Last November, a deadly chemical leak at a Texas DuPont plant in La Porte, Texas was responsible for the deaths of four workers, who were overcome by 23,000 pounds of a deadly chemical used to make pesticides. The plant had multiple safety issues in the years before the accident, including repeated employee exposure to levels of toxic chemicals far higher than the safety standard. In fact, in the two days leading up to the accident, two leaks of the same chemical that killed the workers were detected by monitoring equipment, yet DuPont never investigated or reported the leaks.

One might think that chemical plants would learn something from this terrible tragedy, and yet one year later, safety in industrial plants has still not improved. In a report conducted by the Center for Effective Government, researchers looked at a dozen large companies within the United States chemical industry with serious environmental or safety violations in the past five years. They found that seven of these companies should have been following the American Chemistry Council’s Responsible Care® program guidelines, but were not.

Not at all surprisingly, it is clear that voluntary guidelines are not effective in creating a hazard-free workplace, but mandatory rules have yet to be formulated. Until then, it is cheaper for companies to pay fines for safety violations than it is to upgrade or replace aging or failing equipment.

Safety Should Not Be an Option

Chemical accidents happen as often as every two days in the United States. Leaks, explosions, and other incidents have been responsible for hundreds of injuries and deaths, not to mention significant amounts of property damage. These accidents are often entirely preventable, and yet they continue to occur even after tragedies like the La Porte accident show us the cost of such negligence.

Victims of industrial accidents are encouraged to get in touch with a Houston personal injury attorney at The Daspit Law Firm. You should not have to suffer because of a negligent employer who chose not to comply with rules designed to keep you safe. After discussing the circumstances surrounding your case, we can help you determine whether you are eligible to pursue compensation and what types of damages you may be entitled to.

You owe it to yourself to get in touch with a member of our dedicated team. Attorney John Daspit and his Houston team have extensive experience handling a variety of industrial accident and personal injury cases, and have successfully recovered millions of dollars for clients in the past. See what our years of experience can do for you – contact us today to schedule your complimentary case evaluation.