Sea Safe program unites seafood industry on safety
The Sea Safe program is uniting the Australian seafood sector to tackle workplace fatalities and injuries, by improving safety in the fishing industry.
Sea Safe is part of Seafood Industry Australia’s National RD&E Seafood Industry Safety Initiative, which addresses research gaps in workplace health and safety in Australian fishing and aquaculture.
Launched in 2023, the Seafood Industry Australia (SIA) Sea Safe program is jointly funded by FRDC and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) and is committed to ensuring ‘Everybody comes home safe’.
The program is intent on continuing transforming the improvements in safety culture within commercial fishing and aquaculture and focuses on sharing and learning to drive behaviour change for the 17,000 people working in these sectors.
The program has 37 official advocates from a range of different parts of the seafood business and more than 100 Friends of Sea Safe – people who have contributed or engaged with the program in some way.
Sea Safe aims to share real life knowledge and learnings from across the entire seafood value chain through a storytelling approach designed to support peer-to-peer learning and culture change, drawing inspiration from the successful Stay Afloat mental health program, which has had a significant impact on the seafood sectors’ wellbeing in recent years.
These stories, shared anonymously, cover a range of real world experiences, from how a CPAP machine was used to improve sleep-induced fatigue at work, to fishers surviving a ‘man overboard’ incident and how to prevent a similar event.
By learning from each other’s close calls and triumphs, seafood professionals can work together to significantly reduce accidents and injuries.
Using Sense Maker, a technology platform, individuals can anonymously share safety stories – both positive and negative.
To share your safety story or to get involved in becoming a seafood safety advocate, contact Jo Marshall at Seafood Industry Australia on 0408 008 344 or email [email protected].
You can find out more on the Sea Safe website.