As Nova Scotians gathered Sunday to honour workers who have died on the job, many of them were remembering fishermen who never returned home.
Of the 11 workplace fatalities in the province so far this year, seven have been fishermen.
In the last five years, according to the Fisheries Safety Association of Nova Scotia, more than 30 Nova Scotia fishermen have died.
Those are numbers that the Workers’ Compensation Board, in consultation with the Department of Labour, the Fisheries Safety Association of Nova Scotia and the industry itself, wants to change.
Safety proponents in the industry have some rough seas to navigate. Fishermen, proud and independent, pursue their inherently risky business dispersed far and wide, often far removed from any regulatory oversight.
Some captains are more concerned about safety issues than others. Licences are passed from father to son, with little opportunity to take a fresh look at how the job is done.
The culture in the fishery is one of risk-taking, but that, too, must change.
Fishermen are, by law, supposed to wear personal flotation devices, and high-tech ones with locater technology would allow crew members to quickly find co-workers swept overboard or, at the worst, locate their bodies. But many fishermen still don’t wear them.
Stuart MacLean, chief executive officer of the Workers’ Compensation Board, says ignoring safety in the industry is no longer an option.
At a recent editorial board meeting with this newspaper, Mr. MacLean pointed to improved safety in the offshore oil and gas industry as an example of change. When the drilling rig Ocean Ranger capsized in 1982, killing 84, the industry’s safety record was similar to that of the fishery, with a high rate of serious accidents and fatalities.
The deaths of those workers was the catalyst for change. If you look at that industry today, they’re one of the safest industries that operate in this province, says MacLean.
The fishery is not. WCB rates for fishermen, at $7.50 per $100 of assessable payroll, are among the highest in the province and 10 times those of Nova Scotia Power workers. Other sectors, including forestry, have launched safety initiatives to prevent injuries and deaths and to lower rates.
Fishermen registered with WCB are imposed a levy that funds membership in the Fisheries Safety Association of Nova Scotia, which does safety education around the province.
Mr. MacLean says larger companies, faced with mounting WCB premiums, have embraced safety concerns and are now leading change in how employees view safety. Smaller, independent fishermen are harder to reach.
Mr. MacLean also raises the issue of regulation, pointing out that while authorities close highways and bridges when weather conditions make driving dangerous, no agency closes the fishery when weather conditions deteriorate.
February’s sinking of the Miss Ally and the deaths of five young men from Woods Harbour have provided new impetus to the quest to make the fishery safer.
As Mr. MacLean points out, six young children are now without fathers reason enough for government, industry and fishermen around the province to get serious about safety.
The Chronicle Herald