The benefits of the Longshore Act extend to any worker whose standard occupation involves the building, repairing, loading, or unloading of seagoing vessels. Under its terms, the qualifying injury can have taken place either on board a vessel on navigable waters or on a pier, wharf, shipping terminal, or dry dock in close proximity to them.
Workers covered under the Longshore Act include but are not limited to:
Dockworkers
Harbor workers
Shipbuilders
Ship repairers
Shipbreakers
Prior to its enactment, these maritime workers enjoyed little recourse when injured on the job. However, since the Longshore Act exists to close the gaps left by the Jones Act, workers already covered under the latter are ineligible for its benefits. The same is true of any maritime worker otherwise protected by workers’ compensation.
The federal Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act (LHWCA) allows harbor workers (including stevedores, crane operators, longshore checkers, terminal workers, shipbuilders, marine construction workers, vessel repair workers, and others employed in shipyard or waterfront occupations) to recover the costs of medical care and two-thirds of their average weekly wages during periods of disability due to injury on the job. The LHWCA also applies to certain gas or oil rig employees working from fixed offshore platforms.
While these benefits are payable without regard to an employer’s fault, in most cases they will be considerably less than the damages recovered in a negligence action. The LHWCA prohibits the injured dock worker from suing his or her employer but allows the injured employee to sue a third party – such as a shipowner, or equipment manufacturer – for damages under the general maritime law, or state-law negligence proceedings.