The COVID-19 outbreak has caused many to work from home and as the pandemic continues to unfold we hope that you and your families are safe and healthy. At Anderson Carey Williams & Neidzwski, PLLC, we would like to assure you that our dedicated attorneys are here to help you with your legal matters during these uncertain times. Although we cannot meet with you in person at least for the next few weeks, we are available to assist you via phone, e-mail, or video conferencing. Please do not hesitate to contact us for your legal needs.
1-800-BOATLAW
Anderson Carey Williams & Neidzwski, PLLC
1-800-BOATLAW
Free Initial Consultation

Shoulder Injuries

Just like back and neck injuries, shoulder injuries are commonplace in a labor-intensive environment as is found in the maritime industry. In fact, shoulder injuries are more common than you might think, with 2006 reporting 7.5 million doctor visits for shoulder pain or a shoulder injury. Though most of the injuries suffered in a maritime setting are back related injuries, shoulder injuries are not uncommon.

Most shoulder injuries can be prevented through proper safety training, procedures, and equipment. However, many maritime employers are negligent in providing a safe environment, both at sea in the North Pacific, Bering Sea, and Gulf of Alaska, and at port. If this is the case with your maritime shoulder injury, an experienced maritime injury lawyer in Washington, Oregon, California, and Alaska will help you fight to get justice and maximum compensation from your negligent maritime employer.

Maritime Shoulder Injury Attorney for Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and California

When the negligence of a maritime employer results in your injury, you should be fairly compensated. The Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and California maritime injury lawyers of Anderson Carey Williams & Neidzwski, PLLC out of Seattle, Bellingham, Portland, and San Francisco have decades of combined experience fighting coast-to-coast for the best interest of maritime clients like you against a maritime company only concerned with its bottom line.

If you have suffered a shoulder injury due to the negligence of your maritime employer, contact Anderson Carey Williams & Neidzwski, PLLC. Your first consultation is free, so call 1 (800) 262-8529 to schedule yours today.

Maritime Shoulder Injury Information Center

Back to top

Maritime Shoulder Injury Causes

Typically, shoulder injuries fall into two categories: injuries due to sudden trauma and injuries due to continuous strain. Whether you work at the harbor, docks, shipyard, or on a ship, tugboat, barge, fishing vessel, or oil rig, you and other seamen constantly place yourself at risk of a shoulder injury just by working in the maritime environment. In addition to using your arms and shoulders to lift, haul, tug, and turn on a daily basis, your shoulder may also come into violent contact with vessel equipment. Some of the most common causes for maritime shoulder injuries include:

  • Excessive and repetitive overhead motion performing daily work tasks
  • Improper lifting technique
  • Abnormal twisting or bending of the shoulder
  • Slip and fall
  • Accident involving lines or winches where the arm and shoulder are jerked with force
  • High-speed crash of chains, steel rings, pulleys, and other vessel equipment or machinery into the arm and shoulder
  • Unseaworthy vessel – poor design, lack of nonskid grating, missing or inadequate safety features
  • Lack of proper and adequate safety training

All of these cases of shoulder injury while working in the maritime industry could be related to your maritime company’s negligence, or the negligence of a third party. An experienced maritime injury attorney will be able to fight for the compensation and justice you deserve. Call the attorneys at Anderson Carey Williams & Neidzwski, PLLC today for a free no obligations consultation at 1 (800) 262-8529.

Back to top

Types of Maritime Shoulder Injuries

The shoulder serves an important function for the arm giving it a full range of motion so that we can perform all kinds of tasks. Though cosmetically your shoulder seems to take up a relatively small percentage of surface area, it is actually made up of three major bones, 10 major muscles, and multiple tendons, nerves, and ligaments. Each individual part can become irritated, torn, or broken if proper safety measures are not taken. Due to the hard labor involved in the industry, the most common maritime shoulder industries include:

  • Torn rotator cuff
  • Stiff shoulder
  • Frozen shoulder
  • Tendonitis
  • Bursitis
  • Arthritis
  • Misalignment of the humerus
  • Torn shoulder tendons
  • Shoulder impingement syndrome
  • Dislocated shoulder
  • Separated shoulder
  • AC joint sprain
  • Broken clavicle (collarbone)
  • Scapular fracture
  • Fracture of the neck of the humerus
  • Ruptured biceps

Back to top

Washington Maritime Shoulder Injury Recoverable Damages

If you have suffered a shoulder injury and are a seaman, such as a fisherman, merchant mariner, deckhand, mate, tugboater, or offshore platform worker, you are entitled to damages if you prevail in your maintenance and cure, unseaworthiness, or Jones Act negligence claim. Many maritime shoulder injuries involve some sort of negligence on the part of the maritime employer, whether that be failure to implement safety procedures or hiring incompetent crewmembers. However, your maritime employer and any insurance companies involved are only going to care about their bottom line. An experienced maritime injury lawyer at Anderson Carey Williams & Neidzwski, PLLC may be able to help you get the following damages:

  • Medical expenses
  • Future medical treatment
  • Rehabilitation expenses
  • Reduced capacity to work
  • Loss of capacity to work
  • Short-term or long-term disability
  • Vocational retraining
  • Past and future lost wages
  • Pain and suffering
  • Mental anguish

Back to top

Anderson Carey Williams & Neidzwski, PLLC | Lawyer for Maritime Shoulder Injuries

The dedicated maritime lawyers of Anderson Carey Williams & Neidzwski, PLLC will fight hard to get you the compensation and justice you deserve after suffering a maritime shoulder injury due to your employer’s negligence. If you are worried about the amount of maintenance and cure you have been offered, or if you haven’t been offered maintenance and cure at all, contact the experienced maritime attorneys of Anderson Carey Williams & Neidzwski, PLLC. We will work as a team and pursue compensation in the most favorable method for you, through settlement, trial, or other means. Call 1 (800) 262-8529 today to schedule your free initial consultation.

This article was last updated on Tuesday, July 31, 2018.

Client Testimonials

  • The Maritime Law Association of The United States
    The Maritime Law Association of the United States (MLA) was founded in 1899. Its formation was prompted by the organization, some three years earlier, of the International Maritime Committee.
  • Washington State Bar Association
    The Washington State Bar Association operates under the delegated authority of the Washington Supreme Court to license the state's nearly 40,000 lawyers and other legal professionals.
  • Oregon State Bar
    The Oregon State Bar is a government agency in the U.S. state of Oregon. Founded in 1890 as the private Oregon Bar Association, it became a public entity in 1935 that regulates the legal profession.
  • Alaska Bar Association
    The Alaska Bar Association is a mandatory bar association responsible to the Alaska Supreme Court for the admission and discipline process of attorneys for the State of Alaska.