Two stories from Missouri in the past two weeks demonstrate just how much people still have to learn about safety on the job site. Carelessness almost resulted in people getting killed in these incidents.
First, in St. Louis, a construction worker was critically injured while working at a building that’s undergoing renovation–due to his own carelessness. A captain with the St. Louis Fire Department said that shortly after 9 a.m. on a Friday, a worker apparently used a blow torch to try and open a barrel marked “flammable”. Early reports were that the man suffered burns on more than 90 percent of his body. Such severe injures make it unlikely that the man will survive.
And in Olympian Village, Missouri, a few days later, a series of propane explosions rocked a busy part of town and terrified residents, though it appears that nobody was seriously inured–which is a miracle, given the size of the explosions. “There was a huge fireball. My guess is that it went about 300 feet into the air,” said one witness. “We heard the rumble from the first explosion, and then we felt the ground shake.”
The explosions happened at the intersection of two main roads, at a business called R&R Propane. A delivery truck, parked unattended at a pump at a nearby BP gas station, rolled away and hit R&R’s propane-transfer station, puncturing the main tank and causing the first explosion. Witnesses reported at least five more explosions after that.
Fortunately, “I think there was safety equipment on the propane tanks themselves that helped to keep the situation from getting worse,” said a local police sergeant. He added that no homes were evacuated, but some major roads had to be closed off.
Another witness said that the scene was unforgettable. “It looked like a miniature sun went up. It was really big.”
Even with safety training, some employees make errors in judgment that can result in second degree burns, third degree burns, smoke inhalation, or other injuries not just to themselves, but to people around them. This is fertile ground for a lawsuit on behalf of anyone who is injured because of the employee’s mistake.
If you or someone you know suffers a burn injury or a smoke inhalation injury, you should call Kramer & Pollack LLP in Mineola, New York so that the personal injury attorneys in that firm can determine whether another party has legal liability for injuries suffered, and if the injured party has a solid legal case.