Understanding Non-Industrialized Workers’ Approaches to Safety: How Do Commercial Fishermen “Stay Safe”

Details

• Personal Author:
  Kucera KL ; McDonald MA
• Description:
  BACKGROUND: Commercial fishing is carried out worldwide, often in non-industrialized forms, and is associated with high rates of fatal and non-fatal occupational injury. PROBLEM: Fishermen who work independently in non-industrialized settings do not have access to union or industry sponsored safety services and must make their own decisions about safety practices. Learning the meaning of safety for them and the safety measures they employ is important before developing interventions. METHODS: Two fieldworkers conducted in-depth ethnographic interviews with 31 commercial fishermen in North Carolina. Interviews and fieldnotes were analyzed using QSR N5. RESULTS: Fishermen primarily related staying safe to work practices and attitudes. They identified specific safety measures, appropriate gear and boat maintenance, weather decisions, and working cooperatively when ocean fishing. DISCUSSION: The ethnographic research process can produce information about a group's norms of preventive behavior and safety concerns. Knowledge of workers' concepts and practices will inform researchers' inquiries. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Environmental Health Hunting Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Occupational Health Safety Safety Management Workplace
• Keywords:
  Accident-prevention Environmental-factors Fishing-industry Industrial-environment Injury-prevention Safety-measures Safety-practices Work-analysis Work-environment Work-practices
• ISSN:
  0022-4375
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  North Carolina ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  289-297
• Volume:
  38
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20032566
• Citation:
  J Safety Res 2007 Jun; 38(3):289-297
• Contact Point Address:
  Mary Anne McDonald, Division of Community Health, Department of Community and Family Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, DUMC Box 2914, Durham, NC 27710
• Email:
  maryanne.mcdonald@duke.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2007
• NORA Priority Area:
  Disease and Injury: Traumatic Injuries
• Performing Organization:
  University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  1141 - Fishing - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  20000601
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Safety Research
• End Date:
  20030531
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:67be1ab8878d7cf4a86447e0ac4dbfdb7404ccae878d16a009d9d96455cb051c47f75e47ea4c69321e9020546df221edee8f25fb89fb700b925204c4e9b33f50
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/186492/cdc_186492_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 158.97 KB ]