Articles Posted in Industrial Accidents

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People whose sole (or primary) source of information about the civil justice system is courtroom drama TV shows likely presume that cases are 100% won or lost at trial. In reality, what leads to success in your major injury case often happens well before the trial even begins. That’s because developing the strongest possible case involves many facets, including proper pretrial procedural steps, and that’s why the odds of getting justice are enhanced by retaining a knowledgeable Oregon injury lawyer.

A recent injury case from the federal District Court in Eugene is a good example. The huge “win” the injured plaintiff received was not regarding some factual or legal issue, but rather the use of expert witnesses.

Expert witnesses can be a major element of a successful case. Say, for example, you suffered a catastrophic injury with permanent paralysis at work due to the negligence of a third party (i.e., not your employer.) Your injuries mean a lifetime of medical treatment, rehab, pain, anguish, mental distress, and never being able to work again.

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When workplaces lack appropriate worker safety protections, serious and sometimes life-changing (or even fatal) accidents are too often the result. Sometimes, you, as an injured worker, may be entitled to restorative relief through an industrial accident lawsuit. These cases can be highly complex, making representation from a knowledgeable Oregon industrial accident lawyer especially valuable.

One factor that can help workers to receive safer workplaces is the threat of OSHA fines from the state. The fines the State of Oregon hands out to employers operating unsafe workplaces have historically been among the lowest in the country, even when the safety violations were obvious and substantial. For example, one construction worker in West Linn died in an accident caused by a heavy-duty loader with no working brakes or horn. Despite finding that the safety violations carried a “high probability of death and that ‘with reasonable diligence, (the) employer could have known that the loader’s brakes and horn were not operating properly’,” Oregon OSHA fined the excavation company only $5,400.

Those fines will be increasing going forward. Earlier this month, the Oregon legislature passed a bill that forces Oregon OSHA to lift its minimum fine amounts to mirror the minimum fines federal OSHA requires. According to The Oregonian, that means raising minimum fines by more than 1,000% in some circumstances.

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The month of March 2023 has brought with it yet another fire and explosion at an Oregon industrial/manufacturing facility. Fortunately, no one was gravely injured or killed. Sometimes, these sorts of incidents happen despite the best efforts of all those responsible for worker safety. Too often, though, these events involve a degree of negligence, sometimes by multiple parties. When you’re one of the workers injured in this way, you may have several legal options. If someone other than your employer acted (or failed to act) in a way that meets Oregon’s legal standards for negligence, then you can pursue an industrial accident case. With representation from an experienced Oregon industrial accident lawyer, you can obtain much-needed compensation from that third party for your injuries.

The most recent explosive incident took place at a wood railroad tie treatment facility in The Dalles, which is about 80 miles east of Portland. It left two people injured, according to a KPIC report. Both of those individuals were firefighters responding to the emergency. The local Sheriff’s Office indicated that both firefighters were in good condition. No workers were hurt in the fire or the explosion.

The tank where the incident occurred contained QNAP copper naphthenate, which is a substitute for creosote, a substance used in treating wood railroad ties, according to Columbia Community Connection. The Sheriff’s Office told KPIC that the tank in question had been taken offline earlier that day to be cleaned.

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Oregon has a long unfortunate history of handing out very small fines to companies caught violating workplace safety laws and rules. Currently, the statutory minimum for serious violations is only $100. When it comes your workplace accident, taking the proper legal steps on a timely basis may be crucial both to getting the financial recovery you deserve and also holding those responsible for your harm (or your loved one’s death) accountable for their actions. That process starts with the crucial first step of retaining the services of a knowledgeable Oregon workplace accident lawyer.

Recently, OregonLive.com recounted the story of M.V., a mill worker in Prineville who nearly lost a finger in a saw accident. The worker required surgical reattachment of her ring finger, which the saw had almost completely amputated. The injury caused long-term pain and limitation of movement. The state investigated and found that the saw lacked a proper guard and M.V. hadn’t received proper training on the tool. The mill also had a history of unsafe machinery and untrained workers.

The state fined the mill $780.

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Each January, Americans pause to reflect upon the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On multiple occasions, Dr. King counseled new college graduates and other audiences that “the time is always right to do what is right.” At Kaplan Law LLC we strive to do exactly that as we pursue justice on behalf of our clients.

And, as of this month, we’ve been doing it for 20 years.

During those two decades, we have represented a lot of victims and their families in catastrophic injury (and death) cases, including high-profile ones like Jed Hawk Myers. Myers died in the Yamhill County Jail after his pleas for medical attention — 19 times across five hours, to be exact — were ignored.

