Fishermen’s Perception of their Quality of Work Life: A Preliminary Study

The fishing and commerce sectors are the most accident-prone sectors of the maritime profession in France. They are the cause of 85% of the total number of accidents. Fishing accounts for less than half (47.7%) of the total number of accidents. Sailors are the subject of a particular accidentology, the main causes of fatal accidents being falls overboard and shipwrecks, but there is little information on fishermen’s perception of their quality of life at work, even if it can exacerbate risks at work. This preliminary study explores fishermen’s perceptions of their quality of work life through 3 measures: job satisfaction (JS), work-life balance (WLB) (based on 4 dimensions), and organizational commitment (OC) (based on 3 components). From the responses of 30 French fishermen, we observe that they are generally satisfied with their work (JS) and that they are supportive of their organization (OC). The expression of a negative effect of work on private life cannot be confirmed (WLB). Correlation analysis shows that there is no statistical association between the 3 measurements, invalidating our hypothesis. Positive “intra-scale” correlations are found between the 2 positive dimensions of the WLB and between the 3 components of the OC. These results are discussed considering the literature.