Once you accept a maritime job, you know that there is risk involved. You may earn enough to justify the risk involved, and you may also trust that your employer will do everything in their power to keep you safe.
While most companies operating maritime businesses do actively try to protect their employees, some businesses are less diligent about safety than others. They may not provide adequate safety equipment or even have the right safety procedures in place for the protection of their staff members.
How do businesses contribute to drownings and similar maritime tragedies?
If they don’t provide or demand the use of PFDs
Personal floatation devices (PFDs) are crucial life-saving tools out on the ocean. According to a review of commercial fishing fatalities drowning, 88% of the workers who went overboard without a PFD died. That fatality rate dropped to 37% for those who had a PFD on when they went into the water.
Some employers do not provide PFDs to their workers, making the employees feel like they aren’t necessary. Others provide them but do not require them. They may even facilitate a culture where workers shame one another for using safety equipment.
A workplace without the right safety gear and that does not put the lives of employees above efficiency is a workplace just waiting for an accident to happen. Unlike injuries that occur on land, maritime accidents typically do not lead to workers’ compensation claims and instead necessitate a civil lawsuit brought under federal statutes.
Learning more about the rules that govern maritime personal injury claims could help both workers hurt on the job and those who have recently lost a loved one.