Canadian Occupational Safety

June/July 2015 15 PFD campaigns, emergency drills helping save lives in fishing T wenty-fi ve years ago, there was a devastating explosion on Leonard LeBlanc's fi shing boat in Cheticamp, N.S., that killed his fi ve-year-old son. An accumulation of gas fumes under the fl oor caused the explosion that was heard 10 miles away. There were nine people on the boat at the time, and some were so badly burned the skin was "peeling off their bodies and dripping" while others had bones sticking out of their skin, says LeBlanc. "I put a lifejacket on my brother-in-law and put him overboard with his legs dangling like a puppet… As I was going back into the wheelhouse, I looked down and saw my sister's hair on the cover of the engine box — that's all I could see — and then I jumped overboard with her." LeBlanc's brother-in-law sustained a massive leg injury and his sister had memory loss for about one year. But LeBlanc himself suffered only a bit of whiplash. "I literally walked through fl ames and didn't come out with a scratch," he says. Since then, LeBlanc has devoted himself to making sure no one has to go through the pain he did. He is the president of the Gulf of Nova Scotia Fishermen's Coalition and he is striving to change the culture of safety in the industry, starting in his own backyard. By Amanda Silliker T was heard 10 miles away. There were nine people on the boat at the time, and some were so badly burned T was heard 10 miles away. There were nine people on the boat at the time, and some were so badly burned T was heard 10 miles away. There were nine people on the boat at the time, and some were so badly burned T was heard 10 miles away. There were nine people on the boat at the time, and some were so badly burned T was heard 10 miles away. There were nine people on the boat at the time, and some were so badly burned T was heard 10 miles away. There were nine people on the boat at the time, and some were so badly burned T was heard 10 miles away. There were nine people on the boat at the time, and some were so badly burned the skin was "peeling off their bodies and dripping" while others had bones sticking out of their skin, the skin was "peeling off their bodies and dripping" while others had bones sticking out of their skin, says LeBlanc. "I put a lifejacket on my brother-in-law and put him overboard with his legs dangling like a puppet… As "I put a lifejacket on my brother-in-law and put him overboard with his legs dangling like a puppet… As T the skin was "peeling off their bodies and dripping" while others had bones sticking out of their skin, T the skin was "peeling off their bodies and dripping" while others had bones sticking out of their skin, T the skin was "peeling off their bodies and dripping" while others had bones sticking out of their skin, says LeBlanc. T says LeBlanc. T "I put a lifejacket on my brother-in-law and put him overboard with his legs dangling like a puppet… As "I put a lifejacket on my brother-in-law and put him overboard with his legs dangling like a puppet… As

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