Abstract

Although the safety performance of the Australian commercial fishing industry has been the subject of multiple investigations, it has ultimately remained undefined. While most Australian industries notify industry regulators of significant workplace incidents and injuries in their operations, the majority of persons in the commercial fishing industry are contractors who are paid piecework and in some jurisdictions specifically excluded from the worker compensation legislation, meaning that most occupational injuries, including fatalities, are not captured in the centralized worker compensation data sets. This study presents the analysis of a systematic review of industry databases, published academic, and, Australian coroners reports to assist improve the definition of the nation's commercial fishing industry safety performance. The analysis shows occupational fatality rates are significantly higher than currently reported, and recurring factors contributing to deaths at sea remain unaddressed. The study is significant as it demonstrates how workplace injuries and deaths can be hidden within data sets applying broad industry classification and provides a foundation for future research in Australian fishing and other industries.

RAS ID

32529

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

10-14-2022

Volume

10

Funding Information

Australian Government, Fisheries Research and Development Corporation 2017-231

School

School of Medical and Health Sciences

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Publisher

Frontiers

Comments

Penney, G., Byrne, W., & Cattani, M. (2022). Death at sea - the true rate of occupational fatality within the Australian commercial fishing industry. Frontiers in Public Health, Article 1013391. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.1013391

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

10.3389/fpubh.2022.1013391