A truck driver was killed in a Charleston Port accident after being struck by a crane inside State Ports Authority property. According to the public relations director for the Ports Authority, 64-year-old Calvin Jacobs, of Goose Creek, got out of his truck, walked across the storage yard and was hit by a rubber-tired gantry crane. Gantry cranes are large pieces of equipment used for stacking containers. Jacobs was pronounced dead at the scene. North Charleston police are still investigating the accident.
According to Charleston job injury lawyers, as a port worker employed by the South Carolina Port Authority, Jacobs was likely covered under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (hereafter “the act”). This act exists to protect port workers who are not seamen and are not eligible for state workers compensation.
Worker’s compensation benefits provided by the act include: -Medical and disability payments -Rehabilitation services -Wrongful death benefits for survivors of maritime workers who die from work related injuries -Medical benefits for occupational diseases that arise naturally out of maritime employment
South Carolina workers’ compensation attorneys at Howell and Christmas want to stress the importance of initiating a claim for benefits under the act immediately if injured. An injured employee must notify their employer of the injury within 30 days of its occurrence, and a formal claim for benefits must be filed within one year following the date of the injury.
When employees are injured or killed on the job, they or their survivors deserve full compensation. An attorney can help families affected by maritime injuries and death recover the benefits due to them.
Source: The Post and Courier-“Goose Creek man killed in port accident”- October 7, 2009 http://www.jones-act-maritime-lawyer.com/maritime-law/maritime-law-lhwca.php
