Officials in Nova Scotia want those working in the fishing industry to come home safe each and every day at work.
Fishermen, industry and government released a plan recently in Eastern Passage, aimed at making Nova Scotia's commercial fishing industry safer.
Fishing Safety Now is a plan by and for Nova Scotia's fishing industry. Developed by the Safe at Sea Alliance – a group of fishermen, family members, industry, safety organizations, community leaders, and government – the plan includes several recommendations to help improve safety.
Recommendations include the development of a safety toolkit, more education and awareness of safety requirements, and more training and safety drills.
"We need to do something to make the industry safer," said Dale Richardson, a swordfish and lobster fisherman from Sable River, Shelburne Co., and a Safe at Sea Alliance industry representative. "We won't fix everything overnight, but by having everyone in the same room – industry, Workers Compensation Board, government, Nova Scotia Community College and the Transportation Safety Board, we're making giant leaps forward."
The Fisheries Safety Association of Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Fisheries Sector Council will take the lead on carrying out the 33 recommendations.
"Fishing Safety Now will help grow and expand the work we started in 2012 with the Workers Compensation Board and government," added Lisa Fitzgerald, executive director, Nova Scotia Fisheries Sector Council. "It provides a clear path forward to improve safety in an industry that means so much to so many."
Better Practice and Regulation Awareness
Highlights from the plan are better awareness of practices and regulations, more safety training and education and reviews of policies and processes for such things as weather forecasting and fisheries management.
Fishing safety is a key part of the province's Workplace Safety Strategy and the Commercial Fishing Strategy.
Since 2007, 35 people have died working in Nova Scotia's commercial fisheries.
In 2013 alone, there were eight deaths; three more fishermen died at work in 2014.
So far in 2015, two people have died in fishing related incidents.
Author Kori Shafer-Stack, Editor, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in post-injury response procedures and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com. Contact: kstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.
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