News
NEC funded research highlighted in the latest NIOSH bulletin - August 17, 2017
This month's NIOSH bulletin highlights the NEC's Northeastern Winch Safety Research Program:
"In collaboration with Harvard University, NEC researchers and a private engineering company developed and tested at sea an innovative emergency winch shut-off guard for trawlers. These fishing vessels use winches to pull fishing nets, or trawls, through the water. The 4-year study began with a survey of more than 45 active sea captains in the Gloucester and New Bedford ports in Massachusetts.
After evaluating the survey and focus group results, the researchers developed a pressure-sensitive, stainless steel guard that, when pressed, triggers an electric switch to quickly shut off the winch. Now, ongoing efforts focus on increasing awareness of the dangers of unguarded winches and on promoting the emergency guard to trawler captains."
NIOSH Research Rounds is a monthly bulletin of selected research conducted by researchers at NIOSH and NIOSH-funded researchers at other institutions.
To learn more about this research project, visit the NEC website.
You can read more from the NIOSH bulletin here.