Grace Price

Title: PFD Safety in the High-Hazard Commercial Fishing Industry: An Exploration of Safety Policies for Workers at Sea

Abstract:

Commercial fishing is one of the most hazardous industries in the United States and continues to suffer from a workplace fatality rate 23 times higher than that of general industry. Currently, the leading causes of death are vessel disasters or falls overboard. Most of these victims were not wearing personal floatation devices (PFDs) that could have had the potential to prevent these tragedies. As part of my progress toward an MS in Environmental Health and Occupational Hygiene, I was able to participate in the Fisherman Led Injury Prevention Program (FLIPP), an effort through the Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Center and the University of Washington Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences to provide PFD outreach and education to the Washington and Oregon fishing communities to encourage more frequent use of PFDs. Commercial fishing vessels are primarily regulated by the United States Coast Guard. There is currently no specific regulation mandating PFD use on board, though vessels are required to carry a PFD for each crewmember and store them in an accessible place for emergency use. The federal regulations that apply to worker safety at sea in the commercial fishing industry have a very complicated history in terms of development, enactment, and enforcement. The industry went almost entirely unregulated until the enactment of the 1988 Commercial Fishing Industrial Vessel Safety (CFIVS) Act, which resulted in significant changes to safety standards and US Coast Guard (USCG) authority. Following this major industry shift, there has been a major decrease in commercial fishing fatalities, though it remains to have one of the highest fatality rates in the United States. Currently, there are doubts about the effectiveness of the current USCG regulations and questions about whether significant progress has been made since the CFIVS Act was passed. To address PFD issues more directly with regional communities, various institutions like the Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety and UW PNASH have developed outreach programs to increase the use of PFDs by fishermen at sea in the hope of reducing industry fatalities. As part of this effort, I was able to engage with fishing workers at two major events in Seattle to provide PFD samples for try-on, administer PFD ranking surveys to collect information, and provide other health and safety resources, such as a Stop the Bleed training and a PNASH Linktree page. My experience on the FLIPP team cemented my commitment to pursuing a career in environmental health and safety and provided me with a far deeper understanding of the unique commercial fishing industry that inspires me to stay involved in the community.