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When you’ve endured a serious workplace injury (or a workplace accident has claimed the life of a loved one,) there are limits to what your family can recover through the workers’ compensation system. However, many workplace accidents present an alternate outlet for getting the compensation you need: a third-party action. These lawsuits can represent crucial lifelines for injured workers and/or their families to receive the full recovery they need. Third-party industrial accident cases also can be especially complex legal matters, so if you’ve been hurt on the job, make sure you consult an experienced Oregon industrial accident lawyer about your situation.

A harrowing industrial accident occurred just last month in Southwest Portland when a 50-ton drilling rig tipped over at the Oregon Health and Science University. For reasons unknown at the time OregonLive published its report, the rig overturned and pinned its operator inside. Portland Fire and Rescue eventually extricated the man from the rig’s cab and transported him to a nearby trauma center with serious injuries.

When these kinds of accidents happen, serious or fatal worker injuries often are the result. According to OSHA, approximately 1 in 5 worker fatalities in the private sector involves someone working in construction, and many of these fatalities involve heavy equipment such as trucks or cranes.

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The wrongful and unexpected death of a loved one can be overwhelming. It often involves grieving and caring for other affected family members. It may include having to plan final arrangements while also fielding phone calls from insurers and others seeking to obtain a quick (and cheap) settlement of your legal claims. As you deal with your family matters, rely on an experienced Oregon wrongful death lawyer to provide the assistance you need in addressing the legal matters.

This skillful representation matters because your case may involve a large amount of damages and will probably encounter a vigorous (and well-funded) opposition. A knowledgeable legal advocate can make sure everything is done properly… and on time.

Timing is a crucial element, as a recent federal wrongful death case shows. The case involved a Washington man who worked in shipyards for much of his 20s, often working with and/or near materials that contained asbestos.

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Even with modern technology and today’s safety rules and regulations, industrial accidents occur too often, leading to the deaths of thousands of workers each year. For some workers injured in industrial accidents, the sole avenue of recourse may be the workman’s compensation system. For many others, though, the law may allow them to pursue something called a “third-party industrial accident claim.” These kinds of legal actions can be especially complicated, so be sure that, before you start, you have on your side an experienced Oregon industrial accident lawyer with the specialized knowledge necessary for your case.

An explosion in northeastern Oregon serves as a recent reminder of the continued frequency — and danger — of these types of workplace incidents. The site was a potato chip processing plant in Umatilla County, just south of Hermiston. The Oregonian reported that a boiler explosion triggered a massive fire that gutted the facility.

The good news is that no one died and no one suffered serious injuries. The bad news is that, two weeks after the fire burned the plant down, the employer laid off all 230 people who worked there, according to the Associated Press.

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The February death of a worker at a winery in Dundee, Oregon has resulted in a fine of more than $11,000 being levied by the state Occupational Safety and Health Agency. An OSHA statement issued late last week offered the basic facts of the case, but also left several key questions open.

According to media reports, the victim was a 39-year-old McMinnville man employed as a cellar worker at Corus Estates & Vineyards. The OSHA statement details how the man suffocated and then fell into a 30,000 gallon wine tank as he was moving a portion of the wine from that tank to another. Servicing the tank involved going into a confined space where “low-pressure nitrogen gas was being pumped in from the top of the tank to prevent oxidation of the remnants,” the agency statement explains. “The employee was asphyxiated as a result of the displacement of oxygen due to the low-pressure nitrogen gas in the tank.” After falling in, the worker was found unresponsive.

The total fine of $11,100 was broken down into several parts by the agency, and the details of those elements makes interesting reading. By far the largest portion of the fine – $7500 – was assessed for failing to test the air in the space around the tank before the job got underway and failing to have an attendant and an entry supervisor monitor the work, as required by law. Separate fines of $1200 each were imposed for failures to review and practice safety and rescue procedures, failure to properly renew the required permits and failures of employee training, including not offering safety information in Spanish.

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If you ask a friend to name a dangerous occupation most people would think first of logging, firefighting or, perhaps, law enforcement. But near the top of nearly any list of dangerous jobs is something few of us think about: working in a poultry plant.

That fact was highlighted by a recent incident in Georgia. According to a report in the New York Times, six people died and 11 were injured late last month when “a line carrying liquid nitrogen ruptured.” One of the injured people who required hospitalization was a firefighter responding to the incident.

Union officials accused the plant’s owners of negligence and of ignoring health and safety protocols. According to the newspaper, in 2015 the plant “was fined more than $100,000 for about a dozen safety violations.” Another $40,000 in fines followed the next year and “in 2017, two employees underwent amputations, including one of two fingers after his left hand got caught in machinery that he was cleaning.”

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