Journal of Agromedicine最新文献

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the working and health conditions faced by hookah divers in small-scale fisheries in the Midriff Islands Region of the Gulf of California, Mexico.

Methods: The study was conducted in five fishing communities. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 113 fishers (~15% of the commercial divers in the region). Non-probabilistic snowball sampling was used to identify participants. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics; a Chi-squared test was used to identify significant correlations.

Results: Most respondents (98%) were men (average age of 41 years), with an average of 17.6 years of commercial diving experience. Only 27% of the divers were certified scuba divers, and 40% had received some type of dive training. Notably, 64% of divers had some chronic illness, and 75% had suffered some type of diving-related injury. Marine animal bites were the most common type of injury. The majority of respondents (97%) fished without the proper permits, and 67% did not have access to social insurance. Lastly, 50% had suffered symptoms of decompression sickness.

Conclusion: The conditions surrounding the employment and health of hookah divers are extremely precarious in the Midriff Islands Region, as has been identified in other parts of the world. This study highlights the need to improve working conditions, implement appropriate training programs, and establish public policies that benefit the divers and the ecosystems upon which they depend.

Objective: Marine aquaculture workers are at high risk of injury and fatalities. Understanding the role of weather in occupational safety and health (OSH) in marine aquaculture is important for work design, planning, and for safety management and hazard reduction, but there is limited research on this subject.

Methods: Using findings from a review of research and grey literature and from key informant interviews and roundtable discussions in Atlantic Canada, this paper explores the impact of weather-driven hazards on marine aquaculture in Northern and temperate regions, along with the strategies employed to mitigate these impacts.

Results: Findings indicate primary concerns for aquaculture OSH include sun and cold exposures; working on and under surface ice; strong winds; waves; current; reduced visibility; and ice build-up.

Conclusions: Key changes that could help reduce weather-related injury risk include improved forecasting capacity; improved reporting of weather conditions at the time of an incident in administrative injury and fatality data; incorporation of weather-related OSH hazards and risks in industry risk assessments; mechanization, including increased use of remote operation technologies on farm sites; and improved infrastructure standards and design.

Objective: People working in the Norwegian fish farming industry work in a high energy environment, where there are many hazards in the daily work. An important part of mitigating hazardous situations is to keep track of the characteristics of the accidents that have already happened and to learn from these, when planning future work. The objective of this study was to strengthen the knowledge of factors and conditions influencing personnel safety in Norwegian fish farming, based on analyses of registered occupational fatalities and injuries.

Methods: We gathered reported injuries and fatalities from vessels and fish farms from three different registries. Two of these are based on mandatory reporting to authorities, and one is a privately maintained registry. The accidents from the three registries are analyzed separately, and different types of characteristics are presented.

Results: The results demonstrate that fall and crush/impact are the most common types of accidents both on vessels and fish farms. Other characteristics described are the type of vessels involved and during which type of operations injuries happened. During the last 10 years, fatalities have happened mainly in relation to lifting and maintenance operations. The reported accidents are discussed in relation to the quality of accident reports, the development in the industry towards more specialized and outsourced operations, and it points to some of the major challenges that the industry faces when planning for safe working places and operations.

Conclusion: This overview can be used in the fish farming industry as a basis for going into further details about how accident prevention should be planned.

Objectives: The Norwegian government declared Vision Zero for serious injuries and fatalities for everyone working at sea in 2022. Occupational accident rates in the Norwegian fishing fleet are higher than those for other maritime industries, and measures must be based on a thorough knowledge of causes. This article aims to provide updated knowledge on causes and risk factors for occupational accidents in the Norwegian fishing fleet.

Methods: Three sources of data were used: 1) A database of fatal accidents updated by the research institute SINTEF Ocean and a registry of occupational injuries kept by the Norwegian Maritime Authority, 2) 40 accident investigation reports published by the Norwegian Safety Investigation Authority, and 3) interviews with 12 active fishers and representatives for key stakeholders involved in fishers' safety.

Results: Analyses of occupational accidents indicated more than half of fatalities in the period 2000-2022 were due to vessel disasters and fisher overboard events. Most of those involved worked on vessels that were 6-10.99 m in length. Accident investigation reports published in the period 2013-2023 indicate many overboard accidents happened to fishers working alone and were caused by fishers being dragged overboard with equipment, fishers falling overboard, or ropes under tension suddenly snapping. The interviews revealed the fishers and key stakeholders were concerned about accidents. The underlying causes and risk factors they described were technological (vessel, fishing gear, and equipment), organizational (planning and decision-making, competence and training, working hours, and rest), and regulatory (control and inspections, requirements for safety management, and fisheries management and safety). Furthermore, the interviews indicated fisheries management may have a negative influence on safety and working conditions and need be considered to improve fishing safety.

Conclusion: Coastal fishers are overrepresented in fatal accidents, while most occupational accidents are reported from sea-going trawlers. Measures should target technological, organizational, and regulatory factors, as well as framework conditions.

Objectives: Commercial fishing is one of the most dangerous industries in the United States, and although injuries have been a prominent focus for research, some health and safety risk factors such as sleep are understudied. In this paper, data from a multi-modal research study of sleep patterns, lifestyle factors, occupational exposures, medical histories, and health assessments in four U.S. fisheries are used to explore the connections between pain and sleep.

