Occupational stressors identified by North Carolina commercial crab pot fishermen.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Kucera KL ; McDonald MA ; Mirka GA
• Description:
  Purpose: This work builds upon previous research conducted with commercial fishermen that identified four high-risk crab pot fishing tasks for intervention. We interviewed fishermen to identify jobs and/or tasks of concern in order to guide and inform current ergonomic interventions. Methodology: We administered surveys to two groups of southeastern US commercial crab fishermen: a prospective cohort contacted by telephone and fishermen recruited at 11 local fish houses. Fishermen were asked to rate physical stress of selected work tasks and conditions on a scale from 0 (no problem) to 10 (major problem). Fishermen were also asked open-ended questions about other work-issues of concern. Results: Fishermen who completed the survey (n=92) were predominantly male (90%), white (96%), with a mean age of 50.1 years (range 19 to 73). The five most physically strenuous tasks and conditions as rated by fishermen were pulling pots by hand (mean 6.4), rough weather (6.1) or rough water (6.2), unloading without mechanical assistance (5.8), and long work days (5.3). Task stress ratings with the most variability measured by the inter-quartile range (IQR) included: pulling pots by hand (IQR=5), unloading without mechanical assistance (IQR=5), gear maintenance (IQR=4.5), and moving boxes and baskets on board (IQR=4.5). Other situations that fishermen identified as a problem included: economic, off-shore work, declining industry, mental stress, environment, regulation, conflict with other commercial or recreational fishermen, issues with crew, sun (glare or burn), and breaking up frozen bait. Conclusions/Recommendations: In general, stressful tasks identified from previous research were rated similarly by the fishermen surveyed.
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution Air Pollution, Indoor Cardiovascular System Environment Hydrocarbons Occupational Health Plastics Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Intervention Epidemiology Fishing-industry Injuries Injury Injury-prevention Monitoring-systems Morbidity-rates Mortality-data Mortality-rates Musculoskeletal Stress Statistical-analysis Traumatic-injuries

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• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Abstract
• Place as Subject:
  Iowa ; North Carolina ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 7
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20040746
• Citation:
  IFISH4: Proceedings of the Fourth International Fisheries Industry Safety and Health Conference, May 11-14, 2009, Reykjavik, Iceland. Cincinnati, OH: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 2009 May; :1
• Contact Point Address:
  Kristen L. Kucera, Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2009
• Performing Organization:
  Iowa State University
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20070803
• Source Full Name:
  IFISH4: Proceedings of the Fourth International Fisheries Industry Safety and Health Conference, May 11-14, 2009, Reykjavik, Iceland
• End Date:
  20090731
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:fd4b9fd3b048ca409dc6449058d3f432e475b44bbce54de301a689211f3e0154ba2331c119212772eee1669bf6507d493e4b1e9a30a93918926dc6a76e58d883
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/181610/cdc_181610_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 7.91 KB ]