Q: My husband was injured on the job - we feel the boat was unsafe
-- is there some place to go to look up standards for this?
A: If your husband was employed on a vessel, he is entitled to maintenance, which is the amount of money that he needs to live (ie, shelter food), while he recovers, as well as Cure, which is the payment of his medical bills, and if there was a dangerous condition aboard a ship, he can sue under the general maritime law doctrine of unseaworthiness. There are a lot of maritime standards which are published by the American Society for Material and Standards (ASTM) which apply to ships. If the employer or a coworker were negligent, he also has a lawsuit against his employer directly (unlike under State Law) under the Jones Act.
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