According to the Bureau of Security and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), over the past ten years, 23 individuals have passed away and over 2,000 individuals have been injured on drilling rigs and other offshore structures.
Offshore structures, such as drillings rigs, can pose an incredibly hazardous work environment for oil and gas workers. Over time, the increased production activity has led to more individuals operating in close quarters with others as a way to maximize profits. The more individuals that are on these offshore sites, the more likely a severe accident is to happen. A few of the most common offshore structure threats include:
Offshore work is both physically demanding and dangerous, and major injuries are all too common. Injuries that offshore employees face consist of head injuries, fractures, and electrical shock and, often, can be lethal. Maritime employees suffer numerous kinds of offshore injuries, consisting of:
If you find yourself in a maritime accident, it is important that you act in a timely manner to protect your rights. Below you will find a brief guide on what to do if you are hurt at sea. The following actions are essential for maritime accidents:
Many maritime accidents are preventable by adequate maintenance, training, and procedures. Maritime and sea laws remain in place to make sure that injured individuals have a method to recover damages from the responsible parties when injuries are the outcome of carelessness, neglect, inaccurate procedures, malfunctioning equipment, or unseaworthiness. It is essential that you maintain legal representation if you feel any of your rights have been overlooked or violated.
Maritime law, Admiralty law, and Jones Act laws are complicated, and it can be hard to determine which laws are relevant to your specific case.
Depending upon the conditions of your offshore accident, you may be granted settlement under either federal maritime law or state personal injury law. Our educated maritime attorneys have the ability to guide you through this hard process and assist you in determining what rights you have specific to the conditions of your offshore injury.
The four methods of compensation are:
The Merchant Marine Act of 1920, also referred to as the Jones Act, is a federal statute that extends the Federal Employer's Liability Act (FELA) to seafarers. The Jones Act makes it possible for seafarers that have been injured while working at sea to bring a personal injury claim against their employers. Under this act, the hurt employee can bring an action in either federal or state court. While general maritime law does not consist of the right to trial by jury, the Jones Act does. Although some claims can be settled during the course of pre-litigation negotiations, the only way you can preserve your rights to pursue a claim is to file a lawsuit.
The Death on High Seas Act (DOHSA) specifies that when somebody dies due to either a wrongful act, carelessness, or default that occurred while on high seas beyond three nautical miles from the coast of the United States, a civil suit can be brought against the individual or vessel responsible. The action will exclusively benefit the deceased's partner, parent, child, or reliant relative.
The Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA) is a federal law that provides the payment of compensation, medical care, and professional rehab services to staff members disabled from on the job injuries that take place on the accessible waters of the United States or in close-by locations usually used in the loading, unloading, repairing or constructing of a vessel. The LHWCA also provides payment of survivor benefits to dependents if the work injury causes or contributes to the death of the worker. These advantages are normally paid by the self-insured company or by a private insurance provider on behalf of the employer. The term "injury" includes occupational diseases, hearing loss, and illnesses occurring out of work. The LHWCA covers all employees that hold traditional maritime positions, like ship-repairs, shipbuilders, ship-breakers, harbor construction workers, and longshore employees.
General maritime laws were initially developed to establish the rights of maritime employees prior to the Jones Act, or the Longshore and Harbor Employees' Compensation Act was developed. Its basic plans ensure that maritime employees are given general living expenditures and medical costs after suffering an injury and that the shipowners offer a safe workplace.
General maritime law does not just cover injuries but also illnesses you may get while on the job. Unlike the Jones Act, which states your injury must be the result of unseaworthiness or neglect, under general maritime law, the accident could be your fault or nobody's fault, and you may still be entitled to Maintenance and Cure.
Under general maritime law, an employer is required to provide an injured maritime worker with Maintenance and Cure benefits till they are able to work again or have reached Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI).
"Maintenance" explains an employer's responsibility to provide an injured worker with food and accommodations while the seafarer is off the vessel and not able to work due to the injury or illness. "Cure" describes physician and hospital bills, diagnostic tests and scans, prescriptions, and rehab and therapy.
You do not have to show fault to recuperate Maintenance and Cure. When filing a claim, the same restriction periods apply as a Jones Act negligence claim.
The word "unseaworthiness" is a term in the realm of maritime law, and its significance in maritime law somewhat differs from its significance in the marine industry.
Under maritime law, a seaworthy vessel is a ship whose hull, equipment, and crew are fairly appropriate in design, upkeep, and character to perform their designated functions in the operation of the ship.
Unseaworthiness does not imply that the vessel is unable to be cruised or navigated. A vessel is unseaworthy in concern to a seafarer if it does not provide him with safe and ideal appliances with which to perform his work and if it does not offer him a safe place in which to work.
The injured maritime employee does not need to show that the whole vessel was unseaworthy or that it was in danger of sinking. All that the hurt employee needs to reveal is that some condition or element of the vessel, equipment, or crew was not fairly appropriate for its designated function, and they were injured as an outcome. For example, if the engine breaks down and the vessel is in the water till the engine can be fixed, the captain may think that it is unseaworthy; however, that does not make the vessel unseaworthy for maritime law functions.
If a seaman is hurt or dies because of an unseaworthy condition, the seafarer (or his surviving household) will be entitled to compensation from the owner of the vessel. The type of damages that will be used in an unseaworthiness claim include pain and suffering, medical costs, lost revenues (present and future), compensation for disability, and other damages under maritime law.
There are several types of damages that may be covered under your maritime injury case. These damages vary for each specific case; nevertheless, a great deal of compensation for maritime injuries consists of:
Maritime injury law is extremely complex. It remains in your benefit to consult an experienced maritime legal representative in order to get the maximum compensation for your injury.
As soon as you've been injured on the job, insurance adjusters and even your employer will start the process of trying to pay the least amount possible for your injuries. It's important to take your time when signing and submitting files, as you can be misguided to sign something that keeps you from getting what you are entitled to. For instance, if you have been injured on the job, you have the right to maintenance and cure no matter the method the accident occurred in and who is at fault. In addition, you may also have rights under general maritime law for pain, suffering, lost earnings, living expenditures, and more.
Insurance companies, even in the maritime industry, are known for attempting to settle low with injured employees and save as much money as they can. A well-informed maritime injury attorney understands these strategies and will make sure that all your rights are being fulfilled before you sign any documentation. Furthermore, there is a possibility that your injuries may get blamed on pre-existing conditions or because of fault of your own, which usually gets employers off the hook for liability. These scenarios are among a few of the techniques that employers and insurance companies perform in order to get out of paying you what you deserve. As a result, you should completely understand how general maritime law works and what you are rightfully entitled to prior to signing any documents. In fact, it remains in your best interest to have your lawyer look over all of your documents prior to signing anything in order to even the playing field against your employer and the insurance provider.