Archive for the ‘workplace safety’ Category
Wednesday, October 29th, 2008
Texas A&M has settled claims against it arising out of the 1999 bonfire collapse that killed 12 people and injured dozens more. A&M agreed to pay $2.1 million to several of the victims and their families to resolve the suit, which will continue against some of the contractors involved. Hats off to Darrell Keith and Geno Borchardt for fighting the lengthy battle despite all the roadblocks involved in suing a governmental entity, and perhaps concluding these claims can help the families find some closure.
I’m amazed at those Aggie fans who express disappointment over the victims and their families bringing suit against the school. That illustrates what I see among many potential jurors in this state, which is a general distrust of others who have been injured and skepticism of others’ damages, but by God, they’d better get full justice if they happen to be the ones who get injured. Just goes to show that nobody likes a lawyer until he or she needs one.
Tags: A&M, bonfire, lawsuit
Posted in Negligence, corporate negligence, personal injury, workplace safety, wrongful death | Comments Off
Thursday, September 11th, 2008
Deaths among those working the nation’s oil and gas fields have risen at an alarming rate, the Associated Press has found.
At least 598 workers died on the job between 2002 and 2007, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. During that period, the number of deaths per year rose by around 70 percent, from 72 victims in 2002 to 125 in 2006 and a preliminary count of 120 in 2007.
The number of people laboring in the nation’s oil and gas fields has been soaring as part of a drilling boom that began in 2000-01, but that alone does not appear to explain the rising death toll, since the fatality rate - that is, the number killed relative to the number of workers - also climbed during the first half of the decade.
Many of those deaths have happened in Texas, the nation’s largest producer of crude oil and natural gas.
Experts blame several factors for pushing the toll ever higher in an industry long considered one of the most dangerous in the nation. Among them:
- A dramatic increase in drilling, spurred by record-breaking oil and natural gas prices. The number of workers in oil and gas jobs shot up from 290,000 in 2002 to 428,000 in 2007. In July 2002, 740 land-based oil and gas rigs were operating in the United States; today, there are about 2,000.
- An influx of new workers hired to operate all those rigs. Many of the newcomers are young, inexperienced and speak little English.
- A high-pressure environment where workplace safety lapses are common. Government agencies responsible for enforcing the rules rarely dole out tough penalties.
- Rampant drug and alcohol use among workers, some of whom turn to methamphetamine to get through 12-hour shifts and labor up to 14 days in a row.
Tags: Barnett Shale, Oilfield Injuries
Posted in Oilfield Injuries, workplace safety | Comments Off
Saturday, July 19th, 2008
There was a deadly crane accident in Houston on Friday when a 30-story crane failed and collapsed at a Lyondell Basell refinery, killing four workers and and injuring seven others. The crane is owned by Deep South Crane & Rigging of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Crane safety has been under scrutiny in recent months because of several crane-related deaths in Miami, Las Vegas, and two separate incidents in New York which left 9 people dead. Texas, which lets cranes operate with no state or local oversight, led the nation with 26 crane-related fatalities in 2005 and 2006.
Tags: crane accidents, cranes, workplace safety
Posted in crane accidents, workplace safety | Comments Off
Wednesday, July 16th, 2008
Allegations of corruption and shaky oversight are plaguing the construction industry following two fatal crane collapses in New York City earlier this year. Critics point to failures at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in explaining the deaths of at least 72 workers in crane-related accidents since 2006. For its part, the construction industry maintains that it has a strong safety record and is working closely with officials to prevent other accidents.
Here in the Metroplex, we’ve seen more crane activity due to new construction in Fort Worth and Arlington and due to Barnett Shale activity. This has caused an increase in injuries, unfortunately. Incidents we’re seeing are most often caused by operator error and poor maintenance rather than structural failure or weather-related problems. Stricter oversight, better training and more preventative maintenance would all go a long way towards alleviating some of these problems.
Tags: arlington, crane accidents, cranes, fort worth, workplace safety
Posted in crane accidents, workplace safety | Comments Off
Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008
Wonders never cease.
CNN is reporting that a former Wal-Mart employee who suffered severe brain damage in a traffic accident won’t have to pay back the company for the cost of her medical care, Wal-Mart told the family Tuesday.
Eight years ago, Debbie Shank was stocking shelves for the retail giant and signed up for Wal-Mart’s health and benefits plan.
After a tractor-trailer slammed into her minivan, the 52-year-old mother of three lost much of her short-term memory and was confined to a wheelchair. She now lives in a nursing home.
Wal-Mart’s health care plan lets the retail giant recoup the cost of its expenses if an employee collects damages in a lawsuit. And Wal-Mart set out to do just that after Shank and her husband, Jim, won $1 million after suing the trucking company involved in the wreck. After legal fees, the couple received $417,000.
Wal-Mart sued the Shanks to recoup $470,000 it paid for her medical care. However, a court ruled that the company could only recoup about $275,000 — the amount that was left in a trust fund for her care.
The Shanks appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the court declined in March to hear the case. CNN told the couple’s story last week, prompting thousands of angry blog responses and at least two online petitions to boycott the company.
On Tuesday, Wal-Mart said in a letter to Jim Shank that it is modifying its health care plan to allow “more discretion” in individual cases.
“We wanted you to know that Wal-Mart will not seek any reimbursement for the money already spent on Ms. Shank’s care, and we will work with you to ensure the remaining amounts in the trust can be used for her ongoing care,” Curran said.
“We are sorry for any additional stress this uncertainty has placed on you and your family.”
On a related note, Keith Olbermann excoriates Wal-Mart here.
Tags: truck, truck accident, truck wreck
Posted in Trucking Accidents, workplace safety | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, February 12th, 2008
FWST covers the story here.
This seemed to me to be an incredibly challenging case. The wife of a long-time BNSF employee alleged that her stomach cancer was caused by years of cleaning chemicals off her husband’s work clothes. He and other workers used creosote in making railroad ties and they testified that they often went home caked in the chemical. The plaintiffs apparently presented evidence linking creosote to the wife’s cancer but it wasn’t enough to overcome the defense that she had a pack-a-day cigarette habit.
Tough case, particularly in Tarrant County, home of BNSF. Hats off to the plaintiffs’ attorneys for teeing it up, though.
Tags: workplace safety
Posted in personal injury, workplace safety | Comments Off
Monday, March 12th, 2007
Every day, more and more gas drilling rigs pop up all over north Texas, mainly around Tarrant, Johnson and Parker Counties. And with the increased drilling activity comes a greater risk of injuries, both to workers and to those living around the wells. Today many residents in this area watched as huge flames and a billowing cloud of black smoke erupted near Aledo in northern Parker County following a gas pipeline explosion. Fortunately for the dozen workers and many residents nearby, there have been no serious injuries reported, although thousands of area residents are without power for the foreseeable future.
North Texas is booming from gas production in the Barnett Shale, sometimes quite literally. We all applaud the increased business and tax revenue generated by this industry, but in the haste to punch holes in the ground, we can’t forget that working men and women and their families are often the ones who live with the consequences when mistakes are made. Find out how you can get involved in your community to help ensure that drilling operations are done safely.
Hats off to the Parker County emergency crews who responded to this explosion.
Tags: texas, workplace safety
Posted in workplace safety | Comments Off
