Boston Maritime Attorneys Examine Crushed Arm Accident, Dock Worker Dangers

A dock accident in Western Australia on December 15, 2012, calls attention to some of the extraordinary dangers maritime workers face on a daily basis. The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) told the Brusselton-Dunsborough Mail that a man’s arm was crushed while working at the dock supplying the American energy corporation Chevron’s massive Gorgon LNG project in Western Australia. The worker had to be airlifted to a hospital after his arm became trapped between the dock and a barge at the Mermaid Marine Supply base. MUA Western Australia secretary Chris Cain described Chevron and its contractor as “cowboys,” and told the Mail that poor safety standards had been a problem at the Mermaid Marine Supply base for months.

“It’s becoming clearer and clearer that Chevron and their contractors like Mermaid are cutting corners to make up time and money on the Gorgon project,” Cain told the Mail. “We’ve got serious issues when the day after WorkSafe says there’s no problem, ambulances are called to an accident of the type exactly predicted by health and safety representatives.”

Like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in the United States, WorkSafe is a governmental agency responsible for promoting and securing the safety and health of Australian employees in the workplace. According to the Mail, MUA said that WorkSafe WA had been warned that poor training and management made an accident “inevitable.”

Many American dockworkers face the same dangers as this Australian site, and Latti & Anderson LLP has been representing injured maritime workers and their families for nearly 50 years. Our firm fully understands the significant impact that an injury to an extremity can have on all aspects of a person’s life, and our Boston maritime trial lawyers are dedicated to securing the compensation our clients need to recover and move on with their lives.

Additional information about how our firm helps longshoremen and dockworkers is available on our website. If you or a loved one has sustained a crushed arm, leg or other serious injury while working on a dock, contact our firm at (800) 392-6072 to schedule a free initial consultation or complete the form on this page to let our Boston maritime attorneys review your case.

Latti & Anderson LLP – Boston maritime trial lawyers