Compensation for Injuries from Burns and Explosions

Burns are some of the most devastating of all injuries. They’re among the most painful types of injuries, and this makes the suffering associated with them something most people would never want to experience. Explosions sometimes result in severe burns and sometimes simply kill the person affected. In either case, there may be a legal remedy available, depending upon the circumstances. Work place burn and explosion injuries are all too common, and they oftentimes result in lawsuits either from the victims or from the families of the victims.

In some cases, injuries from burns and explosions occur at the workplace due to lax safety standards. On job sites where there is a particularly high risk of these types of incidents, such as at a refinery, the company is obligated to adhere to strict safety standards provided by federal and state regulators. At the aforementioned refineries, for instance, a complex system of valves is supposed to allow workers to turn off the flow of flammable materials at any time and, more importantly, those same values are supposed to shut down the lines automatically if there’s a mechanical or other failure.

There are many other job sites where these hazards are presented, however, and not all of them are always thought of as particularly dangerous. A mechanic’s garage, a painter’s storeroom and a woodworker’s shop are all examples of sites where burn and explosion injuries are possibilities. Where refineries are concerned, the consequences of the explosions can be downright deadly.

As an example, in February of 1999 a refinery in Avon, CA, in the Bay Area, was the site of an explosion caused by naphtha leaking from a faulty system. The resulting explosion killed three of the men; one died instantly, three in the hospital. A fifth man jumped to safety—a plummet of well over 30 feet to the ground—and was severely injured. In this case, the government found that the fire was the result of lax safety management and that it could have been prevented. For the four men who died in this incident, of course, hindsight is useless. When these sorts of incidents occur, there are specialist attorneys who can step in and represent the victims.

If you’ve been hurt due to an explosion on your job site or if you’ve been the victim of a burn injury, you do owe it to yourself to pursue legal remedies. Even the most dangerous jobs—such as those of refinery workers—can be made safer with proper equipment, training and management. If you’ve been injured because an employer did not hold up their obligation to provide a safe work environment, you may want to consider your legal options.

Contact Houston Burn and Explosion Lawyer, Bat Tucker today at 713-771-5453 for a FREE CONSULTATION to discuss your options with him.

OSHA and other agencies provide guidelines that can make workplaces very safe, or at least much safer than they would be otherwise, in the cases of exceptionally dangerous jobs. There’s no reason that workers should suffer due to lax safety standards or a lax safety culture.