October 15, 2011
Maritime Workers Require New Fed Safety Regulations, Jones Act
Stressing the great hazards and uncontrollable risks of offshore oil or gas rig or platform work, a federal investigation has found that blame for the 2010 deadly Deepwater Horizon explosion, fire and sinking extends to all three giant companies involved in the ill-fated operation.
The more than 200-page paper released Sept. 14, 2011 corresponds with earlier findings in other probes of the historic disaster. Nonetheless, the newest report is seen as the most significant and comprehensive probe of the ill-fated blowup, fire and sinking of Deepwater Horizon, a floating offshore rig. The report is expected to prod extra safety rules for offshore wells, rigs and platforms. In fact, just one day prior when the report was published, new federal safety regulations were proposed.
The report was produced by the Coast Guard together with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement. The two agencies placed blame for the disaster to Halliburton, which performed the oil well’s cementing; Transocean, which owned and controlled the Deepwater Horizon rig; and BP, which planned and owned the well. The feds say each breached federal safety standards for such offshore oil rig work.
Though all three companies might be slapped with hefty fines, those can’t bring back the 11 maritime employees who died in the explosion or compensate for the great damages to the Gulf of Mexico and to Gulf Coast states by the following oil spill, the worst in the history of the US.
“With great power comes great responsibility,” well-known superhero Spider-Man once declared. However, frequently such responsibility isn’t observed by the giant energy companies that rake in billions of dollars in profits while the people who work for them perform rigorous if not hazardous work offshore. Yearly, numerous offshore workers get injured — often ill-fated injuries — as a result of a chafing lack of sufficient safety standards implemented on offshore oil or gas rigs or platforms.
However, such workers’ families or survivors at least have legal remedies. And maybe the most effective of these legal remedies is the Jones Act, a 1920 federal maritime law which still aids offshore workers up until today. It allows the families or survivors to file a case against a neglectful employer for injury costs such as hospital costs, lost present and future salary, as well as pain and suffering. This Jones Act lawsuit may be advanced with support from a Jones Act lawyer with Jim S. Adler & Associates, a long-time Jones Act lawyer.
Maritime workers off the coasts of Texas, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and other states have legal rights under the Jones Act — rights that surpass legal rights given by standard workers’ compensation insurance. However, so as to secure those rights, maritime or offshore employees require a learned and experienced Jones Act lawyer.
In the sad event that you or a member of your family sustains an on-the-job marine, maritime or offshore accident injury on a boat, ship, vessel or floating offshore oil or gas platform or rig, secure a Jones Act case in order to obtain fiscal recovery and justice. To start, just go to the offshore accident lawyer website texas-jonesactlawyer.com or phone 1-800-566-3434. Once done, you can let the wheels of justice begin to move for you — and for the members of your family.
Filed by neville1way at 5:18 pm under Uncategorized
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