Maritime & Oilfield Benzene Exposure

Maritime workers encounter occupational dangers on a regular basis, including exposure to harmful chemicals. While working on or near vessels, shipyards, oil rigs, and ports in a maritime setting, you could risk developing a serious, life-threatening condition from benzene exposure. Among the many occupational hazards faced by offshore workers, Jones Act seamen and longshoremen is exposure to benzene, a deadly chemical that is transported on cargo vessels, exposing maritime workers on these vessels to its harmful effects. Workers employed on oil rigs, offshore platforms, and the like are also at a high risk for benzene exposure due to their constant contact with petroleum products and solvents.

Blue water ships and oilfields can potentially bring a high risk of cancer for workers who have prolonged exposure to toxic chemicals in these industries. In a maritime setting, benzene and benzene-containing products are stored in drums and transported from their plants of manufacture by barge to their destination. Workers involved in the transport of benzene are at risk of exposure, particularly from leaks and spills and from benzene fumes emitted from the storage drums. Benzene vapor can be released during cargo venting, transfer operations, and tank cleaning. Vapors can accumulate on deck in concentrations high enough to become fatal. Warehousemen, truck drivers, dock workers, and bargemen are examples of maritime workers that risk exposure to benzene during the shipping process.

If you work in the maritime industry and believe that you may have been injured from benzene exposure, you need to contact a benzene exposure lawyer with maritime experience immediately. There are laws that protect maritime workers, including the Jones Act and General Maritime Law, which allow for compensation to be recovered. Our Maritime Lawyers, Jonathan S. Harris and Matthew D. Shaffer, are Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law and we have represented thousands of offshore workers and other maritime workers in claims for personal injury around the world for over 45 years. For more information about maritime claims and to see our results in offshore injury cases, please visit our maintenance and cure informational web site.