If you are hurt while working on an offshore rig you may have extra rights which are more broad and far reaching in the amount of compensation you might get from simple workers comp. In 1970 a law called the Jones Act was passed which gives people who work on navigable vessels certain rights. These rights include payment for all of your hospital bills and medicine (also known as "cure") and payment for loss of work and for your loss of ability (known as maintenance).
How can you know if you fall under Jones Act law of just workers comp? There is a very fine line that can be tweaked either way for you to qualify for Jones Act remedy.
An employer may clearly fall under the Jones Act or be just on the border of the guidelines. Their attorney, knowing that Jones Act settlements can be large, will try to tweak the circumstances to show that they do not fall under the scope of Jones Act law.
The law states that the vessel must be navigable and spend a certain amount of time in the process of navigation but this is broad language. Jones act vessels can include dredging barges, barge drilling rigs, jackup rigs which are moved and drill ships.
Jones Act vessels may even include helicopters and crew boats.
One simple test is if the drilling rig, etc, has a coast guard number or placard onboard indicating that it is a coast guard registered vessel. Some inland vessels may only have state registration but may still be classified as Jones Act Vessels. In once case a crane company fell under Jones act law because the crane spent a certain amount of time that year on a barge even though the accident occurred while the crane was on land.
The amount of compensation you can receive if you are injured because of your employers fault on a Jones Act oil rig or other vessel can be life changing, instead of a meager workers comp settlement. Therefore it is very important to contact an attorney qualified in maritime law and offshore accidents to determine under what category your accident falls.
There have even been cases where workers injured on land have come under Jones Act law if they were somehow in route to or in the process of working for an employer of a Jones Act qualified vessel even though that ship or rig was still in port.