Offshore Oil Rig Worker Injuries, Deaths Are Covered By Jones Act Maritime Protections
Being employed on a drifting offshore oil rig or platform for crude oil or gas extraction is widely viewed as one of America’s riskiest jobs. Not only do marine workers deal with huge and complex equipment, but they work on the high seas where weather and water conditions can be dangerous. And beyond that, neglectfulness by their employers may lead to a serious if not disastrous accident on the job.
That’s the base of cases charged by two survivors and the loved ones of one fallen worker who suffered an ordeal in the Gulf of Mexico in early September. On Sept. 8, the liftboat or jack-up outfit on which they’d been running seismic examinations started to go down in Mexico’s Bay of Campeche as Tropical Storm Nate roiled toward them. Escape was imperative.
Nonetheless, the employees weren’t taken from the liftboat promptly. Though a “standby” vessel was close by, it didn’t make an effort to get the men. Hence eventually the men escaped on a small life boat, which carried no water or food and had poor capacity for all 10 men to be aboard. That meant several men had to stay in the water and hang on to the life raft, in shifts.
After three days drifting at sea, the injured men at long last were found by search teams. However, in the end, four of the 10 maritime workers passed away. One worker was lost at sea and subsequently recovered. Two passed away at sea on the life boat, and another of the men perished in a hospital onshore after he was rescued.
Lawsuits are seeking redress from Geokinetics Inc. of Houston, Texas, which had approved the seismic studies; Mermaid Marine Australia Ltd., which owned the standby vessel; and Trinity Liftboat Services of New Iberia, Louisiana, which was the owner and controlled the stricken liftboat.
When offshore workers, sailors, seafarers, marine workers or others who labor on the water are hurt or killed in a work-related accident, they or their families have special federal protections under the old maritime law, the Jones Act. This law enables them to sue an employer for neglect and seek compensation for their medical costs, lost earnings, and pain and suffering.
Huge energy companies and their consorts have a legal and moral obligation to provide their workers with adequate safety measures to protect them. When this duty is not satisfied, and when employees are injured or get killed as a result, then the long-standing law referred to as the Jones Act can be applied.
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Where can injured maritime or offshore employees get a Jones Act lawyer? One place to search for is the experienced Gulf Coast law firm of Jim S. Adler & Associates. By going over to its Texas-JonesActLawyer.com web site or by phoning 1-800-566-3434, victims can explore their prospects for a successful Jones Act lawsuit on their behalf.