As part of its national safety awareness campaign for commercial fishermen, announced in December 2004, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) will be conducting a series of informal face-to-face meetings with fishermen in two ports in northern WA, this week.
The aim of the meetings is to raise the awareness of commercial fishermen to similar causal factors, identified by the ATSB during investigations of 23 collisions between trading ships and fishing vessels conducted since 1990.
The meetings will complement a safety bulletin, published by the ATSB in December 2004, and form an important part of the safety awareness campaign.
The ATSBs safety awareness meetings will be held in conjunction with seafood safety and handling training workshops, which are being held by the Western Australian Fishing Industry Council (WAFIC), Challenger TAFE and WA's Department of Fisheries during the last week in July.
All commercial fishermen are encouraged to participate in the meetings, which will be held immediately after the training workshops in Broome and Point Sampson.
SEAFOOD SAFETY AND HANDLING TRAINING WORKSHOPS SCHEDULE
- BROOME - Wednesday 27 July between 1:00 pm and 5:00 pm| Mangrove Hotel.
- POINT SAMPSON - Friday 29 July between 12:00 pm and 4:00 pm| Point Sampson Community Hall.
Further information on the safety awareness campaign and the ATSB meetings can be obtained by contacting the ATSB on 1800 0200616 or by emailing the Marine Investigation Unit at: marine@atsb.gov.au.