On or about December 5, 2023, our clients — two experienced welders employed by a pipeline service contractor — were welding a pipe for a pipeline company. According to the petition, the pipe had been filled with gasoline one day and diesel the next, and a pipeline should be cleaned of all product before anyone welds on it. The welders’ own employer did not clean pipelines, and the petition alleges the line was never cleared of fuel.
According to the petition, the job proceeded without a hot work permit, even though obtaining one was standard protocol, and an on-site inspection company devised the plan for the work. The petition alleges that the inspector instructed the welders to seal the fuel-filled pipe using a balloon wrapped with mud, and that the welders followed those instructions while the inspector stood close by watching and managing the work.
As the welders worked their way around the inner bevel of the pipe, it erupted in a flash explosion. Both men suffered personal injuries that required immediate and ongoing medical attention. According to the petition, fuel continued to drip from the pipe for days afterward — still leaking two days after the blast.
Welding on a pipeline that may contain fuel is among the most dangerous work in the industry, which is exactly why the safeguards exist: clear the line of product, test the atmosphere, obtain a hot work permit, and never light a torch near flammable vapor. According to the petition, none of that happened here — the line was not cleaned, no permit was obtained, and the men were directed to seal a fuel-filled pipe with a makeshift method before welding. The petition alleges the defendants knew or should have known the pipeline contained flammable materials and failed to warn the welders, failed to ensure the line was clear, failed to clean it, and failed to inspect it.
The petition further alleges that after the explosion, the pipeline company cleaned up the location before OSHA arrived. We are pursuing the safety records, the hot work and permit documentation, the atmospheric and gas-monitoring testing, the contracts allocating safety responsibility among the companies, and the inspection company’s policies and the conduct of its on-site inspector — and corporate-representative depositions are underway. These allegations are claims in the petition, to be established through discovery and at trial.
We represent both injured welders and have filed suit in Jefferson County against the pipeline company, the inspection and integrity-services company, and the infrastructure contractor involved in the work. Our claims are for negligence — the failure to clean and clear the line, the failure to obtain a hot work permit, the failure to warn of the danger, and the failure to inspect. The case is in active litigation, and we are taking corporate-representative depositions to establish what each company knew and what it failed to do.
Workers sent to weld a pipeline have to trust that the companies running the job have made it safe to put a torch to that pipe. When those companies skip the basic safeguards and a line full of fuel explodes, the men who are burned deserve answers and accountability — and we intend to hold every responsible company to account.
We represent both injured welders and have filed suit in Jefferson County against the pipeline company, the inspection and integrity-services company, and the infrastructure contractor involved in the work. Our claims are for negligence — the failure to clean and clear the line, the failure to obtain a hot work permit, the failure to warn of the danger, and the failure to inspect. The case is in active litigation, and we are taking corporate-representative depositions to establish what each company knew and what it failed to do.
Workers sent to weld a pipeline have to trust that the companies running the job have made it safe to put a torch to that pipe. When those companies skip the basic safeguards and a line full of fuel explodes, the men who are burned deserve answers and accountability — and we intend to hold every responsible company to account.
