Attitude to safety onboard fishing vessels in the Northern Periphery

This paper reports the findings of a study within the European Union Northern Peri phery Programme targeting attitude to safety onboard fishing vessels. The study was designed to improve safety, to save lives and to reduce the number and severity of accidents onboard fishing vessels. Using psychological research methods a questionnaire was developed for assessing safety attitudes on board fishing vessels. An analysis of the collected data allowed for the identification of the underlying attitudes to safety. An intervention programme to improve these attitudes was developed based on the analysis of the answers provided by survey participants. Face to face discussions were used to change the attitudes encountered. The results were measured in order to realize in which way the attitudes have changed after the discussions. Through this work a steady reduction in the numbers of incidents, fatalities and injuries amongst fishermen is hoped to be achieved.