Utilizing United States Coast Guard Data to Calculate Incidence Rates and Identify Risk Factors for Occupational Fishing Injuries in New Jersey

ABSTRACT

Commercial fishing has high rates of work-related injury and death and needs preventive strategies. Work-related fatal and nonfatal injury rates for New Jersey (NJ) commercial fishermen who suffered unintentional traumatic injuries from 2001 to 2007 are calculated using data from the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Marine Safety and Pollution Database and estimated denominator data. Fatalities were compared to those ascertained by the NJ Fatality Assessment Control and Evaluation (FACE) surveillance system. For the study years, 225 nonfatal injuries and 31 fatal injuries were reported. Among nonfatal injuries, the causes by frequency were fall onto surface, crushed between objects, struck by moving object, line handling/caught in lines, collision with fixed objects, fall into water, and other noncontact injuries. The distribution of fatal injuries differed, with the most frequent cause as crushed between objects. Falls into water and several noncontact injuries accounted for most of the other fatalities. The large majority (96%) of nonfatal injuries were contact injuries, whereas only 68% of fatalities were classified as contact. The overall incidence rate of nonfatal injuries was 1188 per 100,000 full-time equivalents (FTEs) per year. The rate varied considerably by year, from a low of 286 per 100,000 FTEs in 2001 and 2007 to 3806 per 100,000 FTEs in 2003. The overall occupational fatality rate over the period 2001–2007 was 164 per 100,000 FTEs per year. These results can aid in targeting the commercial fishing industry for injury prevention strategies and interventions, especially for falls, crushing injuries, and drownings.

Keywords:

• Commercial fishing
• denominator data
• occupational health injury rates
• work-related fatal injuries

This work was supported by the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety's Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program, grant U60 OH0345-01; and Drexel University's School of Public Health. The authors would like to acknowledge Jerry Fagliano, Jennifer Lincoln, Devin Lucas, and David Valiante for their contributions to this paper.