SAFETY STORIES

What happened I recently joined a vessel for the first time in a position of responsibility –as the skipper. I had come from several other fishing boats, but stepping onto this one made it instantly clear how well things could operate with the right planning and...

What happened During a routine net cleaning operation at port, a young deckhand was tasked with spraying down the nets using a high-pressure hose. Without warning, the hose nozzle slipped from his grip and recoiled, striking him in the face. The deckhand had not been...

What happened In a seafood processing facility, a forklift operator moving frozen product lost visibility due to condensation on the windscreen. While reversing, he struck a pallet stacked with cartons of frozen product. The load toppled and injured a nearby worker...

What happened On a lobster fishing vessel, a crew member had an elastic drawstring hanging from his hat. While retrieving a pot, as it came up and over the side, the corner of the pot caught the drawstring and pulled the crew member’s face toward the pot. Fortunately,...

What happened A fisherman fell while climbing an old, rusted ladder to the vessel’s upper deck, suffering severe bruises to his legs. Crew members had repeatedly raised concerns about the ladder’s stability and strength due to excessive rust, but replacements were...

What happened? A crab fisher’s deckhand was repairing some nets when he noticed that his knife was not cutting as well as it should. He was nearly finished for the day, so he decided to keep going without stopping to sharpen it. While applying significant force to cut...

What happened? At a seafood processing warehouse in Sydney, an employee arrived at work in the early hours of the morning and as usual began setting up the processing machinery for the day. The afternoon prior, some maintenance was carried out on a conveyor by the...

What Happened On a 5-week reef trip, we noticed that one of our deckhands seemed unlike himself. We learned that his spouse was not coping well at home. We knew that to look after our mate we needed to cancel the trip and return home. This financially and emotionally...

What Happened Four fishers were out at sea when one of them fell overboard. Without thinking, a second fisher jumped into the water to help his mate, but he also found himself struggling to get back on the boat. The third fisher, and then the skipper jumped in to try...

What happened? Whilst we often consider weather conditions in terms of things like swell and wind when we go to sea, we sometimes fail to consider other elements that can affect our trips significantly, like fog, heavy rainfall, mist, etc. Whilst these elements will...

What happened? After a long fishing trip, we took some of our equipment onshore with us to sort it out at a later time because we were tired and ready to head home for a warm shower before completing our usual checks. On our next trip, we realised that some of the...

What happened? Once whilst out at sea, I was securing the baits onto small hooks, and the line suddenly became tangled. As it tangled, one of the small hooks tore through my pinky finger. Thankfully, on this occasion, I was working with small hooks, a larger one could...

What Happened? I was a Safety Officer and encouraged the organisation I worked for to invest in a digitised safety management system (SMS). It took a bit of time to set it up properly, but once the crew got used to using it, they loved it as it became so much easier...

What happened “I work in drug and alcohol testing and was moved by a media article on the death of a fisher, due to alcohol consumption, in the Northern Territory. After having a long drinking session onshore between shifts, a fisher slipped while attempting to jump...

“Sometimes, there are misunderstandings and confusion about who is supposed to be doing what job on a vessel. In my experience, being alert and having good communication is essential to keeping the operation running smoothly, and ensuring everybody on board is safe.”...

What happened? Four fishers were out at sea when one of them fell overboard. Without thinking, a second fisher jumped into the water to help his mate, but he also found himself struggling to get back on the boat. The third fisher, and then the skipper jumped in to try...

Don’t Rock the Boat "We recently installed a gyro stabiliser on each of our vessels, and although it was a bit expensive, it has reduced the boat rocking by 50%. The crew are now less fatigued by the motion and more energised and efficient.” Since making these...

When the lights go out When a fisher took a trip to an unfamiliar vessel during the night, he entered the cabin and could not find the light switch. Proceeding in the pitch black of night he didn't notice that the manhole cover had been left open and fell right into...

Watch your fingers! I work as a deckhand where we cast the line, harvest, clean and store the fish we catch. However, one day I was assigned as a puller. As we pulled the line upwards, I was surprised by an incoming fish and wrapped my finger around the line. The line...