Falls are a leading cause of injuries for workers on commercial fishing and shipping vessels. These types of accidents can cause serious injuries, but it can be even more worrying when workers fall from high heights. If you fell from someplace high up, you may be entitled to benefits that can help you pay the bills while you recover. A Snohomish County factory trawler injury lawyer from our firm can help you learn more.

What Can Cause Falls From Heights?

There are plenty of dangers that can cause workers to fall from high heights. Common hazards include:

  • A lack of warning signs
  • Slippery surfaces
  • Lack of safety equipment, like safety harnesses
  • Missing railings or gratings
  • Bad weather, like rain, hail, and high winds
  • Poor employee training

What Kinds of Injuries Result From Falling From High Heights?

Falls from high heights can cause all sorts of injuries, from broken bones to traumatic brain injuries like concussions. Some of these injuries can keep you out of work for a while, making it difficult to make a living. Other injuries, like spinal cord injuries and other serious wounds, can end up affecting you for life.

Can I Receive Benefits After Falling From High Heights?

Even if you are at fault or cannot prove that someone else is negligent, you are entitled to maintenance and cure benefits after an accident like this. Your maintenance benefits can pay your living expenses, like rent and utility bills. These are for the essentials though, so they really shouldn’tbe used to cover a cable bill or a bunch of streamer subscriptions!

Cure benefits are there to help you pay for medical bills. These last until your injuries are healed completely or until medical treatments can no longer help. These benefits do not cover things like pain and suffering like damages in a traditional personal injury lawsuit would. However, if you think that negligence contributed to your accident you may be able to claim compensation for that.

What Should I Do If I Believe My Employer Was Negligent?

Now sometimes accidents happen. It can be dangerous working at sea and you likely knew this going in. You prepared as best as you could, but you still got injured despite everyone’s best efforts.

Unfortunately, this is not always the situation though. Sometimes an employer can be blamed for when a worker gets hurt. This can happen when:

  • Proper protective equipment is not distributed
  • You and other employees have not been properly trained
  • The vessel is “unseaworthy”

When a maritime industry employer does not strive to keep their ships seaworthy, an injured worker can sue for benefits under the Jones Act.

Contact Our Maritime Injury Lawyers

So if you were hurt at work, do not miss out on any benefits that you deserve. Contact Amy C Brown Law, PLLC to schedule your consultation with our team. We can help you explore your legal options and build a compelling case.