Abstract

This research project, based on the answers from the 151 questionnaires, demonstrates that the core design and delivery of safety training courses for the fishing industry are well received by fishermen. Averaging out the five key measurement areas, 75% of fishermen consider the safety training courses and overall system administration arrangements to be ‘Excellent’ or ‘Above average’ with only just over 2% considering them to be ‘Below average’ or ‘Totally unacceptable. 73% of fishermen advised that they felt they learnt something new as a result of attending the course(s), while 51% of fishermen advised that they feel that they changed something onboard their boat as a result of attending the course(s), with most of the latter confirming specific details of what they have changed, namely Purchasing additional safety equipment (23%), changing working practices onboard (21%) or altering their boat in some way to improve safety (5%). However, this project has highlighted some weaknesses in the collection and management of data – personal details of fishermen themselves and course data.