Improving safety in the Alaskan commercial fishing industry.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Conway GA ; Husberg, Brad ; Lincoln, Jennifer M.
• Description:
  Over 90 percent of deaths in Alaska's commercial fishing industry were due to drowning, following vessel sinkings. In the early 1990s, the U.S. Commercial Fishing Industry Vessel Safety Act required the implementation of safety measures for all fishing vessels. The purpose of our study was to examine the effectiveness of these measures in reducing the high fatality rate of Alaska's commercial fishermen. Alaska Occupational Injury Surveillance System and Alaska Trauma Registry data were used to examine fishing fatalities and injuries. Demographic, risk factor, and incident data were analyzed for trends. During 1991-1998, there was a significant (p<0.001) decrease in Alaskan commercial fishing deaths. Significant progress has been made in saving lives of fishermen involved in vessel sinkings. During 1991-1997, 536 fishermen suffered severe injuries (437/100,000/year). These injuries resulted from being entangled, struck or crushed by equipment (60 percent) and from falls (25 percent). Vessel sinkings still continue to occur, placing fishermen at substantial risk. Efforts toward improving vessel stability and hull integrity and avoidance of harsh weather conditions must be made to further reduce the fatality rate. The nature of nonfatal injuries reflect that modern fishing vessels are complex industrial environments posing multiple hazards. Measures are needed to prevent falls and improve equipment handling and machinery guarding.
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Acoustics Hearing Hunting Noise Noise, Occupational Occupational Health Safety Safety Management Ships
• Keywords:
  Accident-prevention Accidents Equipment-design Fishing-industry Injuries Injury-prevention Safety-equipment Safety-practices Safety-programs Traumatic-injuries
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Conference/Symposia Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Alaska ; Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  211-221
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20022130
• Citation:
  Proceedings of the International Fishing Industry Safety and Health Conference, October 23-25, 2000, Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Lincoln, Jennifer M., Hudson DS, Conway GA, Pescatore R eds. Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2003-102, 2002 Oct; :211-221
• Email:
  jlincoln@cdc.gov
• Editor(s):
  Lincoln, Jennifer M. ; Hudson DS ; Conway GA ; Pescatore R
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2003
• NORA Priority Area:
  Disease and Injury: Traumatic Injuries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  1141 - Fishing - (NAICS)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:383a6a2c4857cf15caf15fc6d4ceca4a7adbbf3f4f8700608b2c5132e68704854abb384616e71c075f806b414734af3a5fe8b30c2fcb0764f5694fb4896791e6
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/181105/cdc_181105_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 226.04 KB ]