Evaluating Intervention Effectiveness: Use of Personal Flotation Devices in the Bering Sea Crab Fleet Between 2008 and 2014

BACKGROUND:  Fatal falls overboard are a persistent problem in the commercial fishing industry. During 2000–2014, 210 fishermen drowned after falling overboard from fishing vessels in the US (30% of all fatalities in the industry). Since 2007, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has repeatedly identified falling overboard as a critical hazard in the industry, and an area where use of personal flotation devices (PFDs) could significantly reduce the number of fatalities. During 2008, NIOSH surveyed PFD use among 100 fishermen onboard crab fishing vessels in the Alaska Bering Sea. Since that time, NIOSH and other organizations utilized the results of this survey and engaged vessel owners and crewmembers in the Bering Sea crab fleet in various ways to promote PFD use. The purpose of the current study was to measure changes in PFD use, attitudes about PFDs, and perceptions about falls overboard.

METHODS:  A questionnaire was administered to a sample of 100 fishermen on crab vessels in Dutch Harbor, Alaska during 2014. The questions were identical to those on the 2008 survey, as was the method for sample selection. Differences in PFD use and attitudes about PFDs were measured and tested for statistical significance using independent samples t-tests and chi-squared tests of independence.

RESULTS:  Fisherman age, sex, residence, experience and job position were not significantly different between the 2008 and 2014 samples. Vessel size and crew size were also the same between the samples. Self-reported PFD use was dramatically higher in the 2014 sample than in the 2008 sample. In 2008, 22% of fishermen reported always wearing a PFD on deck, which increased to 52% in 2014 (Χ²=22.5; p<0.001). Attitudes about PFDs were largely unchanged between 2008 and 2014, except for attitudes about PFD comfort, which improved from 34% reporting that PFDs are comfortable in 2008 to 55% in 2014 (X²=8.7; p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: PFD use onboard crab fishing vessels appears to have improved substantially during the six years from 2008 to 2014. Attitudes about PFD comfort have also improved. NIOSH, Coast Guard, and other marine safety organizations have had a strong focus on improving PFD use in the Bering Sea crab fleet during that time period. Similar intervention efforts should be applied to improve PFD use among fishermen in other fishing fleets.