A salmon fisherman working alone on a gillnet fishing boat accidentally fell into the water. His boat did not have guardrails or a lifeline. The fisherman was not wearing a personal flotation device or a lifejacket. The water had about a 1- to 2-foot chop.

The fishing boat was discovered adrift with no one on board. Later, the owner of another fishing boat found the fisherman floating in the water.

• Ensure guardrails are installed in the deck area of fishing boats to prevent falling overboard.
• Wear a personal flotation device (PFD) or lifejacket if there is any risk of falling overboard. Someone working alone must wear a lifejacket (not just a PFD) as it will turn the worker face-up on entering the water and will keep the worker in that position.
• Provide a ladder or other means of climbing back onto the boat in case someone falls overboard.

Relevant sections of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation*

Buoyancy Equipment
8.26
When required

(1) A worker who is employed under conditions which involve a risk of drowning must wear a personal flotation device (PFD) or lifejacket with sufficient buoyancy to keep the worker's head above water.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply if other acceptable safety measures are in place which will protect workers from the risk of drowning, or the water is too shallow to allow the lifejacket or PFD to function effectively. . . .

8.27
Compliance with standards

Buoyancy equipment must be labelled and otherwise meet the requirements of
(a) CGSB Standard CAN/CGSB-65.7-M88, Lifejackets, Inherently Buoyant Type with a minimum buoyancy of 93 N (21 lbs), . . .

(c) CGSB Standard 65-GP-14M, Lifejackets, Inherently Buoyant, Standard Type with a minimum buoyancy of 125 N (28 lbs), or

(d) British Safety Standard BS EN 396-1994, Lifejackets and Personal Buoyancy Aids - Lifejacket 150 N, automatically inflatable units with a minimum buoyancy of 150 N (34 lbs).

8.28
Working alone

If a worker working alone is exposed to risk of drowning, the worker must wear a lifejacket meeting the requirements of section 8.27(a), (c) or (d).

Fishing Operations: General Requirements
24.84
Protection from falling

(1) Crewmembers must be protected from falling overboard by means of grabrails, siderails, handrails, guardrails or personal fall protection equipment.
(2) Crewmembers working aloft or on deck during adverse weather conditions must tie off to a lifeline to prevent falling.

* The sections of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation listed in this bulletin do not imply a breach of the Regulation on the part of any party that may have been involved with this incident. The purpose in listing specific sections of the Regulation is to make readers aware of some of the applicable sections of the Regulation.