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 heavy lifting in maritime injuries is in back injuries, shoulder injuries are not too far behind.

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 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 are looking to get maximum compensation by whatever means possible. The Washington and Oregon maritime injury lawyers of Anderson Carey Williams & Neidzwski out of Seattle, Portland, and Bellingham 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 Washington or Oregon maritime employer, contact Anderson Carey Williams & Neidzwski. Your first consultation is free, so call 1 (800) 262-8529 to schedule yours today.

Maritime Shoulder Injury Information Center

Maritime Shoulder Injury Causes in Oregon

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 being in the maritime environment. In addition to using your arms and shoulders to lift, haul, tug, and turn on a daily basis, your shoulder could 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 occurrences of a maritime shoulder injury could possibly be related to your maritime company's negligence, or the negligence of a third party. An experienced Portland maritime shoulder injury attorney will be able to fight for the compensation and justice you deserve.

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. Usually, your shoulder is a strong body part that can withstand a lot. However, 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
Fractured neck of the humerus
Ruptured biceps

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 incompetence crewmembers. However, your maritime employer and any insurance companies involved are only going to care about their bottom line. An experienced Seattle maritime injury lawyer 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

Anderson Carey Williams & Neidzwski | Lawyer for Maritime Shoulder Injuries

The dedicated Portland maritime lawyers of Anderson Carey Williams & Neidzwski 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. 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.