Our client was part of a crew performing welding work on a pipeline in Southeast Texas. He had years of experience in pipeline and construction work and was on the job the day of the fire.
According to the lawsuit, while welding work was being done on the line, vapors came up around the crew and ignited — producing a flash fire that blew over the workers and threw debris onto them. A flash fire in a work area where flammable vapors can reach an ignition source is among the most foreseeable and most preventable hazards on a pipeline job.
Our client was burned on his face, neck, hands, and midsection. He was taken from the scene by ambulance to a regional hospital and then transported to a specialized medical facility for further care. The incident was significant enough to draw investigations by federal workplace-safety and pipeline regulators.
A pipeline project like this one involves several companies — the operator of the line and the contractors responsible for the work and for safety on site. Each has a duty to identify hazards, to control flammable vapors, and to make sure work that can create an ignition source is not performed where it can set off a fire. The lawsuit alleges the companies responsible for this project failed in those duties, and that the flash fire was the result.
Because the fire prompted federal regulatory investigations, there is an independent record of what happened to build from. We are developing the full picture through the federal discovery process — the project and safety records, the investigation materials, the witness accounts, and our client’s medical records — to establish how the fire was allowed to happen and the full extent of his burn injuries.
We represent the injured worker in a lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas against the pipeline operator and the contractors responsible for the project. The case is in active discovery, where we are obtaining the companies’ records, the regulatory investigation files, and the evidence of what caused the fire and who was responsible for preventing it.
Workers who do dangerous jobs trust the companies in charge to control the hazards that can kill or maim them. When that trust is broken and a worker is burned, those companies should answer for it. We intend to hold each responsible company fully accountable.
We represent the injured worker in a lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas against the pipeline operator and the contractors responsible for the project. The case is in active discovery, where we are obtaining the companies’ records, the regulatory investigation files, and the evidence of what caused the fire and who was responsible for preventing it.
Workers who do dangerous jobs trust the companies in charge to control the hazards that can kill or maim them. When that trust is broken and a worker is burned, those companies should answer for it. We intend to hold each responsible company fully accountable.
