Two year postdoctoral fellow in Aquaculture Occupational Health and Safety with the Ocean Frontier Institute at Memorial University, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. Interested applicants should submit a cover letter explaining how they are qualified for this position, a current CV and a 2-page statement of relevant research interests and activities, as well as contact information for three referees. The start date for this position will ideally be no later than June 2018. Deadline for applications is February 28th, 2018.
Send any queries to Dr. Barbara Neis bneis@mun.ca
Applications are invited for a 2-year postdoctoral fellowship in aquaculture occupational health and safety funded through the Ocean Frontier Institute http://oceanfrontierinstitute.com/ and based at Memorial University in St. John’s Newfoundland. The successful candidate will join and be guided by a multidisciplinary team of researchers from Sociology, Engineering, Geography, Medicine and from the Ocean Science Centre at Memorial carrying out a 5-7 year program of research on aquaculture OHS.
Occupational health and safety (OHS) issues within aquaculture encompass potential hazards within aquaculture from hatchery work through grow-out, processing and transport of fish and shellfish processes, as well as hazards associated with spatial and other overlaps between commercial fisheries and aquaculture. Currently available data on injury, illness and fatality rates associated with aquaculture production are limited; where they exist these indicate the industry is one of the most dangerous. Finfish and shellfish aquaculture typically take place in relatively remote coastal regions where OHS expertise is very limited, as is regulatory oversight. Neglect of safety and health can erode fishing and aquaculture enterprise profitability through the costs of compensation, insurance and fines. Injury and illness can also contribute to labour turnover and shortages that, in turn, can affect the social license of operations within rural and remote communities where, as has been shown in the mining sector, local job opportunities are a key factor in local support.
Memorial’s OHS in Aquaculture team is working within Module M of the OFI the main focus of which is social licence and planning in coastal communities. They are working with a multi-stakeholder community advisory and with Norwegian partner SINTEF to answer two broad questions: a) what are the main current and emergent occupational health and safety (OHS) hazards in marine and coastal work associated with aquaculture, including within interactions between aquaculture and commercial fisheries in Atlantic Canada? b) How might we better anticipate and reduce those hazards and communicate our findings both downwards to industry and communities and upwards to national and international forums.
The Postdoctoral Fellow in Aquaculture OHS will play a leading role in:
a) designing and carrying out a comparative study between Norway and Newfoundland on occupational health and safety patterns, processes and regulatory environments; and,
b) the transfer and adaptation of a methodology for studying organisational safety indicators, decision-making and operational safety conditions developed by SINTEF in Norway for Atlantic Canada and using it to document and help to reduce risk within the industry starting with lab-based innovations in feed, cage design and processes and extending outwards into commercial salmon and mussel aquaculture operations in Atlantic Canada;
c) providing input into the development of a social license framework for sustainable aquaculture development in the region.
The successful applicant will have completed all requirements for a doctorate or equivalent degree in any of a wide range of disciplines related to occupational health, public health, and/or the social science of work prior to taking up the position. Completion of the degree must occur no later than December 1, 2017 and within the last two years.