Industrial Accident Lawyer Blog

An explosion and fire at the U.S. Steel Plant in Clairton, Pennsylvania has caused numerous burn injuries, according to recent news reports. It appears one of the coke ovens at the Clairton plant exploded. These ovens heat coal at very high temperatures to carbonize it and turn it into fuel used for steel production (called "coke").

This explosion will undoubtedly lead to the need to hire an experienced workers compensation lawyer and also require a cause and origin analysis to determine what caused the explosion and whether it could have been prevented. Often, contractors and other third parties are involved in the cleaning and maintenance coke ovens used for steel production, and those entities could provide a viable avenue for injured workers to file a work injury lawsuit.

Work injuries occur with some frequency at sea. While working on an offshore rig can be dangerous, proper workplace safety mechanisms and procedures can help reduce the frequency of work injury or death.

On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon exploded, taking the lives of 11 workers and injuring scores more. The explosion was preventable, was preventable had either Transocean or BP used a blowout preventer----a mandatory safety device which is common. At the time of the explosion, the Deepwater Horizon was two days away from capping the oil well and handing off the pumping responsibilities to a production platform. During the disconnection process, the rig suffered a blowout. The rig's blowout preventer---a 450 ton series of valves developed to prevent a gusher if drilling mud controll is overwhelmed---failed, allowing oil to escape into the Gulf of Mexico.

Continue reading "Deepwater Horizon: Transocean Rig Explodes, Workers Die." »

After repeated injuries, which undoubtedly required Georgia worker's compensation attorneys, including amputations, Crespac, an Atlanta area manufacturer, has been cited for willful violations of OSHA standards for failing to ensure that machines were equipped with guards and functional emergency stop cords. Other serious work injury hazards noted by OSHA include failure to provide proper safety equipment, exposure to harmful chemicals, and electrical hazards.

As an Atlanta Workman's Compensation lawyer, electrocution injuries are commonly seen. With proper workplace safety practices, they are almost always avoidable, and should not happen in the modern workplace.

Recently, OSHA cited a contractor following a work injury and workplace death caused by an employee removing contacting a live wire while removing a demountable wall. The employer was cited for failing to protect employees from energized electrical circuits and failing to tell workers about energized electrical components in the area.

Continue reading "Worker Electrocution Leads to Fine" »

OSHA violations and dangerous working conditions often lead to work injury and to a search for the best Atlanta workers' compensation attorney. Recently, Georgia work injury claims have once again been avoided by aggressive enforcement of OSHA standards before disaster struck.

HP Pelzer Automotive Systems in Thomson, Georgia was recently visited by OSHA, where it was discovered that HP had not met the standards set forth for combustible dust. Combustible dust is a well-known workplace danger. In fact, the Imperial refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia was destroyed because of an excess of combustible dust in the sugar refinery, which led to several deaths and Georgia burn injuries.

The Flynn Law Firm an Atlanta work comp lawyer and work injury law firm, is pleased to announce a settlement on behalf of two injured workers burned in a boiler explosion in Mississippi. Jonah Flynn, along with attorneys from Fitts Zehl in Houston, Texas, represented David and Darren Clark.

Supervisors at a facility owned by International Paper Co. (IP) completed annual maintenance on a recovery boiler and restarted it without clearing workers from the area. Instead of turning on the boiler's fans to purge excess combustible gas, the supervisors decided to use "natural draft" conditions--allowing the gas to naturally rise to the top and exit the boiler. The boiler exploded, injuring several workers.

Brothers David and Darren Clark, 29 and 27, respectively, worked for an industrial insulator subcontractor at the International Paper Vicksburg, Miss. facility and were injured in the explosion. David sustained second- and third-degree burns to his hands, arms, face, and torso. His lungs were also injured due to sustained inhalation of steam, and he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Darren also suffered second and third-degree burns to his arms, face, and hands.

Both men are permanently disabled. The Clark Brothers, who had each been earning approximately $40,000 annually, incurred about $1.45 million in lost income each.
The U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration cited IP for a willful violation for not developing safety procedures for boiler startup when the primary boiler is offline. It also issued a serious violation for failing to have a procedure determining an adequate amount of odorant to be added to the gas so that workers could smell the gas as it built up.

Continue reading "Work Injury Lawsuit Settled" »

The Middletown, Conneticut Kleen Energy power plant explosion investigation is underway, with OSHA and the Chemical Safety Board both on the property to determine the cause of the Kleen Power explosion and work injuries.

According to initial reports, the Kleen Energy power plant explosionoccurred while the plant was being built, and the property was occupied largely by construction workers and contractors. The blast occurred during the process of purging an underground, high-pressure natural gas pipeline running through the facility. There are reports that welding operations were not halted during this gas purge, and it appears that non-essential personnel were allowed to remain near the gas line, which, if true, would violate OSHA standards and commonsense. As a result, 5 workers were killed, with scores more injured.

The Flynn Law Firm is a refinery explosion, work accident, and industrial accident law firm, is currently investigating claims related to the Kleen Energy explosion in Middletown. If you were at the Kleen Energy Middletown power plant at the time of the explosion, or you were injured, you are entitled to bring a claim for your injuries. Contact the Flynn Law Firm today.

Often, as an Atlanta Workers' Compensation Attorney, and Atlanta Injury attorney, there certain mechanisms of worker injury seem to manifest themselves over and over thorough the clients who walk through the door. OSHA has now released a list of its "Top 10" safety violations which seems to match the type of claims were are seeing.

