(NEWS) Health and Wellbeing Seminar Delivered in Manila for GEFO

May

2024

Health and Wellbeing Seminar Delivered in Manila for GEFO

From 14-15 May in Manila, Philippines, the World Maritime University (WMU) delivered an Executive Professional Development Course (EPDC) on Seafarer Health and Wellbeing for Gesellschaft für Oeltransporte mbH (GEFO). The customized EPDC was designed to provide seafarers and the ship management team with insights into personal and organizational factors influencing mental health and wellbeing.

WMU Professor Michael Ekow Manuel and Associate Professor Inga Bartuseviciene led the seminar, which was attended by 57 participants. The topics discussed included stressors at sea, conflict prevention and resolution, and optimizing wellbeing and mental health at sea. GEFO and WMU are committed to continued collaboration to promote sustainable development, entrench a positive organizational safety culture and improve the wellbeing of seafarers, making a positive impact on the maritime industry and the people who work in it.

Peter Van Herck, Group HSSEQ Manager at GEFO said, “Our crewmembers on board the GEFO Fleet have proven to be the backbone of our success and sustainable growth. Our people have proven that the GEFO Family is growing, loyalty being the driver. Safeguarding sufficient expertise and knowledge is very important. The mental strength of our people and their capacity to deal with stress, however, remains the prerogative and is the precursor to working safe using the expertise and knowledge to the maximum capacities and engagement on board. Addressing the various aspects of mental health including training to become resilient, can only be conducted by expert professionals at an academic level and that is why we at GEFO have initiated a close partnership with WMU already in 2014. Our Filipino Crews have given their very best during the 2-day seminar and workshop acknowledging the accessibility and importance of the various topics discussed, always under the one denominator: Mental Health.”

Since 2014, GEFO has partnered with WMU to provide its employees with customized Executive Professional Development Courses. Customized offerings include courses on Maritime Safety, Emergency Management According to ISM Code, Maritime Safety Management and Handling of Operational Risk, Improving the Implementation of the ISM Code, Ship Safety Management and Accident Investigation, Safety Leadership, and Safety Optimization / Human Element. The Seafarer Health and Wellbeing course has also been delivered at WMU headquarters to GEFO employees as well as on location in Gdansk, Poland and in Hamburg, Germany,.

For information about WMU's Executive and Professional Development Courses, click here.

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