Have You Met Angus? Development and Evaluation of a Social Marketing Intervention to Improve Personal Flotation Device Use in Commercial Fishing

Details

• Personal Author:
  Case SL ; Forrester CL ; Lincoln, Jennifer M. ; Lucas DL ; Teske, Theodore D.
• Description:
  Introduction: Drowning is the leading cause of death among commercial fishermen in the United States. Approximately 30% of all commercial fishing fatalities are attributed to falls overboard. One of the simplest and most affordable ways to prevent these fatalities is for crewmembers to wear personal flotation devices (PFDs) while on deck. An examination of over 200 fatal falls overboard in the U.S. fishing industry revealed that none of the victims were wearing PFDs when they died. PFDs are not required to be worn by commercial fishermen in the United States, so this study was designed to encourage behavior change using targeted health communication and social marketing. Methods: This study developed, implemented, and evaluated a multi-media social marketing campaign featuring a fictitious, culturally-relevant spokesman designed to look, talk, and act like the target audience. The messages were crafted to address common barriers to PFD adoption and misconceptions about fleet-specific risks for fatalities from falls overboard. The campaign was evaluated over two seasons of fishing to look at message retention and intent toward action following exposure to the campaign materials. Results: Survey respondents indicated overall positive opinions about the spokesman and the messages. Results also show a reported change in behavior related to using PFDs while working on deck. Discussion: Targeted multi-media messaging can influence behavior of workers in high-risk occupations in remote locations. Safety message development should focus on occupational culture to create valid and authentic communication products for workers in high-risk industries. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Behavior Drowning Hunting Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Occupational Safety Behavior Change Behavior Patterns Falls Overboard Fishermen Fishing Industry Information Dissemination Injury Prevention Occupational Safety Personal Flotation Device PFD Seaman Social Marketing

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• ISSN:
  0022-4375
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Alaska ; District of Columbia ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  WSD - Western States Division ; OD - Office of the Director
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  260-268
• Volume:
  83
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20066160
• Citation:
  J Safety Res 2022 Dec; 83:260-268
• Contact Point Address:
  Theodore D. Teske, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Western States Division, 315 E. Montgomery Avenue, Spokane, WA 99207, USA
• Email:
  tteske@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2023
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Safety Research
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b567cc8fa8417ec13ae728ca0b0988cc2325ce8e5585aea4d5598782c45b0a1f0e1773a0c94c2988b9bfc77a7ac954c2a233bbb31bb98f02257caf4a9f3206d7
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/212665/cdc_212665_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.81 MB ]