If you live in Ft. Lauderdale and work in the maritime industry, you take risks daily on the job. Getting hurt on the job is an everyday possibility, from mild injuries to cruise-ship illnesses to serious ship-board accidents. If you are injured on the job, you have a right to seek compensation and a Ft. Lauderdale maritime attorney can help you get it.
Port Everglades
The port that serves Ft. Lauderdale, Hollywood, and other nearby areas is a crucial deep-water port. It is the third busiest cruise port in the country, with millions of passengers coming through the port every year.
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Nearly 50 large cruise ships from various cruise lines are based in Port Everglades. Only Miami and Port Canaveral have a busier cruise industry than Ft. Lauderdale.
Cruise ships are not the only ships bringing business to Port Everglades. International trade makes up a big portion of the business conducted here.
Thousands of container and cargo ships come and go from the port every year, making it one of the busiest cargo ports in the country. The port can also claim to be South Florida’s main incoming port for petroleum products.
Working in Port Everglades
If you work in Port Everglades, you might do any number of jobs every day, but most of them are bound to be dangerous. Port and harbor jobs include those for longshoremen, cargo crane operators, truck drivers, electricians, shipbuilders and repairers, and more.
In addition to port workers, plenty of seamen come into the port. They do all kinds of jobs on ships, from catching and processing fish to manning oil tankers to taking care of passengers on cruise ships.
Both jobs in the port and on the ships that come into port are dangerous and come with daily hazards that often cause workers to become ill or injured.
Common accidents and injuries in this line of work include:
- Burns and smoke inhalation from ship fires
- Slip-and-fall accidents
- Fractures from falling from ladders, stairs, and walkways
- Falling overboard and drowning or suffering hypothermia
- Lost limbs from machinery accidents
- Crushing accidents from falling cargo
- Exposure to toxic cargo and asbestos
Some accidents are so bad that workers are even killed on the job.
Examples of Port Everglade Accidents
You don’t need to use your imagination to come up with the types of accidents that effect workers at Port Everglades and on the ships coming into port. Plenty of authentic examples of moderate to tragic accidents affect workers regularly.
Fatal Lift Accident
One such example of a sad and tragic accident occurred in the port in 2013. Workers were making repairs to a passenger gangway for a cruise ship. A scissor lift, used as a platform to raise workers, tipped over and fell onto the workers. Two died, and a third was seriously injured.
Truck Accident
It isn’t just the specialized equipment used in the port area that can cause such tragic accidents. A port is a busy workplace. Sometimes, even an ordinary incident leads to an accident, injury, or death.
In 2011, for instance, a man was hit by a truck driving through Port Everglades. The worker assisted the driver in unloading containers, but a miscommunication caused the truck driver to drill and pin the man between the truck and the container. He died on the scene.
Oil Tanker Accident
Other accidents are less tragic, such as the incident in 2012 in which a driver of an oil tanker lost control of the truck and struck a light pole.
The driver was injured and taken to the hospital, but recovered. Luckily there was no oil in the tanker at the time of the accident. If there had been, fire, explosions, and spills could have added to the situation.
Maritime Workers’ Rights
If you work in the maritime industry in Ft. Lauderdale, you have a right to seek compensation that will help you pay for associated costs after an accident.
For example, if you are a seaman injured on the job, you can file a claim through the Jones Act to get money for medical bills and lost wages. If you work in the port, you most likely qualify for the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, which provides money for injuries and accidents.
If you don’t believe you are getting the compensation you are owed after an accident, you may not be sure what to do next. Navigating the complicated system of laws that make up maritime law isn’t easy.
Let an experienced Ft. Lauderdale maritime attorney help you determine which law applies to you and how to file a claim. With a lawyer’s expertise to guide you, you can be sure you will get all the compensation you are entitled to.