There are many workplace injuries that are reported each year in connection with on the
job injuries, and for those who are working offshore the rules many be a little
different than that of the common work place injuries. There are a number of
laws in place to protect those who are injured on the job while working
offshore, and much consideration is given to the fact that they can’t reach a
medical facility for treatment as quickly as those who are working on land.
With traditional workers compensation, a lot is determined by how quickly an injured
worker seeks medical care, and reports the injury in full detail to a superior
who then is required to submit a report to the companies workers compensation
insurance carrier, should the injured worker fail to report the injury in a timely
fashion the employee will risk losing their claim to workers compensation
benefits.
When an employee who is injured offshore reports a claim to their superior, they can’t
seek the medical care as quickly as one who works on land therefore the rules
for this type of claim is different, what the injured offshore employee is entitled
to is a benefit called Maintenance, which is an allowance to cover food and
shelter costs, in addition the injured offshore employee is offered a benefit
called cure, which addresses any of the medical expenses related to the
employees injury, and include hospitalization, rehabilitation, and medications
that are needed as a result of the employees injury.
In light of the BP disaster that cost eleven men their lives, and destroyed many families
as a result of known greed and negligence, simple workers compensation is not
enough, as the families of the eleven killed will always suffer as a result of
that horrible day. With the current laws in place to protect offshore workers
as well as their families, there are other avenues of compensation that must be
considered, such as with law suits against those who were negligent, as with
the faulty equipment that caused the explosion.
Third parties who were involved in the negligent behavior as well should also be held
liable as with the reported Halliburton contractors who were responsible for
the cement seal that failed and added to the four million barrels of oil that
poured out into the Gulf of Mexico. The legal rights of those who are protected
offshore depending on the severity of the injury have legal rights to protect
them in all cases.
