Crew Health

A fit & healthy crew

The Club was the first to launch PEME in 1996 due to increasing crew illness claims and a lack of accountability of clinics. Since 1996, the PEME programme has become one of the Club’s leading loss prevention initiatives.

The aim of the programme is to reduce the volume and value of crew illness claims which are caused by pre-existing disease or disorders. These underlying conditions often impact on the crewmember's fitness for service and can endanger the health of other crew.

Clinic accountability

Investigation found huge inconsistencies in standards used by the clinics for pre-employment medical examinations. Largely, clinics adhered to the minimum standard required by the local authority. While conforming to the standard required for their registration, there was no accountability by the clinics to a shipowner for not identifying existing medical conditions at the pre-employment medical examination.

What concerned the Club more was the examination did not extend sufficiently to screen pre-existing medical conditions that would impact on a shipowner's liability to compensation. The consequences to a shipowner can be drastic. The potential exposure can run to a liability of hundreds of thousands of dollars under normal contractual obligations and to millions of dollars in worse case scenarios.

Under UK Club PEME accredited clinics are held accountable to both the Club and Members for their performance. The Club audits clinics to exacting criteria by independently auditing every clinic on the PEME programme to ensure quality control. The clinics are audited on average every two to four years. There is a clinic audit rota in operation.

Clinics in countries such as the Philippines and India, where a high volume of examinations are performed, are audited every two years by a joint Club and independent medical auditor. The existing clinic audit lasts between 3-4 hours at each clinic and includes a review of medical records and accreditations as well as an interview with staff and a tour of the facilities.

Universal standards

A Quality Medical Examination

The Club has assisted its Members by designing an enhanced medical examination form.

The PEME Programme has proven to be the leading loss prevention initiative within the UK Club. It is evident from the statistical findings that it has provided a system for proper accountability by the clinic on the quality of the pre-employment medical examinations. It has also led to consistency in a high examination standard to protect a shipowner from claims arising from medical conditions that should have been detected during the pre-employment examination.

Participating shipowners are provided with a proven system for managing this aspect of crew risks and thus they benefit by having a fitter and healthier crew. This programme is the most extensive and inclusive system in the industry.

An unfit crewman will have, or is likely to cause a major incident due to illness; so it's not just medical costs and sick wages that are at stake. Consider a few avoidable interruptions: delay in journey, disruption aboard vessel and unhappy customers or passengers.

Why choose us?

Participating shipowners are provided with a proven system for managing this aspect of crew risks and thus they benefit by having a fitter and healthier crew. This programme is the most extensive and inclusive system in the industry.

According to Sophia Bullard, PEME Director:- "Potentially an unfit crewmember could cause a major incident due to illness as his absence impacts on other crewmembers' workloads. It is not just medical costs and sick wages that are at stake. There is an avoidable interruption to the ship's schedule which may cause further claims"

Crew Health Brochure

The latest Crew Health brochure can be dowloaded by clicking the image above.

PEME in Japan