imo and the safety of fishing vessels: past, present and future

EU Member States are to make sure that owners:
• ensure that vessels and their fittings and equipment are technically maintained and that defects
found which are likely to affect the safety and health of workers are rectified as quickly as
possible;
• take measures to ensure that all vessels and equipment are cleaned regularly in order to maintain
an appropriate standard of hygiene;
• keep on board an adequate quantity of suitable emergency and survival equipment in good
working order;
• take account of certain minimum safety and health requirements (listed in an annex to the
Directive);
• take account of personal protective equipment specifications (listed in an annex to the Directive);
and
• take all necessary measures to ensure that owners supply skippers with the means to fulfill the
obligations imposed in the Directive.
Workers and their representatives are to be informed of all measures taken regarding safety and
health on board vessels, and the information provided is to be comprehensible to the workers concerned.
Workers are to be given suitable training, in particular in the form of precise, comprehensible
instructions, on safety and health on board vessels and on accident prevention in particular. Training shall
cover in particular fire-fighting, the use of life-saving and survival equipment, the use of fishing gear and
hauling equipment and the use of various types of signs including hand signals. Training is to be updated
where this is required by changes in the activities on board. Persons likely to be in command of a vessel are to
be given detailed training on: the prevention of occupational illness and accidents on board and the steps to be
taken in the event of an accident; stability and maintenance of the vessel under all foreseeable conditions of
loading and during fishing operations; and radio navigation and communication, including procedures.
The Directive calls for the consultation of workers and/or their representatives and their participation in
discussions on the matters in the Directive in accordance with Article 11 of Directive 89/391/EEC.(5)
Article 12 of the Directive, Adaptation of the Annexes, provides for "purely technical" adaptations of
the annexes to the Directive to take account of: the adoption of directives in the field of technical
harmonization and standardization concerning certain aspects of safety and health on board vessels; and
technical progress, changes in the international regulations or specifications and new findings in the field of
safety and health on board vessels.
EU Member States were to bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions
necessary to comply with the Directive by 23 November 1995. They are to report to the Commission every four
years on the practical implementation of the provisions of the Directive, indicating the points of view of
employers and workers.
Annex I, Minimum safety and health requirements for new fishing vessels, includes requirements
covering seaworthiness and stability; mechanical and electrical installations; radio installation; emergency
routes and exits; fire detection and fire-fighting; ventilation of enclosed workplaces; temperature of working
areas; natural and artificial lighting of workplaces; decks, bulkheads and deckheads; doors; traffic routes --
danger areas; layout of workstations; living quarters; sanitary facilities; first aid; accommodation ladders and
gangways; and noise. Annex II, Minimum safety and health requirements for existing fishing vessels, includes
requirements concerning the same subject areas (except for "noise"), though of a generally less rigorous
standard. Annex III, Minimum safety and health requirements concerning life-saving and survival equipment,
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