The Fisheries Safety Association of Nova Scotia (FSANS) and the Nova Scotia Trucking Safety Association have partnered on a new initiative aimed at reducing the number of back injuries in the workplace.
The back injury prevention program was rolled out this spring with a television commercial to raise awareness and to divert people to make the call or check out the FSANS website about it.
“The trucking and fishing industries are intertwined,” said Matt Duffy, safety advisor for the FSANS. “We catch it and they ship it,” noting a lot of the association’s members have trucking divisions.
“Once the back injury prevention program is in full swing, we think it will be a really good benefit for our processing and aquaculture members,” said Duffy. “There’s been a large spike in back injuries in that area,” adding the program will also benefit fishermen.
“We’re going to start rolling out the program through the summer” by co-hosting town hall information sessions with the Nova Scotia Worker’s Compensation Board (WCB) where employers can come and find out what resources are available, what can be done to make sure employees are safe and how back injuries can be reduced, said Duffy.
“This is a positive. The WCB has a lot of experience and will bring a lot of information to the table that will help a lot of employers.”
In the meantime, the FSANS is continuing to conduct man overboard drills and hold town hall meetings to keep the industry informed and safety front and centre.
“We’re getting good turnouts at our meetings and our man overboard drills by people eager to learn and find out more information about what we can share in regard to the regulations themselves,” said Duffy. “We’re not just showing up by ourselves. We’re bringing Transport Canada and Department of Labour, and Worker’s Compensation, all these regulatory bodies to that room. It gives people the opportunities to ask their questions right then and there.”
Duffy said the man overboard drills have been averaging 30 or more participants which is good to see. The FSANS will be conducting man overboard drills throughout the spring in different areas along the eastern shore, Cape Breton and along the Gulf Coast of Nova Scotia. “In the springtime we target the spring fishery so we follow along as the lobster seasons open.”
Operational since 2010, the FSANS now has 1,532 members in the harvesting, processing, aquaculture and services sectors. The bulk of members (1,327) is the harvesting sector in southwestern Nova Scotia, said Duffy, “but we see it growing. We notice more members are popping up in Cape Breton and along the gulf coastline. These are independent fishermen, owner operators.”
Duffy said the FSANS is also seeing more people “voluntarily sign up for WCB coverage because they themselves see the benefit in it. Other people are just employing more people so now they are required to pay into it. Either way I think it’s a positive note.”
WCB premiums for the harvesting sector have decreased again in 2019, said Duffy. In 2018, fishermen were paying $4.92 for every $100 in payroll. In 2019, the rate is $4.55 for every $100 in payroll, about a 7.5 per cent decrease. Four or five years ago the rate was almost $8, he said.
“It literally leaves approximately $19 million” in the pockets of fishermen. “Industry is saving and there are less accidents and incidents happening.”
