Industrial Accident Lawyer Blog

Charles Grundy, of St. George, Utah, was killed in a workplace accident when he was hit by a front-end loader driven by a co-worker. The work injury occurred on Interstate 15 in an area near the Utah-Nevada border. According to news reports, Grundy was standing in the Southbound Lane of I-15 with his back turned while talking on his cell phone. A co-worker did not see him and simply ran him over.

When someone dies on the job, or when three or more employees are hospitalized in a single event, OSHA is automatically called to investigate. The co-worker who ran him over probably did not have adequate training, and the jobsite was obviously not adequately monitored or supervised.

David Zorb, 33, of Pullman Washington was killed after a tractor-trailer fell off a hoist at an industrial facility. A second worker, Travis Deerkop, was reported to be in serious condition with severe upper body injuries.

These industrial accidents and work injuries can be caused by a variety of factors, and are often the result of several errors, by the employer, worker, and sometimes an outside contractor. If the worker was a contractor, then a claim against the prime employer or premises owner could be made. here, the maker of the hoist from which the tractor-trailer fell could be liable for manufacturing a defective product and failure to warn of the product's dangerous propensities.

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.

Often, there's only so much even the best Atlanta worker's compensation attorneycan do for Georgia workers. Dangerous working conditions often lead to work injury and sometimes worker death. Dangerous workplace practices often lead to injuries which are usually avoidable had safety guidelines been followed.

Continue reading "Work Death and Worker's Compensataion Claim Caused by Dangerous Workplace" »

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" »

OSHA has fined the Disney company Disney $44,000 after a July accident on the Walt Disney World train caused a worker death. According to reports, one of the trains was driving in reverse during a track switch, backing into another train, killing the driver.

This type of accident, whether it's a Georgia work injury, requires an Atlanta workers comp lawyer or a product liability case, is entirely preventable with adequate worker training and communication. Here, a worker in a maintenance bay apparently mistakenly radioed that it was clear for the train to begin backing up, even though the track had not been realigned.

Continue reading "OSHA Fine Against Disney For Work Injury" »

OSHA has issued a significant fine against a Massachusetts manufacturer after an injured worker suffered the loss of a finger tip due to a machine which did not have the required guard needed to prevent a workplace injury. The lack of machine guarding was noted on other machines at the facility, and thus OSHA found the failure to have such guards "willful."

Thousands of workplace injuries and worker deaths occur each year because of an absence of machine guarding. Additionally, many Georgia workers comp claims could be avoided if machine guards were in place. Often, employers remove machine guarding to increase production, in doing so putting profits over worker safety.

Recently, the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) issued warning reminding employers and workers and the dangers pressure vessels pose to those working in industry. Atlanta injury attorneys often deal with burn injuries sustained as a result of industrial explosions caused by pressure vessels, including chemical tanks and gas tanks. If such vessels are improperly installed or welded, they may have inadequate pressure relief systems. The CSB noted several incidents related to pressure vessels, including a Louisiana gas explosion which killed 4 workers. The CSB also noted a Texas chemical explosion in Houston involving a pressurized tank which exploded, causing massive damage.