Fish Harvesting Safety Association
The Fish Harvesting
Safety Association will be established in collaboration with the
fishing industry. The industry will work with the Provincial
Government and Workplace, Health Safety and Compensation
Commission (the Commission) to identify the best organizational
structure to meet the goal of improving health and safety in the
sector.
The association will have broad
representation from fish harvesters, deckhands, industry
associations, government agencies engaged in safety activities,
and academic institutions involved in safety research and
training. It will provide advice to the provincial and federal
levels of government on health and safety issues in the fishing
industry; promote best practices for safety onboard fishing
vessels through initiatives such as workshops, training and
multimedia resources; and support research on fishing industry
safety. The research will address issues such as safety in the
harvesting of new and underutilized species, and safe harvesting
in remote areas.
According to the International Labour
Organization, approximately 24,000 fish harvesters worldwide
lose their lives annually while carrying out their work. Fish
harvesting is a dangerous profession and this is particularly
the case in the Newfoundland and Labrador fishing industry.
There are extreme weather conditions in the waters off this
province and there has been a trend toward fishing further and
further offshore.
In 2009, the lost-time incident rate
for the fish harvesting sector was 2.4 injuries per 100 workers,
which is 26 per cent higher than the provincial lost-time
incident rate. The total number of fish harvesting claims has
increased each year for the last five years and the total cost
of those claims has increased 24 per cent. There have been 193
fatalities in the fishing harvesting sector since 1979.
Fish Processing Sector Safety Council
The concept of industry
sector safety councils emerged in the 1990s to promote health
and safety in the workplace. The Workplace Health, Safety and
Compensation Commission (the Commission) established the
province's first safety council in 1997.
Sector councils were recommended again
in the Commission's Provincial Accident Prevention Strategy in
2001 by both employer and labour groups. They were also
recommended during the last two statutory review reports to the
Provincial Government.
Health and safety is the first
priority of sector safety councils. They are non-profit
organizations, developed in collaboration with industry and
committed to providing effective and affordable safety training
and related services.
In addition to the support of the
Commission, the council will also receive support from the
Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour and Newfoundland
and Labrador Employers Council advisors, the Occupational Health
and Safety Division of the Department of Government Services and
other government departments as required. It will provide
occupational health and safety training and be flexible in
responding to the needs of industry.
There are a number of ergonomic and
health issues associated with working in seafood processing
plants. In 2009, the lost-time incident rate in the seafood
processing sector was 3.1 injuries per 100 workers, which is 63
per cent higher than the provincial average of 1.9. The
assessment rate for the sector is the third highest of all
sectors.
