‘It’s very encouraging to see industry taking safety seriously’
Fish Safe NS launches safety equipment and training subsidy program; 2022 expected to be banner year for uptake
A considerable amount of planning and work has gone into the building of a safety equipment and training subsidy program, says Matthew Duffy, executive director of Fish Safe NS.
The new program rolled out by Fish Safe NS in January will cover 50 per cent of the costs for selected training courses and safety equipment for members as a way to further enhance the safety culture in the fishing industry.
“What we did was examined the needs of our members and industry. We tracked the trends on injuries or where training is really needed on a higher level within processing plants, aquaculture facilities or fish harvesters,” said Duffy.
“There's a huge list of things, but we could only accommodate so much,” he said, adding the subsidies are available on a first-come, first-served basis. “It's not a bottomless pot of money, but it's certainly an opportunity for really great savings."
Forklift certification; reducing injuries in the workplace; marine basic and marine advanced first aid; and Mental Health and Wellness for the Workplace are among the courses being subsidized by Fish Safe NS.
Duffy said Fish Safe NS sees a lot of trends within the industry around slips, trips and falls, and lifting.
“There's a lot of back injuries. We offer partial day training courses that can be done on site or virtually to encouraging reducing those kinds of injuries… We're also offering some discounts for occupational heath and safety committee training, something we've been working with our members on steadily over the year. This training is to help companies to rejuvenate, or fully establish, an OHS committee in house.”
The mental health and wellness course offered by Fish Safe NS was launched last fall. It is a one-day course.
“We're hoping the subsidy will encourage folks to sign up and expand their education and knowledge on the topic,” said Duffy. “We do encourage managers and supervisors to have it but, in our eyes, it's effective for everybody in the workplace to have it, especially the processing plant folks working on the line. They might notice something sooner than a manager or supervisor would.”
Fish Safe is looking to expand on the course, producing more videos to highlight all the different sectors in the industry and create a bit of library of mental health champions in the province. Duffy said industry is able to relate better to their peers than to a random video on YouTube.
On the equipment side of things, the program will subsidize life raft inspections, purchases of solid foam personal flotation devices (PFDs), and personal location beacons.
“We've heard a lot of feedback from our members over the last two years that some of the life raft inspections – not all the manufacturers but some – the prices have gone up in terms of getting the life raft inspected," Duffy said. "We want to ensure our members continue to get their life rafts inspected every year as it's a crucial piece of safety equipment aboard their vessels. By offering this inspection rebate
we are hoping it reduces the cost and encourages people to continue getting that life raft inspected."
As for PFDs, Duffy said they've negotiated some great pricing on a solid foam PFD to showcase to the industry.
"We've had an awesome amount of feedback on it. Not everyone likes the solid PFD but it is a very, very good option for fish harvesters.
It is comfortable, it doesn't chafe your neck, it has mesh around your shoulders so it has some breathing room. It has good pockets, is built of durable material and is Transport Canada approved,” he said.
“With the solid PFD it actually allows us to offer more subsidized PFDs to our members than if we were to go with an inflatable PFD because the price difference is hundreds of dollars.”
Another piece of safety equipment Fish Safe is hoping will become more commonplace in the industry and a requirement by regulation is personal location beacons.
“It's a device similar to an EPERB (Emergency Positioning Indication Radio Beacon) that a vessel carries,” said Duffy. The personal location beacon is clipped onto a PFD so if someone fall overboard or it activates. Vessels in a certain range get a man overboard alert.
“We heard a lot of feedback from people who have lost loved ones at sea and they personally feel that maybe the scenario could have been different if their loved one had been wearing one," said Duffy. "Obviously, it doesn't apply to all cases, but it is a crucial, piece of equipment that can very well save a life.”
Over the last 10 years, the fishing industries have been becoming more focused on safety, said Arnold DeMings, chair of the Fish Safe NS board of directors.
“Fish Safe NS has been working hard to help change the safety culture in the industries who make up our members,” he said. “It is a good and satisfying feeling to be a part of anything that helps bring people home safe at the end of the trip, day or shift.”
DeMings said the board of directors set up the fund to help encourage the use
of safety devices in all sectors and to help make some equipment more affordable.
"This program also sparks interest for members to look up the association website or web pages on social media and learn more about how their membership can help them save money on courses and training necessary for their continued participation in these business," he said.
Last year, just over 500 people enrolled in the courses offered by Fish Safe NS. So far this year, training requests are up 50 per cent compared to the time last year.
“We have seen a healthy uptake in training numbers from 2020 and 2021," said Duffy. "As it stands right now, 2022 is likely to be a banner year with our association based on the numbers we're seeing after the first month of the year."
Safety in the industry is paying off, with another decrease in worker's compensation rates for the harvesting sector in 2022.
“Worker's Compensation raters for 2022 will be 13 per cent lower on average than 2021, a considerable drop," Duffy said. The rate is dropping from $4.03 for every $100 of payroll in 2021 to $3.49 for every $100 of payroll in 2022, for an estimated collective savings of $1.4 million for members, said Duffy.
From 2015 to 2022 workers compensation premiums paid by the harvesting sector have dropped by $62 million.
“That's savings that sector has seen in workers compensation premiums, all the while payroll is increasing," said Duffy. “In 2022 the payroll is estimated to be $260 million for fish harvesters and work compensation rates are dropping. It's great to see. It's very encouraging to see industry taking safety seriously.”