Is offshore maritime work getting more dangerous?

The workplace accident realm in Connecticut and nationally is unquestionably expansive. We duly note that at the established pro-workers’ Morizio Law Firm in Stratford. We underscore on the firm’s website our impassioned and proven advocacy of injured employees and their families following accidents in diverse work environments.

Those range broadly from the construction industry and factory/warehouse settings to agriculture, the transportation realm and additional spheres.

Like the vast and varied maritime world, for example, a universe that employs legions of workers engaged in highly diverse employment activities.

Offshore drilling from oil platforms (e.g., manned rigs) is one occupational niche. Specialists in that type of work can carve out lucrative careers, although they face singular and sometimes fatal risks while seeking to do so. Morizio Law’s deep legal team provides them and their loved ones with diligent representation when they fall victim to occupational accidents and injuries.

Reportedly, offshore drilling – always rife with inherent risks – is currently trending in a troubling way. The public policy research organization Center for American Progress recently released drilling-linked accident/injury data culled from federal government data.

It shows this: a marked uptick in injuries suffered by rig workers during 2018 and 2019 as compared with the immediately preceding timeframe of 2016/2017.

The center stresses that the spike — notably, offshore fatalities last year exceeded the combined total for 2014-2018 combined — spells “an unraveling of safety gains made after Deepwater Horizon.” That massive oil spill occurred in 2010.

Safety advocates state that a recently rolled out deregulatory emphasis being pushed by the current presidential administration unduly favors business interests at the expense of worker safety.

The nation’s maritime sphere is vitally important economically. Although continuous research and related profit is obviously a key concern for commercial players, it should never be emphasized in a way that undermines worker safety.