the safety standards of passenger vessels on this route was evaluated. Furthermore, the environmental health and safety status of 31 vessels on the route was investigated using a self-made questionnaire. This questionnaire consisted of four parts that included the characteristics of the vessel, the crew and captain, and 59 questions about environmental health indicators, and the safety of the vessels. In order to complete the questionnaires, first, the captain and the crew were interviewed, then the checklist was completed through a personal visit. Finally, the data obtained from the checklist was analyzed with SPSS software. The results showed that as the floor of all the boats was washable, only 83.8% of them were washed daily. Besides, the safety indicators of the vessels were provided in most cases and were estimated to be quite favorable. The amount of standard provision in the presence of communication system and inspection of the floating rotating lights, were 3.90% and 8.96%, respectively. It is recommended to increase the level of environmental health indicators in the vessels, such as the type and number of sanitary facilities, and the optimal volume of waste storage containers, and also floating sewage treatment system should be reviewed and improved.