U.S. maritime unions require members to take a benzene blood test every year in order to work on oil and chemical vessels. If the blood sample indicates a certain concentration of benzene in his or her system, then that person is not given clearance to work tankers.
That’s like taking a person who works in radioactive-contaminated spaces and preventing them from working as soon as the radioactivity reaches a certain threshold. In other words, instead of making the toxic environment safer, they penalize the victim by keeping him or her from earning a living.
There is also a breathing test administered every three years. Anyone who has blown into the test hose will tell you it is one difficult test. “Blow harder! Harder!! Harder!!!” the doctor yells, until you turn blue in the face. If you fail that test, you don’t get cleared to work on tankers, and there goes your livelihood.
So, in other words, after many years of hard work and loyal service, you are not welcome to work here anymore. Never mind all of the times you’ve stood manifold watches in the bone chilling cold of Alaska or the saunas of Gulf Coast summers. Or handling lines and hooking up hoses every 12 hours while picking up backloads in short hops up-and-down the Houston Ship Channel.
We have a client who contracted leukemia after being exposed to benzene.
Rather than keeping crewmembers safe from the ravages of benzene and other toxic fumes, the industry just casts aside a victim for a fresher set of lungs.
Our maritime lawyers realize that maritime work can be dangerous when companies cut corners on safety. That's why we've dedicated our time to putting out free information for workers.
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