Photo: U.S. Navy

Avoiding disease outbreaks in the Navy

February 13, 2014

Cruise ships are becoming infamous for incidents in which numerous passengers become sick. I’ve wondered: Do Navy vessels also suffer from this issue?

A recent CNN article explored this very topic. The short answer is that Navy vessels for the most part avoid contagious disease outbreaks.

What are employees of the Navy doing differently from cruise ships to ensure sickness isn’t spreading on board? Some secret military procedure? A heavy spinach diet keeping sailors healthy?

The simple reason the Navy ships avoid contagious disease outbreaks is because they work at it. Literally.

From the CNN article:




” In the kitchens, cleaning is constant to prevent foodborne illnesses.



Photo: U.S. Navy

This is a great example of good housekeeping procedures. It’s well-known among occupational safety and health professionals that practicing good housekeeping can help prevent workplace illnesses and injuries.

Obviously, cruise ships strive to keep their vessels clean from stem to stern. I’ve been on a cruise before, and it was remarkable how diligent the staff was at keeping the place tidy and encouraging sanitation among their guests.

And there’s the rub – the guests. Naval vessels are filled with employees whose daily job entails keeping the ship, well, shipshape. Although cruise ships have employees tasked with ensuring a clean vessel (and, despite what media reports may lead you to believe, most cruise ships are successful in preventing disease outbreaks), not everyone on the cruise has such a task. One of the reasons people go on a cruise is to get away from work, to relax and let other people worry about such things as cleaning.

However, the prevention of injuries and illnesses is not something people should take a vacation from.
