Workers employed in the maritime industry on the Ohio River at Paducah, Kentucky, are protected financially under admiralty law if injured at work, just as offshore and sea-going maritime workers are. The Jones Act provides compensation for maritime accidents that occur while working aboard vessels upon any navigable waters of the U.S. The Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act covers workers injured during waterside loading, unloading, repairing, or shipbuilding.
If you have been injured in a job-related maritime accident while working on the Ohio River, you should discuss potential maritime injury claims with a Paducah maritime injury attorney from Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer. It’s not unusual for maritime workers to be unaware of their rights to recover damages after an occupational injury. Fighting maritime employers intent on denying and neglecting their obligations to the injured can also be challenging. But we bring the legal experience and the Kentucky Courage to the table needed to demand the compensation you deserve for maritime injury damages. We get results.
Contact us now for a free initial consultation and no fee unless we recover compensation for you.
Common Types of Maritime and Offshore Accidents
Maritime work is dangerous, whether aboard a vessel or onshore. Cranes and derricks used in maritime operations pose a great risk. In addition to the potential for cranes and derricks to collapse, being struck by falling, moving, or swinging cargo, equipment, tools, materials, etc., can cause grave injury or death.
Crane accidents may be caused by faulty or unmaintained wires or winches, negligence by longshoremen during rigging or loading and unloading operations, or lack of proper supervision and training among maritime workers and crews.
Other risks in the maritime industry include injury due to:
- Slips, trips, and falls – Wet, slippery, moving, and uneven decks, stairways, and planks are commonplace on boats and docks. Slipping and falling to the deck can cause fractures, back or spine injuries, traumatic brain injuries (TBI), and other trauma. Falls and the resulting impact injuries also occur when a boat is involved in a collision, grounding, or sinking. Falling from a vessel can lead to drowning, near-drowning, or hypothermia.
- Drowning, near-drowning, and hypothermia – Maritime workers who fall overboard or from docks may drown or survive but suffer brain injuries caused by loss of oxygen (near drowning) if not wearing appropriate personal safety devices. Even with protective gear, submersion in cold water can quickly cause hypothermia. Hypothermia is the loss of body heat faster than the body can produce it, causing a dangerously low body temperature that can quickly lead to shock and death.
- Suffocation, poisoning, and fires in enclosed spaces – Cargo areas and other enclosed spaces below deck on a boat or in onshore maritime facilities sometimes lack proper ventilation and become contaminated by carbon monoxide buildup and oxygen deficiency. Certain work can produce toxic gases and flammable or explosive vapors that become concentrated in enclosed spaces. The combined problems of closed spaces can lead to asphyxiation, poisoning, fires, and explosions. Small, confined spaces may also lack easy escape or rescue access.
- Toxic chemical burns – Chemicals found in ship cleaning agents, scale removers, solvents, and some cargo are toxins that can cause injury if inhaled (especially in a confined space) and corrosive skin or eye contact.
- Thermal burns and electrical shock – Thermal burns among the crew onboard a ship or on a dock are typically caused by fire, explosions, or scalding originating with machinery or from contact with hot fluids or objects, such as while cooking in the galley. Electric arc, explosions, or contact with live electrical currents can also cause burn injuries, as well as electrical shock or electrocution.
Maritime workers are also susceptible to a variety of other common workplace injuries, such as:
- Impact injuries and lacerations in motor vehicle accidents, including being hit by moving vehicles like trucks, front-end loaders, top-loaders, forklifts, roll-on/roll-off (ro–ro) vehicles, etc.
- Blunt-force trauma from being struck by or against objects, including being pushed into structures
- Crush and tear injuries from being caught in or compressed by objects or machinery, including loss of fingers, feet, and limbs (traumatic amputation)
- Repetitive motion injuries, such as hand and wrist injuries from cumulative stress or strain
- Overexertion injuries to the shoulder, neck, and back from lifting, holding, carrying, pushing, pulling, and throwing
- Adverse bodily reactions, such as back injuries and other strains, sprains, tears, etc., caused by long-term bending, reaching, climbing, standing, sitting, and slipping or tripping without falling.
