Negligence in the workplace can result in injuries to workers, so employers are held to high standards by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. There are regulations, training procedures and other laws designed to keep workplaces safe, but there's still always the chance that an employer or coworker will be negligent and cause an accident. If you're hurt at work, these regulations and safety procedures may have been violated, which is what's alleged in this case.
In a case about an Ohio- and Missouri-based company, a worker has come forward to allege negligence that has left him with lasting injuries. The man sued McGinnis Inc. and another company named AEP River Operations LLC., after claiming that the Jones Act had been neglected in his workplace in 2013.
The lawsuit states that the employee was assigned to work on a number of marine vessels on the Ohio River and in nearby Mason County. He was a crewman and deckhand, but then in 2013, he was ordered to get into a hopper barge. There, he was expected to shovel and sweep coal.
That in itself wasn't an issue, but when the man's broom got stuck on an obscured defect on the floor, he suffered a shoulder injury. The defect had been covered by coal, so he was not aware that anything was wrong with the floor. On top of that, the man and a coworker were then made to work while a machine used to pick up clamshells and unload them was running. That is against the safety rules and policy of the company. When the man was injured, he reported it to the captain, but the captain told him to keep working. Later, the man had to go through shoulder surgery.
Source: West Virginia Record, "Seaman sues employer, avowing negligence in work injury," July 17, 2015