Not surprisingly, scaffolding accidents top the list, with over 9,000 violations issued in 2009 thus far. Work injury most often occurs when planking and support give way, of falling objects. Fall protection was OSHA's second most cited violation. Any time a worker is working at a height of 4 feet or more, fall protection must be provided.

Electrical injuries and electrical wiring violations were also high on OSHA's list, with over 3,000 violations issued this year. Working with electricity is dangerous, and can cause burn injury and wrongful death. Overhead power line workers, linemen, engineers, welders, construction workers, and others who work in general industry or construction must be aware of the significant danger posed by electrocution. The Flynn Law Firm, a Georgia burn injury law firm, has seen far too many workers with severe burn injuries and electrical injuries, most of which are preventable through adequate workplace safety mechanisms.

The failure of a valve at a welding supply company has led to the burn injury of a welder. The industrial accident was sent a welder to the local burn center for treatment of burn injuries.

After the welder removed a valve from a settling tank, the tank malfunctioned and exploded. Smaller, secondary explosions then followed. The injured worker suffered burns to his head, upper body, hands and arms.

This case serves as an example of kind of third-party tort claim injured workers can file when hurt in a workplace accident or industrial accident. While workers compensation attorneys can obtain workers compensation benefits on your behalf, an experienced burn injury attorney can pursue your claims against product manufacturers and other third-parties who are at fault for your injuries. The value of a third-party claim is almost always significantly higher than a workers' compensation claim.

Recently, the Chemical Safety Board released its Investigation Report related to the refinery explosion and Georgia workplace injuries which occurred as the Savannah Foods refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia on February 7, 2008. The report is 84 pages long, and outlines, in detail, the problems with the Imperial refinery which led to the blast.

The Chemical Safety Board report not only discuss the vast safety problems caused by the Imperial entities, but also discusses, and blames, other companies for contributing to the conditions which caused explosion. The American Institute of Baking provides audits and training on both food safety and occupational safety. According to the CSB, the AIB would assess the operations and practices of the Port Wentworth refinery and issue a participation certificate when the Imperial entities passed the audit. In May of 2007, the AIB issued a "superior" rating. AIB was well positioned, according to the CSB, to help the Imperial entities, its member companies, become informed about the hazards of combustible dust and could revise its training materials to include more information about the dangers of combustible dust.

The Flynn Law Firm is one of the Georgia worker injury attorneys currently representing workers injured in the Imperial disaster, and has learned about the details of the refinery explosion during the last year of litigation with certain Imperial entities.

As a Georgia Workers' Comp lawyer and Atlanta injury attorney representing workers in refinery explosions, boiler explosions, and other workplace accidents, I often see tragic accidents occur when a plant, or large piece of equipment at an industrial facility, is brought online or shutdown. Recently, a large work accident occurred at a refinery in Utah while the refinery's crude unit was being restarted. Officials from the Tesoro refinery said liquid hydrocarbons were released from a flare stack during the restart effort after a power outage.

Oil companies, paper companies, and other industrial employers and premises owners have detailed checklists and procedures for firing equipment and boilers after a shutdown. Dangerous vapors and chemicals, like liquid hydrocarbons, should be evacuated from something like a crude unit, and the managers onsite should verify, and re-verify, that the unit is safe to fire prior to actually bringing it back online. Often, accidents like the Tesoro facility are brought about by management's rush to get the refinery back in operation and a willful ignorance of internal safety procedures or OSHA guidelines regarding facility re-start after an outage.

OSHA has cited British Petroleum an additional $87 Million for failing to complete safety upgrades mandated under a previous settlement between OSHA and BP related to the massive 2005 refinery explosion at the BP Texas City refinery. OSHA also filed an additional 439 new safety violations which it alleges are "willful." The willful violations are primarily related to pressure release mechanisms and safety systems at the Texas City refinery.

In keeping with its general litigious course of conduct, BP is challenging the additional OSHA citations and is also claiming that the work to be performed under the previous settlement agreement did not have to be performed until September of this year.

The 2005 explosion killed 15 workers and caused hundreds of workplace injuries and burn injuries. Given the safety problems at the BP refinery, some people, including industrial injury lawyers and public servants, believe the closing of the BP refinery remains a possibility.

The United States Chemical Safety Board has released a video about the dangers of Combustible Dust and how such dust can cause Refinery Explosions and workplace accidents. Combustible dust fires and explosions continue to occur frequently, despite the well known risk combustible dust poses to workers. An excess of combustible sugar dust at the Imperial refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia caused that facility to explode, killing 14 and injuring dozens more.

OSHA has fined ConocoPhillips for OSHA violations at a refinery in Linden, New Jersey. The four citations received by ConocoPhillips were classified as "serious" and outlined systemic problems at the facility like a lack of guidelines for dangerous work with flammable liquid. An OSHA official noted the violations could have led to a refinery explosion, or second and third degree burns.

A lack of written guidelines for employees and contractors can often lead to a fatal workplace accident or explosion. The Flynn Law Firm is currently involved in workplace explosion litigation in multiple jurisdictions where safety guidelines were either non-existent or not properly communicated to workers.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) recently warned industrial workers to not clear natural gas lines indoors. CSB investigators believe the Slim Jim Explosion occurred while contractors installing a water heater vented natural gas inside the building, leading to the explosion which killed three and injured dozens more at the ConAgra Foods plant just south of Raleigh, North Carolina.

Continue reading "Natural Gas Found To Be Cause of Slim Jim Explosion at ConAgra Foods Plant" »