Accidents at work on Fishing: Povoa de Varzim and Vila do Conde

Abstract

Work accidents in the fishing activity put Portugal at the top of the European countries with the greatest number of accidents and deaths resulting from this activity. It should be noted that accidents of fishing are the result of multiple factors that can range from personal matters, training, work planning and safety management. This paper aims to present an exploratory study on accidents at work related to fishing activity, focusing attention on the identification and analysis of the major causes of accidents crew on fishing activities in the areas of Povoa de Varzim and Vila do Conde. To achieve the defined objectives, data collection was done from a questionnaire prepared in accordance with the European Statistics on Accidents at Work (ESAW) and performed by interviews to 75 fishers from the referenced places at northwestern Portugal. Descriptive statistics, crossing of variables and statistical tests were done. Sixty percent of the accidents occurred with subjects with more than 45 years old. There is a significant percentage of serious accidents. Being 52,12% of the injuries with open fracture (22,54%), non-fatal submersion (9,86), dismemberment (8,45%), simple fracture (7,04%) and open wound (4,23%). Although this study has a local scope, given the number and severity of accidents, this activity justifies a deeper analysis for effective risk identification and an intervention directed to mitigate the most significant.