Maritime Injury Claims
Maritime workers injured while on the job are promised financial assistance through multiple federal laws. Two applicable to maritime river workers in Paducah are:
- Jones Act, which provides payment for medical costs and lost wages (called maintenance and cure) due to injury on an offshore vessel or oil rig. The Jones Act extends the Federal Employer’s Liability Act (FELA) to seamen, allowing a “seaman” who has been injured at sea during the course of their employment to bring a personal injury claim against a negligent employer. A “seaman” is any individual engaged or employed in any capacity on board a vessel (except scientific personnel or sailing school instructors or students). The law also makes it illegal to retaliate against a worker who files a benefit claim.
- Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA), which provides compensation for medical care, lost wages, and vocational rehabilitation services to workers disabled by injuries on navigable waters of the United States or in adjoining areas, including piers, docks, terminals, wharves, and those areas used in loading and unloading vessels. Non-maritime employees may also be covered if they work on navigable water and their injuries occur there. The LHWCA also provides for payment of survivor benefits to dependents if the work injury causes or contributes to the employee’s death. “Injury” includes traumatic injuries, occupational diseases, hearing loss, and illnesses arising out of employment. The LHWCA specifically excludes seamen (masters or crew members of any vessel) covered by the Jones Act.
Maritime Injury Damages
Under the Jones Act, maritime workers who suffer disabling injury or illness at sea are entitled to “maintenance and cure” from their employers. Maintenance is the reasonable cost of food, lodging, and transportation to and from a medical facility. Cure is the cost of medical attention, including hospitalization, medicine, and medical equipment.
Maintenance and cure compensation is available regardless of whether the injury or illness is work-related as long as it occurs while in the service of the vessel. Compensation cannot be reduced because of any negligence on the part of the plaintiff.
An injured maritime worker may seek compensation for:
- Past and future medical expenses connected to the maritime injury
- Lost wages and diminished future earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Pre-judgment interest on compensation awarded
- Found, which is the value of the meals and lodging the seaman would have received if they had remained employed as a seaman. Found may be demanded if the seaman incurs food and lodging expenses.
If the ship’s owner has failed to provide maintenance and cure, a court can order them to pay additional damages and compensation for the primary expenses identified in the claim.
Seeking Compensation for a Maritime Injury
Under the LHWCA, if you are disabled for more than three days, you should begin to receive payments for lost wages within 28 days of reporting your injury. Meanwhile, your medical bills should be paid without you ever receiving them.
However, an employer or insurance carrier may deny responsibility for compensation and medical benefits under the LHWCA. If this occurs, you should receive a copy of Form LS-207 (Notice of Controversion of Right to Compensation) stating the reasons for the denial of benefits. You can fight this denial through a series of appeal hearings.
A maritime worker injured while on the water is entitled to compensation under the Jones Act regardless of who was at fault for the injury. However, some employers will try to avoid paying all the compensation an injured maritime worker is due under the Jones Act.
The Jones Act allows the injured maritime worker to file a lawsuit to obtain the full payment for maintenance and cure their employer owes them. If the injured worker’s employer was negligent and that negligence led to the maritime worker’s injury, the injured worker has the right to demand additional compensation in a claim. The Jones Act also allows personal injury claims against third parties, such as contractors, vendors, or other seamen whose negligence led to the injury.
A Jones Act claim might hold the vessel’s owner liable for injury caused by:
- Broken or improperly maintained equipment, including an unseaworthy vessel
- Failure to provide crew members with equipment needed to do work
- Improper or inadequate training of the injured seaman or crew members
- Unsafe work methods
- Co-workers’ negligence
- Assault by a co-worker
Get in Touch With an Experienced Paducah Maritime Injury Lawyer
If you are employed in the maritime industry on the Ohio River and have been injured in a workplace accident, you need to speak to our Paducah offshore accident attorneys as soon as possible.
At Morgan, Collins, Yeast & Salyer, we can determine quickly which federal laws apply to your case and help you calculate all the compensation you are due for your losses. If your employer is not living up to their full responsibility to you, we can help you appeal an improper decision on a claim or file lawsuits to recover the total compensation you deserve.
Contact us now to schedule your free consultation about the legal assistance and Kentucky Courage we can provide.
