Zhao Zhiwei, Tang Lijun
Seafarers Research Institute, Dalian Maritime University, No. 1 Linghai Road, Dalian, China. 116026.
Plymouth Business School, University of Plymouth, Cookworthy Building, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK.
Mar Policy. 2023 Jul;153:105664. doi: 10.1016/j.marpol.2023.105664. Epub 2023 May 13.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to port congestion and disruption to global logistics and supply chains. While previous research has examined the impact on port performance and economics, social issues, such as the impact on port personnel (including pilots), have been overlooked. In this context, this paper examines the challenges experienced by Chinese pilots during the pandemic through in-depth interviews with 28 pilots. It shows that the draconian pandemic control measures adopted in China, rather than the pandemic itself, impaired pilots' physical and mental health, reduced their availability, and introduced new safety hazards, which curtailed both the port's capacity and ability to provide efficient and safe pilotage and resulted in sub-standard services. The findings suggest that there is a serious issue regarding the absence of effective mechanisms for pilots to raise their health and safety concerns and how these might be addressed by port administrators and/or local authorities. Worker participation and involvement in occupational health and safety management was problematic. These findings have implications for pilot station management at both company and government administrative and legislative levels.
新冠疫情导致港口拥堵，扰乱了全球物流和供应链。虽然此前的研究探讨了其对港口运营、经济以及社会问题的影响，但诸如对港口工作人员（包括引航员）的影响等社会问题却被忽视了。在此背景下，本文通过对28名引航员进行深入访谈，研究了疫情期间中国引航员所面临的挑战。研究表明，中国采取的严格疫情防控措施而非疫情本身，损害了引航员的身心健康，降低了他们的工作可用性，并带来了新的安全隐患，这限制了港口的吞吐能力以及提供高效安全引航服务的能力，导致服务水平不达标准。研究结果表明，在引航员提出健康和安全问题以及港口管理人员和/或地方当局如何解决这些问题方面，缺乏有效机制是一个严重问题。工人参与职业健康和安全管理存在问题。这些研究结果对公司层面以及政府行政和立法层面的引航站管理具有启示意义。
