Brussels, 23/11/2007 (Agence Europe) - The social partners from the fisheries sector, Europêche (the Association of National Organisations of Fishing Enterprises of the EU and the ETF - European Transport Worker's Federation) have just published, with the support of the budget of the EU, a guide for the prevention of accidents at sea and the safety of fishermen. It has the advantage of covering some 20 chapters in the same highly concise volume (fire-fighting, hypothermia, survival in the sea, helicopter rescue, vessel stability and many more).
Many member states do not yet have fisheries training centres, or sufficient teaching material to train young fishermen. This goes some way to explaining the very high number of accidents, many of which are fatal, which characterise the profession of fishing. The document makes no claims to be a viable replacement for vital training courses, but offers the minimum safety advice needed to improve prevention and help reduce the risks of accidents.
The guide, which is currently available in English, will be translated into French, Italian, Slovenian, Greek, Turkish and other languages, to allow mixed teams to use the same document on board in different languages. The document can be downloaded free of charge from the websites of Europêche (http://www.europeche.org ), the ETF (http://www.etf-europe.org ) and the European Network for Fisheries Training and Employment (http://www.refope.org ). (L.C.)