Tag Archives: Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety
National research on commercial fishermen’s sleep schedules to include Alaska gillnetters
Researchers from New York state were in Petersburg, Sitka, Juneau, and Cordova last week gathering information on salmon gillnetters as part of their study on sleep deprivation. The research organization is the Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety. It’s a non-profit that’s funded through the Centers for Disease Control to come up with solutions for work related issues with fishermen, farmers, and forestry workers. Currently, they are working on the relationship between commercial fishermen’s sleep and health. The research team is on the tail end of their data gathering. They’ve already gathered information from scallop fishermen in Massachusetts, Dungeness fishermen in Oregon, and salmon gillnetters in Alaska. >click to read< 11:18
Report: Lifejackets for Lobstermen a success
The folks from the Lifejackets for Lobstermen campaign had a challenging mission: spread the word to more than 500 lobstermen of the life-saving benefits of wearing personal flotation devices while fishing. And they weren’t sure how they’d be received by the lobstering community that largely has resisted wearing lifejackets and other safety devices because they were uncomfortable, impeded their work or were regarded as too expensive. “When we first hit the road, we weren’t sure what to expect,”,, “From Day One, the lobstermen were very open to talking with us and trying on the different styles of lifejackets.” photos, a pdf report, >click to read< 08:47
Tide turning on wearing safety gear – Campaign says lobstermen listening
On Wednesday, Carpenter stopped by the Everett R. Jodrey State Fish Pier to check out the 11 different varieties of personal flotation devices available for inspection and purchase as part of the Lifejackets for Lobstermen campaign being run by the Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety. The campaign, designed to convince more commercial lobstermen to wear personal flotation devices while fishing, has spent the summer in 40 lobstering communities up and down the New England coast. Photo’s, >click to read< 15:18
Lifejackets for Lobstermen back on SouthCoast in June
Lifejackets for Lobstermen is making its way back to the SouthCoast. The program travels between ports in Maine and Massachusetts in vans, letting lobster and fishermen try on different life jackets and purchase one at a 50 percent discount. The Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety: Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing (NEC) developed the program after a study showed that in a large portion of lobster fishing deaths, recovered victims weren’t wearing life jackets.,,,will be returning in early June on the following dates and at the following locations, >click to read<08:51
Lifejackets for Lobstermen van to visit Midcoast
A group seeking to promote the use of life jackets among lobstermen will visit several Knox County fishing towns during the weeks of May 6 and May 13. Researchers at the Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety: Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing have been working with lobstermen in Maine and Massachusetts over the past few years to understand why life jacket use has been relatively uncommon among fishermen in this fishery sector. One result has been the “Lifejackets for Lobstermen” campaign. The vans will make local stops at the following places. All stops will begin at 10 a.m. May 8, Olsen’s Wharf, Pleasant Point Gut, Cushing, 10 a.m. May 9, Simmons Wharf, Friendship, May 10 and May 13, Tenants Harbor Co-op, Port Clyde May 14, Atwood Lobster, Spruce Head May 15, Public landing next to Ship to Shore Lobster, Owls Head May 16, Rockland Fish Pier, >click to read<11:44
Researchers Try To Build A Better Life Jacket To Keep Lobstermen Alive
Early on a July morning, Massachusetts lobsterman Steve Holler and his sternman Frank Lenardis haul lobster traps out of Boston Harbor over the edge of Holler’s boat, the November Gale, and dump the catch into a holding tray. “It’s a dance between me and him,” Holler says. “Him getting that done, me getting this done, because with his strength, his weight, he’ll knock me right on my rear end. He’s done it a few times.” This particular morning in July, everything goes smoothly. But Holler remembers one day in February when a routine haul went very wrong,,, >click to read<16:13
Wanted: Lobstermen willing to try out life vests
The Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety is asking New England lobstermen to help design a life jacket they would actually wear every day. It could be a matter of life or death. Researchers will visit Maine docks this winter to recruit fishermen to try out different kinds of personal flotation devices, or PFDs, for a month to determine which designs work best for daily use aboard a lobster boat. The lobstermen will be paid to test the life vest, and can keep it for their own use once they are done. “This isn’t about making lobstermen wear anything, telling them what to do or regulating anything,” said principal investigator Julie Sorensen of the Northeast Center. “It’s about making PFDs comfortable enough that fishermen want to wear them.” Statistics suggest it will be a hard sell, but well worth it. Researchers at the Northeast Center hope their PFD design study, which is being conducted with Fishing Partnership Support Services of Massachusetts, will help manufacturers tailor flotation devices to the lobster industry and convince fishermen a vest can save their lives without making them miserable or poor. In two years, they will return to the docks with the most popular design for nine-month trials. Read the article here 08:07