Methods: A mixture of randomized cluster sampling, study promotions, and dockside recruitment was utilized to gather a sufficient number of fishermen in the Alaska Salmon, Oregon Dungeness Crab, Massachusetts Scallop, and Massachusetts Lobster fisheries for the study. Fishermen were surveyed about sleep patterns, occupational exposures, and lifestyle factors. Surveyed fishermen were provided with free comprehensive health assessments by occupational health nurses and physicians or Advanced Practice Providers. Data were collected in REDCap and downloaded into SAS for analysis using a variety of analytic methods.

Results: A total of 262 surveys and 162 physical examinations were completed with captains and crew members in the four fisheries targeted for study. The average self-reported consecutive hours of sleep for fisheries workers that spend several days at sea (i.e. Crab, Scallop, and Salmon fisheries) were roughly 3.5 to 4.0 h in a 24-h period. Of particular note, the majority of fishermen, regardless of fishery, suffered from back pain, and roughly 40% of fishermen noted pain and discomfort significantly impede their ability to sleep.

Conclusions: This study underscores the connections between musculoskeletal pain and sleep, providing yet further impetus for preventing musculoskeletal injuries among fishermen. Given the ties between existing sleep debt in the industry and the health and safety risks posed by repeated exposure to insufficient sleep, this study highlights the need for the prevention of these injuries and potentially better treatment options for fishermen who suffer from musculoskeletal disorders.

Objective: Salmon fish farming has become a major industry in Norway, increasingly dependent on contracted maritime transport and different special services. The aim of the paper was to explore work safety for contractors in Norwegian fish farming. Previous research from other industries illustrates contractors are more susceptible to time and work pressure, have more hazardous jobs, and are more accident-prone, compared to fixed employees. This study investigated whether there are special safety challenges for contractors in Norwegian salmon farming.

Methods: The study was based on a digitally distributed questionnaire survey, involving 979 employed by a fish farming company and 304 contractors. Descriptive analyses were performed on how contractors experienced interaction with the fish farming companies. Bivariate analyses (chi-square tests and t-test) were applied to explore differences related to injury and near-accident exposure and efficiency demands.

Results: Related to work absence due to work-related injuries during the last 12 months, there was no significant difference between contractors (13,5%) and fixed employees (10,2%). A greater proportion of contractors (69,8%) than fixed employees (62,5%) reported that they had experienced near-accidents during the last 2 years. Of the contractors, 55% considered their work to be undervalued by the fish farming companies, 56% that the companies' efficiency demands led to breaking of procedures, and 66% that lack of cooperation was a threat to safety. A majority trust the companies to prioritize their safety (66%) and agree they can stop an operation if safety is threatened (87%). Compared to fixed employees, contractors reported higher efficiency demands and work pressure that could go at the expense of safety, even if the differences were small.

Conclusion: Both contractors and fixed employees report safety challenges, and contractors could be at even more risk. Contractors perform more hazardous work, report flaws in the interaction with fish farming companies, and report higher efficiency demands. The differences are still small/modest, and safety improvement measures should involve all employees. Fish farming companies should be aware of how they influence the framework conditions for contractors.

Immediate access to advanced medical care in the event of an emergency or injury is not equitable across socioeconomic, occupational, and environmental conditions. Research has shown that basic first aid techniques, when standardized and provided to the public, can significantly improve victim survival in a traumatic event. The Fishing First Aid & Safety Training (FFAST) considers these factors to provide accessible, low, or no cost training across coastal regions of the United States that is adapted specifically for commercial fisheries. The foundation for FFAST is rooted in the theory and practice of austere medicine, which is generally practiced where traditional medical infrastructure, resources, or facilities are absent. Austere medicine often requires decision-making with limited information and resources to optimize patient outcome. FFAST curriculum emphasizes regional adaptations to fit specific fishing audiences and hands-on training and skills practice. Training is delivered using in-person instruction by culturally competent instructors, embedded within fishing communities throughout the United States. To enhance training quality and sustain instructor capacity, we have established a nationally connected network of trainers who actively collaborate to build capacity to provide FFAST to the communities in their respective regions. We support the network through regular all-team meetings to exchange knowledge and report outcomes, and inter-regional train-the-trainer coordination so each partner benefits from best practices and lessons learned across the alliance. The collaborative network supports all partners to meet commercial fishing professional's growing demand for FFAST training.

Objective: Electrical hazards on farms are one of the occupational risks that contributes to farm injury and fatality. Whilst electricity accounts for a low number of farm injuries each year, it is disproportionately fatal. The aim of this study is to raise the awareness of electrical safety on farms by providing an overview of the literature that explores the evidence of farmers' perception of electrical risk. The review sought evidence of farmers' efforts to promote electrical safety awareness and uptake of electrocution prevention strategies.

Method: A rapid review was performed following the Cochrane Rapid Reviews Method Group and PRISMA guidelines, searching grey and peer-reviewed databases with criteria that included both farming and electrical risk. This resulted in 35 key articles of interest and five themes.

Results: The prevalent causes and contributing factors of electrical incidents and near misses on farms is not easily explained. Farmers overlook its presence as one of the hazards on farm, but at the same time the element of danger or threat of electrocution deters farmers from taking unnecessary risks. The data to profile farmers at risk of electrical injury is inadequate however the scope of risk is described through five themes: epidemiology, risk perception, exposure, intervention and prevention.

Conclusion: Due to the seriousness of electrical injury, intervention and prevention strategies need to specifically address electrical hazards rather than incorporate electricity as a risk into all of the hazards found on farms. The review recommends future work that engages with Australian farmers and farm workers to better understand their experience of electricity exposures, the risks they are willing to take around overhead powerlines, and their insights into how to make working on farms safer.