I am getting ready to go back to work for 5 weeks. Two of these five weeks I am going to be sharing a room with a guy that has a medical condition that causes his skin to have sores and flake off. It is bad enough to share the bridge with this guy. His hands are flaking, red and open sores are visible. When he leaves we sweep the bridge and brush off the consoles. There is a pile of skin flakes. If you look on the bottoms of your shoes there is skin all over the soles. We have chairs with wheels. These wheel get caked up skin on them and it accumulates to the point all the flakes of skin adheres to each other creating a large flake of skin. My question is do I have to just live with this? Everyone of us (bridge personnel) has complained about this and the management seems to have their hands tied or simply refuses to deal with it. Is my health in jeapordy? What are your thoughts?
Uhhm…Ewwww.
Psoriasis? I don’t think your health is in jeopardy, but damn. He can’t get enough relief to stop even the flaking?
More likely eczema, can be treated with medication. Father-in-Law had it much like your guy, don’t know what he was prescribed, but it cleared up amazingly.
I have resolved issues like this before in my career. previously, before say 1995, it was a grin and bear it situation but today with safety as the main concern the tide has changed. If you and your bridge team are unable to concentrate 100% on your job due to the interference of someone’s personal issues, then your company has an obligation under their SMS to change the personnel. If your direct supervisor is dragging his/her feet then use the company’s DPA. this is not a personal vendetta, this is a safety issue: never forget that the safety of everyone onboard requires you and your team to have 100% focus.
drug/alcohol abuse (as compared to the pre 1990’s levels) was largely controlled by SMS.
now it is the turn of chronic medical issues as witnessed by companies screening of HIV, epilepsy, chronic heart disease, etc.
the next focus of this will no doubt be the obesity epidemic, ergo the new USCG medical forms.
[QUOTE=Capt. Lee;26819]I am getting ready to go back to work for 5 weeks. Two of these five weeks I am going to be sharing a room with a guy that has a medical condition that causes his skin to have sores and flake off. It is bad enough to share the bridge with this guy. His hands are flaking, red and open sores are visible. When he leaves we sweep the bridge and brush off the consoles. There is a pile of skin flakes. If you look on the bottoms of your shoes there is skin all over the soles. We have chairs with wheels. These wheel get caked up skin on them and it accumulates to the point all the flakes of skin adheres to each other creating a large flake of skin. My question is do I have to just live with this? Everyone of us (bridge personnel) has complained about this and the management seems to have their hands tied or simply refuses to deal with it. Is my health in jeapordy? What are your thoughts?[/QUOTE]
Just put all that crap in a bowl and add milk. Enjoy!
My bowl of ice cream is not tasting so good right now.
[QUOTE=anchorman;26823]Just put all that crap in a bowl and add milk. Enjoy![/QUOTE]
I thought I had something…now I’m just drawing a blank. 
It is not Psoriasis or Eczema. This guy is a medical curiosity. They hold seminars so doctors from around the world can study this guy. I am serious this guy is horrible. Really what can I do?
Years ago I had an engineer who suffered with eczema and I know it looks nasty, but AFAIK eczema isn’t contagious. I don’t think hygiene is a factor with eczema. But I can see how the revulsion at having him ex-foliate all over the place as being impossible to ignore. I think I would ask if he could at least find a way to manage it better, has anyone spoken to him? It’s not out of line to insist he make a better effort at minimizing his impact on everyone else, especially his room-mate.
It would be an easy call if he came to the boat with a case of the flu, he’d be sent home until he could show a fit-for-duty slip (hopefully before he infected the whole crew). But if he isn’t contagious and can safely perform his duties, I can see how management might be “hands off” on this one.
[QUOTE=Capt. Lee;26832]It is not Psoriasis or Eczema. This guy is a medical curiosity. They hold seminars so doctors from around the world can study this guy. I am serious this guy is horrible. Really what can I do?[/QUOTE]
Rub him down with Vaseline. I’m sure you can spare him a gallon or two.
Be thankful he is not the cook.
Could be lupus, worked with a guy that was not quite that bad at old Hornbeck. Not catching but horrible to look at…:eek:
sweep up a weeks worth of skin and send it to the personal department, just do not include your name,
this has to be a health violation somewhere, if he eats in the dining hall it must be going into the food if there is a serving line or salad bar, THAT is a health violation,dead skin in the food, as bad a hair in the food,good luck, maybe buy him some full body disposable paint suits for work attire with a nice hair net:eek:, might be able to start a whole new trend on the drill ships,different colors and different designs, the endless possibilities 
[quote=Mr 100-ton;26838]sweep up a weeks worth of skin and send it to the personal department, just do not include your name,
this has to be a health violation somewhere, if he eats in the dining hall it must be going into the food if there is a serving line or salad bar, THAT is a health violation,dead skin in the food, as bad a hair in the food,good luck, maybe buy him some full body disposable paint suits for work attire with a nice hair net:eek:, might be able to start a whole new trend on the drill ships,different colors and different designs, the endless possibilities :D[/quote]
[B]Discoid lupus erythematosus[/B] is a chronic skin disorder in which a red, raised rash appears on the face, scalp, or elsewhere. The raised areas may become thick and scaly and may cause scarring. The rash may last for days or years and may recur. A small percentage of people with discoid lupus have or develop SLE later.
Richard is absolutely correct about the vessel safety issue, not to mention the food and sanitation problems it poses. Your crew must do something collectively to resolve it. That would be a very difficult thing to put up with. Good Luck with that Capt. Lee.
That is another issue. He coats himself with lotion and there are lotion smears all over everything he touches. Especially in his room. It looks like the trail of a slug. This guy is horrible!!!
Sounds horrible…reminds me of a guy I used to sail with…he doesn’t have a long gray mullet that he braids and a name that starts with HI and ends with LO does he?
With over 5,000 gCaptain members now, he could well be reading this, which may or may not be a good thing.
After reading everyone’s concern he could do the honorable thing and walk away from the vessel leaving you in peace, or maybe he could be upset and considering something worse…like jumping over the side with a canon ball or, now that he knows who his cabin mate is, something more sinister when you are sleeping.
Capt . Lee, I can sure sympathize with your situation…I am still amazed how inconsiderate people can be when living in close quarters with others…You would think that the guy would be busting his ass policing up his own mess…
I have an engineer that is the nicest older guy you could ever meet…Grandfatherly type, but boy can he make a mess ever where he goes…It affects me a little bit more, as I take care of keeping the living spaces clean, finally I pulled him off to the side and showed him what he was doing and asked him to help keep the place tidy…It worked…So maybe buy this guy a dust buster for the next hitch and show him how to use it, also maybe he could wear some disposable gloves for the vaseline problem…At least then he will have an idea that there is a problem…Some people are just not situationally aware of how their living habits affect others…
So maybe buy this guy a dust buster for the next hitch and show him how to use it, also maybe he could wear some disposable gloves for the vaseline problem…At least then he will have an idea that there is a problem…Some people are just not situationally aware of how their living habits affect others…
An excellent idea Shellback, and I think that the company should also talk to the unfortunate guy as it could not be construed as discrimination in the work place. He is employed after all…