Metairie Louisiana Legal Blog

Working on a oil rig requires daily safety checks. Louisiana residents who work on oil rigs may come to consider their days as routine, but they are often anything but that. Every day is another opportunity for a 'fixed equipment mechanical integrity failure' to occur, which could lead to catastrophic injuries that require pursuing compensation under admiralty and maritime law.

When considering what constitutes a big FEMI event, think of injection point failures, heat exchanger ruptures and brittle equipment failures. These events often result in serious injuries and fatalities, along with a significant amount of media attention. Each day, Louisiana oil rig workers inspect for and stop leaks, complete necessary mitigation efforts and inspect equipment on a timely and routine basis.

Working on the waters in and around Louisiana may provide you with a lucrative living, but it also exposes you to certain risks and hazards. You may understandably be concerned about how your injuries will be covered if you are hurt while working. You may know that you may not receive benefits under the traditional workers' compensation insurance, but you may not know whether you qualify to receive compensation under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act.

You may have reason to wonder since the LHWCA is not the only act covering people who work on the country's waterways. Generally, if you load or unload vessels or repair or build vessels, you may qualify under the LHWCA. An extension of the act called the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act covers those who work on oil platforms that lie within the waters of the United States. It may be easier to talk about the people who would not qualify for compensation under this act.

Many Louisiana residents want to see the world. One way to do that is to work for a company that provides you with the opportunity to travel. Perhaps you ended up working for the Armed Forces or another federal agency in a foreign country, a U.S. territory or a U.S. possession. While there, you suffered injuries. You may wonder whether you could receive benefits through the Defense Base Act.

Even if you work for an organization that benefits members of the Armed Forces, you may qualify for benefits under the DBA if you suffer injuries. Construction workers employed to repair, build or remove structures used by the United States or its allies, along with others who work service contracts pertaining to U.S. wartime activities or the national defense on U.S. military bases or in the country's territories or possessions. The act includes many nonmilitary personnel, including U.S. citizens, nationals, residents and foreign nationals.

Louisiana workers who are eligible for workers' compensation benefits are not required to prove much above whether the accident occurred at work and in the performance of work duties. However, for seamen who fall under the Jones Act instead of workers' compensation, the situation is a bit more complex. Injured seamen do need to meet a certain burden of proof in order to receive compensation for their injuries.

Fortunately, the burden of proof for those filing claims under the Jones Act is not as high as in "regular" personal injury claims. In a personal injury claim, the injured party must prove to the court that the other party's negligence was a substantial cause, or a proximate cause in legal terminology, of the injuries suffered. That puts a significant burden on the plaintiff.