Diving Injuries

Experienced Louisiana Commercial Diving Lawyers Focused on Helping You

The Louisiana commercial diving injury lawyers of Domengeaux Wright Roy & Edwards LLC have represented commercial divers in the Gulf of Mexico and across the globe for decades.

We have recovered millions for commercial diving and maritime injury victims. Our firm has also represented wives, families, and parents in maritime wrongful death claims.

Our Law Firm Has Recovered Millions for Divers

Working as a commercial diver is dangerous, demanding work. In addition to their equipment, the work – and life – of a commercial diver depends on detailed planning. The captain, dive master, and support crew must do their jobs and follow safety procedures.

Negligence by a crew member or the failure of a critical piece of equipment can lead to injury or death for the diver.

Commercial divers are committed to safe practices. They know any failure can lead to death or lifelong injuries and loss of work.

The Louisiana commercial diving injury lawyers of Domengeaux Wright Roy & Edwards LLC have decades of experience protecting the rights of commercial divers. We have represented divers worldwide, including those who have been injured offshore, inland, on vessels, and on land.

Representing Divers Takes Experienced Lawyers

Commercial divers must be properly trained and supervised. To support them, professionals must work together on the surface and in the water. There is no room to cut corners when it comes to safety planning or maintenance of equipment.

Representing commercial divers after an injury demands attorneys with years of experience. It requires lawyers who have helped those who have worked in the underwater and offshore environment.

Our lawyers also know the specialized medical care that professional divers who have been injured need.

Committed to Representing Divers & Their Families

In the Gulf of Mexico, commercial divers commonly work near oil rigs. Divers also build underwater pipelines, repair and construct bridges, dams, and power plants, and work within inland waterways.

Divers are welders, and they use power tools and other heavy equipment. They are often in low visibility and at depths in high pressure.

Even for experienced commercial divers, it’s challenging work with many responsibilities. Catastrophes, burn injuries, and fatalities are possible, but injured workers or surviving loved ones should seek compensation for their sufferings or losses.

Factors Involving Commercial Diving Injuries

If you have been injured as a commercial diver, contact our experienced Louisiana Commercial Diving Injury Lawyers to discuss your options.

Commercial diving injury cases are often extremely complex. Federal maritime law will govern most of these cases.

The legal status of the diver will be evaluated by our lawyers. The factors will include your location when you suffered your injury, the type of vessel or work platform you operated from, and your connection to that vessel.

All can determine your rights to compensation for your injuries.

UNDERSTANDING THE JONES ACT

The Jones Act entitles divers to recover monetary damages when showing that the injury is attributable to an unseaworthy vessel or negligence on the part of his or her employer, its agent, or a fellow employee.

Often, a commercial diving injury could have been prevented if proper training, the work of the support crew, and safe equipment were all correct while a professional diver performed his difficult work.

In many commercial diving injury cases, a point of contention will be if the diver qualifies as a Jones Act seaman or is classified as a longshore or harbor worker.

Coverage under the Jones Act can rely on the location your injury occurred, your relationship with your employer – whether full-time, a contract worker, or as an independent – the type of vessel or platform the dive originated from, and whether the companies or entities have acted negligently.

Many offshore commercial divers qualify for protection under the Jones Act, and may recover damages for past pain and suffering, past and future lost wages, medical expenses, and lost earning potential.

THE JONES ACT & SEAWORTHINESS LAWS

The Jones Act and the unseaworthiness doctrine are laws created to provide full compensation to seamen, including commercial divers who have legal status as seamen.

The Jones Act gives working seamen the right to full damages for the negligence of the owner, the master, or other crew members.

Negligence can include:

• Failure to adequately hire, train, or staff the vessel.
• Not providing proper or adequate gear, protective clothing, or equipment for the job.
• Failure to follow or enforce safety measures – including the removal of safety features on machines – improper maintenance of the ship and its equipment, and working in heavy weather.
• Under the Jones Act, if negligence is established, a commercial diver can recover all past and future wages that he loses as a result of his injury.

SUPPORTING YOUR CASE WITH EXPERT INVESTIGATIONS

In the case of a commercial diving injury, it is our law firm’s experience through several decades that keeping all of the equipment involved is extremely important.

It is also important to pursue an early investigation and take statements from witnesses. We are committed to representing injured or killed commercial divers and helping their family members.

We will put together a team of experts to support your case and recover the damages that you and your loved ones deserve.

• Jones Act Coverage
• Maritime Law
• Decompression Illness (DCI)
• Pain & Suffering, Past & Future Lost Wages, Medical Expenses
• Wrongful Death Claims

COMMERCIAL DIVERS IN THE OIL & GAS INDUSTRY

Commercial divers in the oil and gas industry build and repair offshore platforms, underwater structures, and pipelines and support drilling operations.

Divers use advanced equipment, and they need training and support for all of their operations. There is the possibility of fires, spills or burns from welding equipment, and collisions with dive boats and jet sleds.

Crew members with insufficient training, air supply hoses that become tangled or cut, safety equipment that malfunctions, and improper planning increase the risk for commercial divers.

There are also inherent risks for the diver in the underwater environment. The OSHA standards are detailed for commercial divers.

INJURY RISKS FOR COMMERCIAL DIVERS

Besides the equipment and construction conditions in which they work, commercial divers spend a lot of time underwater with the risks drowning, hypothermia, circulatory problems, and poor visibility.

Hazards for commercial divers while below the surface include decompression illness (DCI), arterial gas embolism, and vestibular pulmonary and non-pulmonary barotraumas.

Barotrauma occurs when the body is unable to equalize pressure within a gas-filled area, such as the lungs. Ambient pressure changes during ascent and descent, and the difference in pressure can result in damage to body tissues.

Decompression sickness (DCS), also referred to as “the bends” or Caisson Disease, can occur when inadequate decompression follows increased exposure to underwater pressure. The diver’s body absorbs nitrogen and other gases, which can form bubbles when pressure is reduced quickly.

Mild cases of DCS involve bubbles near the joints, and this can cause skin rash or marbling. More severe cases occur when the bubbles enter the bloodstream. DCS can be categorized as Type I or Type II.

CALL US FOR AN HONEST ASSESSMENT OF YOUR CASE

Type II DCS will typically involve the spinal cord or brain and affects neurological and pulmonary systems. Severe diving injuries require divers to enter a recompression treatment chamber.

If not treated properly, conditions such as an air embolism or decompression sickness can be fatal. We have also represented working divers and technical divers who have experienced injuries after improper gas mixtures.

Whether you are seeking compensation for your own injury as a commercial diver, or on behalf of a loved one after a wrongful death in commercial diving, the experienced Louisiana commercial diving injury lawyers with Domengeaux Wright Roy & Edwards LLC can provide you with an honest assessment of your case.

Make the Wright Call. Call 337-291-HURT.