Seafish is calling on the UK’s fishermen to think about their safety after research revealed 46% of commercial fishermen consider their job to be dangerous but 34% say they rarely or never wear a Personal Flotation Device (PFD).
Seafish’s safety at sea campaign, Sea You Home Safe, is continuing to call for the 12,000 fishermen across the UK to think about their safety before setting sail, with 7,000 new lightweight PFDs given to UK fishermen over the past year.
“The message appears to be getting through, with regular use of PFDs up by 11%,” said Simon Potten, head of safety, training and services, Seafish. “However, there are still a large number of fishermen taking unnecessary risks every time they set foot on the deck at sea without a PFD on.”
According to Seafish’s research, just over 37% of commercial fishermen said they always wear PFDs at sea, up by 11% from a year ago, and a further third said they wore one most or some of the time. Three quarters (77%) said they did so because it would save their life, while one quarter (23%) acknowledged that, should the worst happen, a PFD would help ensure that their body is returned to their family.
“The research highlighted that a third (30%) considered accidents at sea to be mostly down to events beyond their control. Which further emphasises the need to take as many precautions as possible,” Mr Potten added.
Working closely with the fishing industry, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the RNLI and the Fishermen’s Mission, Seafish’s campaign is supporting a Fishing Industry Safety Group (FISG) initiative to promote the wearing of PFDs by fishermen.
FISG aims to ensure that every commercial fisherman in the UK is provided with a PFD. So far, around 7,000 fishermen in Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of England and Wales have benefitted from the initiative, with rollout to the remaining fishermen expected throughout 2015.
