Worker Injury Articles

Pengxuan “Dean” Diao was 23 years old when a Southern California Gas Co. employee opened a natural gas valve that activated a gas line that ran to the garage apartment where he was sleeping on January 19, 2011. The room filled with natural gas and exploded when Diao woke up and lit a cigarette. In…

On March 23, 2015, construction workers were working on an 11 story building when the exterior lift system collapsed. Three men died; their families have filed suit against some of the construction companies involved. Anderson Antones de Almeida, Jose Erasmo Hernandez, and Jose Luis Lopez-Ramirez died in the incident. All were married and had young…

The Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas is the United States’ only nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly facility. It also is charged with maintaining the safety, security, and reliability of the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile. Currently, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, over 1,300 people have been made sick or died due to exposure to chemicals…

Last July, three Texas construction firms were hit with nearly $800,000 in penalties from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The federal agency noted that the three companies put workers in tremendous danger, according to a story in the Texas Tribune. The agency also noted that the state has a lax safety culture that…

Under general maritime law and the Jones Act, injured American seamen are entitled to maintenance and cure benefits from their employer. Maintenance and cure benefits require the employers of injured seamen to pay for medical care associated with work-related accidents and provide periodic payments to help cover day-to-day living expenses. Employers of injured seamen are…

Texas crude oil production had hit 2.9 million barrels per day in July of 2013, roughly equal to Brazil’s daily production this past year. The boom caused a large influx of workers, resulting in more work-related accidents. Between 2010 and 2014, nearly half of the nations’ oil field deaths were in Texas. Most of the…

Firm partner, Benny Agosto, Jr. has filed a personal injury suit against Burton Construction Company of Harris County on behalf of the wife and children of Juan Cuevas for the October 5 scaffold failure which resulted in the severe head injuries of Mr. Cuevas. The lawsuit alleges that Mr. Cuevas suffered severe brain damage when…

This blog has previously reported statistics about workplace injuries and deaths in Texas, statistics collected from state sources such as the Texas Department of Insurance. But how accurate are these statistics? According to at least one source, many injuries in Texas caused by workplace incidents in particular go unreported. Others are described incompletely by employers…