Assessment of the European Guide for Risk Prevention in Small Fishing Vessels. Guide applicability in Polish coastal fishing.

The European Commission--The Directorate General of Employment, Social Affairs, and Equal Opportunities is going to publish the European Guide for Risk Prevention in Small Fishing Vessels. The legislative basis was the Report COM (2009) 599 on the practical implementation of Health and Safety at Work Directives 93/103/EC (fishing vessels) and 92/29/EEC (medical treatment on board vessels), which recommended the drawing up of a non-binding guide for vessels under 15 m in length. The Guide draft was produced directly by Labour Asociados, SSL, Spain. The organization has asked IIMTM in Gdynia, Poland, to participate in the project of evaluating the draft of the Guide. The testing took place simultaneously and homogenously in other chosen European countries. The results of the assessment are presented below. They indicate some differences and specific challenges faced by fishermen working in small costal boats in the Baltic area. The Guide should take these under consideration.