Over 80 Combined Years Of Maritime Law Experience

Machine Safety

Working aboard an Alaska fish processing vessel is a highly dangerous occupation. Long hours of work, rocking and rolling vessels, and dangerous machinery are a recipe for potential serious personal injuries. All fish processing equipment aboard Alaska fish processing vessels should be properly designed and guarded to minimize the risk of workers being injured. Under the Fishing Vessel Safety Act, the Coast Guard regulations require:

“Suitable hand covers, guards, or railing must be installed in way of machinery which can cause injury to personnel, such as gearing, chain or belt drives, and rotating shafting” (C.F.R. Sec. 28.215 (b))

Machinery such as fish headers, skinners, and bait choppers must have safety guards in place and crewmen must be trained in their proper use. Conveyor belts, pulleys, gears and chains must be guarded. Guards on these machines are sometimes intentionally removed or not installed to increase the rate of production. The safety of crewmen should always be a priority and safety guards and lock-out tag-out procedures should always be utilized.

The Law Is Meant To Protect You

The OHSA regulations further require that emergency stop buttons must be properly located in order to minimize injury to workers who are working around these dangerous machines. Failure to properly guard fish processing equipment may result in serious injury, amputations, and death of crewmen. Failure of a vessel owner to install proper safety guards required under the Fishing Vessel Safety Act can lead to claims for punitive damages and bar arguments of comparative fault.

The maritime injury lawyers at Trueb Berne & Beard, LLP, represent injured commercial fishermen, deckhands and fish processors. They understand the requirements of the Fishing Vessel Safety Act and can analyze whether your injury was caused by the vessel owners’ failure to follow the Fishing Vessel Safety Act and OHSA.

If You’ve Been Injured, You Have A Right To Compensation

The vessel owner owes every crewman aboard their vessel a safe place to work and a seaworthy vessel. If you have been injured because of the failure of the vessel owner to properly guard fish processing equipment you have the right to compensation for: pain and suffering, medical expenses, past and future lost wages, prosthetic devices, disfigurement, emotional trauma and traumatic stress.

Lanning Trueb and his partners at Trueb Berne & Beard, LLP, have represented crewmen injured because equipment aboard fishing vessels was improperly maintained and guarded. They have recovered millions of dollars in compensation for their clients who have suffered amputation and crush injuries to their hands, arms, feet and legs. Their investigations in these cases involved the employment of experts in the fields of occupational workplace safety, machine design, naval architects, human factors and marine safety.

Put Eight Decades Of Combined Maritime Law Experience On Your Side

In cases involving the failure to properly guard machinery and equipment aboard fishing vessels, it is important for the injured crewman’s lawyer to begin an early investigation. The equipment involved in the incident should not be changed before being inspected by the injured crewman’s lawyers, safety experts and engineers. Photographs, videotapes, and measurements of the equipment and accident scene must be obtained.

Call Trueb Berne & Beard, LLP, for a free consultation about your rights under federal maritime law, and the vessel owner’s duty to comply with the Fishing Vessel Safety Act and OHSA. Call 907-802-4559 or send us a message online today.