Physical exams as part of shipboard employment

Working on OSV’s, I have to say, “What kickout panel?” Maybe that’s why they’re allowed to work being morbidly obese. /sarcasm

Nice conversation going on here.
My first reply, hopefully not offending anybody.

My question…have you ever seen an obese airline captain/pilot or stew?
Would you fly with them, knowing they can’t move around quickly?
Why do we accept obvious unhealthy people on ships?

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Actually, yes to a chubby pilot or two and more than several flight attendants both male and female that give out free hip checks going up and down the aisle. Great for taking a nap during the flight.

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I agree with you VarAway. Call it discrimination if you want but I don’t think morbidly obese people belong in all professions. 300+lb people don’t belong in the cockpit, as firefighters, as police officers, offshore or on stages of strip clubs.

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And truck drivers too, don’t forget truck drivers. And construction workers and Indian Chiefs and all the village people.

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Morbidly obese truck drivers, construction workers & Indian Chiefs can easily call an ambulance to come pick them up when their little hearts give out. That’s what ambulance drivers do. But morbidly obese people shouldn’t go to sea & expect me & other mariners to bring them back to life because they make terrible life/diet choices. It would be better for those BMI gamblers to stay on shore while throwing the dice with their health & life.

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Except for when they have it on route 80, cross over the median and take out a school bus. The point I was inelegantly making is that having a heart attack can be hazardous to others in a wide variety of occupations. And while being overweight clearly has health impacts including heart disease, you seem quite intent on a general banning regardless of actual job performance.

Not much risk of someone in their 20s, 30s, or 40s having a heart attack, but a lot of very fat people in that age range.

I recently saw a statistic that something like 12 guys died on tugs in 2017. About six were related to medical issues. Four were from falling overboard.

The biggest causes of death in shipping are slips and falls and asphyxiation.

The focus should be on reducing slips and falls and asphyxiation with good design, better operating practices, and better equipment.

The biggest medical issue that we should be concerned about is diminishing eyesight: loss of depth perception and loss of night vision. That is a common problem. Heart attacks are relatively uncommon.

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