Occupational Safety and Health Risks

Fishing remains one of the most hazardous occupations in the world, with an estimated 34,000 fishers dying at work every year according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Fishers face a combination of physical, environmental and psychosocial risks, and prevention requires robust occupational safety and health management systems, safe crewing levels, adequate rest, emergency preparedness, training, access to healthcare and meaningful worker participation in safety processes.

ILO Convention 188 requires minimum hours of rest, medical care aboard and access to medical treatment ashore. Enforcement depends on the flag state — and on a vessel that never makes port, there is no port state to inspect it.