Taking strain and sprain out of fishing jobs

VICTORIA BARBER

September 25, 2008 at 10:21AM AKST

Think of ergonomics and images of office workers perched on top of inflated balls might come to mind. That may soon change due to one engineer, who hopes to bring ergonomics out of the office and the kitchen to one of the most punishing industries around — commercial fishing.

Donald Bloswick is a mechanical engineer and professor at the University of Utah who specializes in industrial ergonomics, a field that looks at how to design or change work environments to help employees avoid developing injuries.

This October, Bloswick will travel to Alaska to hold a series of workshops with the Alaska Marine Safety Education Association on how ergonomics might help commercial fishermen avoid musculoskeletal disorders, or MSDs —  injuries like tendinitis or lower back pain, which people often develop by doing the same task repeatedly over a period of time.

While it’s not the kind of workplace danger that spawns popular TV programs, these injuries, if left untreated, can become permanently debilitating.

“It (MSDs) doesn’t receive a lot of attention because it is not nearly as catchy as ‘Deadliest Catch’ and man overboard — it’s just people hurt,” said Bloswick.

“Someone hurts their back and it doesn’t make the newspapers, though it is certainly more likely they suffer from that than from going overboard.”

Bloswick first began thinking of ways that ergonomics could benefit commercial fishermen eight years ago, when Brad Husberg, a graduate of his program, moved to Alaska to work for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

While talking with Husberg, Bloswick learned that commercial fishermen had much in common with people who work in industries such as clothes manufacturing or meat processing — they suffered a high rate of musculoskeletal disorders.

“What we’ve found is that there are quite a few fishers both in catching and processing that are exposed to risk factors that would likely lead to MSDs,” said Bloswick. “In my opinion the problem is that, due to the nature of the work and the workforce, people commonly slip through the cracks as far as reporting injuries and in some cases receiving the immediate care that would mitigate that effect.”

According to the Fisherman’s Fund, a program that helps fund treatment for commercial fishermen who have been injured fishing in Alaska, as many as 44 percent of injuries reported in 2003 were related to musculoskeletal disorders, more than twice the amount of any other category (cuts, the second most commonly reported injury, rang in at about 20 percent).

These injuries often come from handling crab pots and other fishing equipment or from repetitious knife work during processing.

The percentage of workers suffering from musculoskeletal disorders may be even higher, since many injuries are likely to go unreported, in part because of the elusive nature of the disorder.

A musculoskeletal disorder often results from a long-term accumulation of strain, and it can manifest itself as a crippling pain long after the initial injury. While a fisherman might have injured himself working with crab pots during the winter, he might feel the full effects of that injury until long after the crabbing season is done.

Also, because commercial fishing is a seasonal, high-pressure job, workers may choose to ignore any nagging pains they experience in the processing plant or on the water, allowing the strain to develop into a more serious condition.

“They often might just work through it, or think they work through it, and then it will manifest in a more debilitating way,” said Bloswick. “It’s not like being run over by a forklift, where you know the cause and effect.”

Bloswick thinks that applying the principles of ergonomics to the fishing industry may help fisherman avoid musculoskeletal disorders, either by finding new ways of designing or modifying equipment or by teaching workers to move in ways that avoid injury.

For example, workers who do highly repetitive knife work in a processing plant —making the same cut several times a minute, hour after hour — can benefit from raising or lowering their work table, depending how hard or fine the cut is, to help prevent injuries like carpal tunnel, tendinitis or shoulder disorders.

Also, Bloswick said that being in good general physical health seems to have a protective effect against musculoskeletal disorders.

Bloswick said that there are a many unknowns as to how ergonomic the fishing industry can become.

“The activities are so defined by the work requirement, you don’t have as many options for changing things,” said Bloswick. “There are limitations driven by where you are and how jobs need to be done.”

He said that his goal in coming to Alaska is not only to share what he knows about ergonomics and fishing activities, but to learn from industry workers about their jobs and how ergonomics might benefit them.

“(Commercial fishing) is a difficult process because of the nature of the activity,” said Bloswick. “It can’t be made easy, but can it be made less likely to cause MSDs?”

Bloswick is scheduled to speak in Cordova on Oct. 7 and Sitka on Oct. 9. For more information about the workshops, visit www.amsea.org or call (907) 747-3287.

Victoria Barber can be reached at 907-348-2424 or toll free at 800- 770-9830, ext. 424.