Safety in fishing — learning from experience

Abstract This article critically examines the level of safety in some sections of the UK fishing industry not only by looking at the available statistics but also by examining actual recent case histories. In 1989 the UK Department of Transport established the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB). Case histories published by MAIB have been taken as the basis for the article in order to illustrate and draw lessons from incidents that occur in fishing. Fishing will always be a high risk profession but there are ways in which risks can be diminished. Many of the problems are due to vessels being built below the 12 m threshold at which the 1975 Safety Rules currently apply. Some of the vessels lack adequate reserve stability to withstand capsize in the dynamic situation and there are deficiences in design and safety equipment. The training programmes introduced by Seafish for Survival, Fire Fighting and First Aid are now mandatory for all new entrants and these have almost certainly resulted in the saving of lives. However, there needs to be a much greater awareness of accident prevention and the article makes a plea for this to be given more attention. Each case study is probably unique or there are some specific circumstances as to why the accident happened. Nevertheless, there are always underlying lessons to be learnt from every incident of this type, even if there is no loss of life or serious injury.