The SFF is sponsoring this year’s Aberdeen expo and will use the event to highlight its commitment to improving safety at sea. Among the initiatives promoted will be the Onboard Support Scheme, which is an initiative developed for SFF members to produce a safety management system for fishing vessels by providing assistance in formulating an onboard risk assessment.
The management system allows skippers to record many different aspects of running their vessel including the expiry dates of life saving appliances, survey dates, creating lifting equipment records and recording crew certificate details. At the Aberdeen expo, SFF Safety Officer Derek Cardno will be showing skippers how the scheme works and the advantages it delivers in terms of enhancing safety. The uptake so far from SFF members has been good and the scheme is already bringing tangible benefits.
Also being promoted at the show will be a new initiative led by the SFF where every fisherman in Scotland with the correct mandatory certification will have the opportunity to apply for the latest Personnel Flotation Device (PFD) - and get it for free. The SFF is donating in excess of £130,000 via the Scottish Fishermen’s Trust to support the project, aided by £10,000 from the UK Fisheries Offshore Oil & Gas Trust Fund, along with significant European Fisheries Fund support.
Derek Cardno stated: “At the Aberdeen show, fishermen who come and visit us on the stand will have the chance to collect the application form and discuss the issue of wearing one. The goal of the Onboard Support Scheme and the PFD initiative is to raise the overall safety awareness in the industry.”
The Skipper Expo International Aberdeen 2013 will be held in Aberdeen on 10 and 11 May 2013 at the Aberdeen Exhibition & Conference Centre (AECC). More information at www.maramedia.ie or contact Sharon Boyle on 00353 86 840 1250.
