You’re out at sea, surrounded by pristine water as you hustle around the cruise ship’s freezer. You bend your knees and lift, retrieving the box of frozen crabs to be served to the hundreds of guests drinking and enjoying their vacation. But as you step out, you lose your balance and tumble to the floor. Pain radiates from your hip and disperses throughout your body. Instead of working, you now have to manage an injury and hope that you won’t sustain any long-term damage.
Injuries stemming from lifting, slips and trips or falls are the most frequent accidents at sea, according to a review of injury claims by the American Club, ABS and Lamar University reports Insurance Business America.
According to the study, injuries sustained while lifting or in slips, trips and falls account for more than 1,300 recorded injuries. These injuries cost more than $85 million during a six-year period, according to the American Club.
Maritime injuries are costly, averaging more than $65,000 per incident. Lifting incidents averaged $48,000; falls and trips averaged $88,000, and slips averaged $56,000. According to the study, the head and the neck were the most expensive bodily injuries, averaging more than $100,000 per incident. The second-most expensive bodily injuries involved the back and the torso, averaging more than $66,000 per incident.
The study also reveals inconsistencies in logging and collecting data, leading researchers to call for more comprehensive reporting methodology.
“Shipping is currently navigating through a digital era in which asset owners are increasingly able to use the power of operational data to predict potential failures,” Joseph Hughes, chairman and CEO of the Shipowners Claims Bureau, told Insurance Business America.
The very nature of a vessel at sea, from the slick surfaces to the constant motion on the waves and everything in between, increases the risks of slips and falls. Add stairs, heavy machinery, cargo, equipment and other factors both aboard ship and shoreside in a maritime environment, and the risk for injury only multiplies.
The data is clear – maritime workers can suffer from a high rate of work-related injuries. A slip or trip and fall in a maritime environment can cause serious injuries – and most of the time, such an accident is avoidable with proper safety measures. If these measures are not in place, your fall could be the fault of your employer’s negligence or vessel unseaworthiness. An experienced maritime accident attorney can help you recover the damages you deserve from your slip and fall accident in a maritime environment – whether at sea in the North Pacific, Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska or in port.
The experienced maritime attorneys at BOATLAW, LLP, based in Seattle, Bellingham, Portland, Los Angeles and San Francisco have pursued favorable damages coast-to-coast in maritime injury cases like yours for decades. If you have suffered a slip and fall or trip and fall accident resulting in injury due to your maritime employer’s negligence, BOATLAW, LLP will fight for the compensation you deserve, through settlement or trial.
