A loose tool, shifting load, or failed piece of rigging can cause a life-changing injury aboard a vessel or on an offshore platform. Maritime workers often perform their duties near cranes, suspended cargo, heavy machinery, and equipment stored above deck level. Vessel movement can make these hazards even harder to control.
Falling and moving object incidents are often preventable. Regular inspections, careful lift planning, secure storage, and proper training can make these jobs safer. Maritime workers injured in these accidents may have rights to medical care, living expenses, or other compensation. If negligence or an unsafe vessel condition contributed to the injury, they may have additional legal options.
What Are Falling and Moving Object Hazards?
A falling object hazard involves an item that drops from a higher level and strikes someone below. Moving object hazards include swinging loads, rolling equipment, shifting cargo, crane components, and machinery that ejects loose parts.
Common examples aboard vessels and offshore facilities include:
- Hand tools dropped from platforms or ladders
- Cargo that shifts when a vessel rolls
- Materials that fall from shelves or open lockers
- Loads released by defective slings, hooks, or wire rope
- Crane booms or suspended loads that enter occupied areas
- Pipes and equipment that roll across a deck
- Broken machinery components that become airborne
- Unsecured hoses, chains, or rigging that swing under tension
Even a relatively small object can cause a severe maritime injury when it falls from a significant height. Hard hats may reduce some impact, but protective equipment cannot eliminate the danger created by an unsecured load.
Why Do These Maritime Accidents Happen?
Dropped object incidents frequently result from multiple safety failures rather than a single mistake. Vessel motion, limited visibility, cramped work areas, and changing weather can increase the danger.
Contributing factors may include:
- Poor housekeeping: Tools, supplies, and equipment left unsecured can slide or fall when the vessel moves.
- Defective lifting gear: Worn slings, damaged hooks, corroded wire rope, and faulty hoists may fail under a load.
- Improper rigging: A poorly balanced or incorrectly attached load can shift without warning.
- Inadequate lift planning: Workers may enter a drop zone when the crew has not established safe routes or restricted areas.
- Communication failures: Crane operators, signal personnel, and deck crews may act on unclear or conflicting instructions.
- Insufficient training: Workers may not know how to inspect equipment, secure tools, or recognize a dangerous load.
- Lack of supervision: Safety procedures offer little protection when supervisors do not enforce them.
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has identified dropped object hazards involving lifting equipment, moving machinery, and work performed above decks on offshore facilities. Its guidance calls for stronger training, more thorough job safety analyses, and restricted-access areas that keep workers away from potential drop zones.1
Injuries Caused by Falling or Moving Objects
These accidents can result in far greater harm than a bruise or cut. A worker may be knocked into machinery, pinned against a bulkhead, or thrown overboard after the initial impact.
Potential injuries include:
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Neck or spinal cord damage
- Broken or crushed bones
- Eye injuries and vision loss
- Internal organ damage
- Severe lacerations or amputations
- Permanent disability
- Fatal injuries
Some symptoms may not appear immediately. Headaches, confusion, dizziness, numbness, or increasing pain can indicate a serious condition that requires prompt medical attention.
How Employers Can Prevent Struck-By Accidents
Responsibility for prevention cannot rest entirely on individual workers. Employers and vessel operators should identify hazards before work begins and provide the equipment needed to perform each task safely.
Important precautions include:
- Inspecting cranes, slings, hooks, ropes, and hoists before use
- Securing tools used at elevated workstations
- Closing and latching cabinets, lockers, and storage compartments
- Establishing exclusion zones beneath suspended loads
- Using trained signal personnel during crane operations
- Confirming load weight and equipment capacity before a lift
- Stopping operations when weather or vessel movement makes a lift unsafe
- Providing appropriate hard hats, eye protection, footwear, and high-visibility clothing
Workers should never stand beneath a suspended load or enter a designated drop zone while lifting operations are underway. Employers should also secure equipment and structural components that could fall or become dislodged during vessel movement, severe weather, or routine operations.
What to Do After a Moving or Falling Object Injury
Report the moving or falling object accident as soon as possible and request medical treatment. Describe every affected body part, even if one injury seems more serious than the others. Follow the treatment plan and retain copies of medical records, work restrictions, accident reports, and communications from the employer.
If possible, record the condition of the equipment and work area. Note the names of witnesses and ask that defective rigging, tools, or machinery be preserved. Do not sign a release or provide a recorded statement to an insurer before you know how it may affect your rights.
Compensation for Injured Maritime Workers
The law that applies depends on the worker’s duties, connection to a vessel, work location, and other facts.
A qualifying seaman who becomes injured or ill while in the service of a vessel may be entitled to maintenance and cure. Maintenance helps cover basic living expenses during recovery, while cure covers reasonable medical care until the worker reaches maximum medical improvement. An injured seaman generally does not have to prove employer negligence to receive these benefits.
Separate claims may also be available. Under the Jones Act, a seaman may pursue damages when employer negligence contributed to an injury. A worker may also have an unseaworthiness claim if unsafe vessel equipment, an unfit crew, or another defective vessel condition caused the accident.
Workers who do not qualify as seamen may have rights under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, which may also cover certain offshore workers through the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, depending on their job duties and where the accident occurred.
Speak With a Maritime Injury Lawyer
A moving or falling object injury can leave you unable to work while medical expenses and household costs continue. The experienced legal team at Schechter, Shaffer & Harris helps injured maritime workers determine which laws apply, pursue available benefits, and hold negligent parties accountable.
Contact our maritime injury lawyers today to discuss your accident and legal options.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I do after a falling object accident offshore?
Report the incident, seek medical care, and document the scene if possible. An offshore accident lawyer can determine which laws may apply to offshore injuries caused by moving or falling objects.
Can I file a Jones Act claim for a struck-by injury?
Qualifying seamen may pursue Jones Act claims if employer negligence contributed to the maritime injury. An offshore accident lawyer can investigate unsafe equipment, inadequate training, and other causes of maritime accidents.
How long do I have to pursue compensation?
Deadlines vary based on your worker classification, location, and type of claim. Contact a maritime injury lawyer promptly to help preserve evidence and determine the deadline that applies.
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