The Jones Act makes many requirements for the safety of both workers and passengers onboard a vessel, and these requirements can take many forms.
There’s always the obvious requirements for “safe working environments” – properly trained employees, proper staffing levels to avoid exhaustion or burnout, ensuring all areas are clean and well-lit, and so on.
However, one less common area of maritime law that carries equal importance to crew safety is the idea of “safe operation”. The safe, uninterrupted operation of any vessel carries just as much weight to crew safety as does the idea of a squeaky-clean workplace with functional equipment, but it’s one that often goes overlooked in discussions of what the Jones Act can do to protect workers.
Safe Vessel Operation Under Maritime Law
The idea of “safe operation” is a fairly broad concept that can apply in a number of different circumstances, all of them aimed at further protecting the workers and passengers aboard a vessel in navigation.
Under the terms of the Jones Act, safe operation includes several different aspects, all of which must be met for the vessel to be considered safe and operational. A few of the more common examples include:
Properly maintained equipment: Even above and beyond the more labor-intensive areas of a vessel, any vessel in navigation needs to have properly maintained navigational equipment in any relevant area, free from error. Seemingly simple errors in navigation can quickly create an unsafe working environment, and can lead to the vessel no longer being ‘safely operated’.
Proper training for pilot & navigation crew: Once the team’s needed equipment is up to par, the vessel also needs to ensure their crew knows how to properly operate it. The crew in charge of the piloting and navigation of any vessel are among the most important crew members onboard, and the owner of the ship needs to take every reasonable precaution to ensure these crewmembers are properly trained on the operation of this equipment, and the navigation of the vessel overall.
Safe staffing & manpower levels: Few things lead to accidents on the sea more than crew exhaustion, and that goes double for the navigational staff. Crews that are overworked, understaffed, or otherwise pushed to their limit are a frequent source of collisions and other navigational errors on the water, and the shipowner has a responsibility to bring enough crew along to rotate shifts and give navigators a chance to rest.
No disruptions in navigation: While a fairly broad category, maritime law also requires that the vessel be able to navigate and function unhindered, without any disruptions from passengers or crew. A crewmember acting in an unruly fashion, for example, could lead to distractions or disruptions among the navigational crew, increasing the risk of injury, and steps need to be taken to prevent these sort of outbursts.
Interestingly, American maritime law can also apply this doctrine to passengers under certain circumstances as well. A recent court case from New Jersey involved a woman willingly diving off the side of a sightseeing boat while in navigation. After the courts uncovered videos of her agreeing to do it to win money in a bet, she was cited under federal maritime law for interfering with the safe operation of the vessel she was onboard at the time of the incident.
If you or a loved one have been injured by a vessel being unsafely or improperly operated, contact O’Bryan Law today to speak to one of our maritime attorneys.
