Texas Leads the Nation in the Number of Fatal Workplace Accidents
Our Texas City workplace accident attorneys mention that this past weekend marked a Remembrance Day for the 56 Houston-are workers who lost their lives to fatal workplace accidents in 2012. The remembrance vigil was part of the overall recognition offered by Workers’ Memorial Day, an international day of remembrance for fallen workers on April 28. (Source: Ryan Rockett, Houston Chronicle, 4/27/13)
This Remembrance Day comes after a spate of horrific, fatal workplace accidents that have dominated recent headlines. The fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas that claimed first responder and firefighter lives as well as the garment factory collapse that took more than 350 lives in Bangladesh are still fresh in our minds as we remember our local Houston-area workers that lost their lives on the job.
Participants in the Houston-area vigil and people who have lost relatives to fatal workplace accidents called for increased regulatory oversight of workplace safety in Texas. The Texas City workplace accident attorneys at Denena Points, PC note that their calls took place concurrently with the strident protests of Bangladeshi workers calling for government action on safety as they’re faced with government inaction and lip service in response to large numbers of worker fatalities in the nation’s busy garment factories.
Our Texas City workplace accident attorneys point out that Texas leads other U.S. states in the number of workplace fatalities. In 2011, U.S. Department of Labor data revealed that Texas was the site of 433 of the nation’s 4,693 fatal workplace accidents, almost 10% of the total. Commentators indicate lax safety standards in the construction industry along with the high-hazard occupation of oil and gas extraction as some of the reasons for Texas’ disproportionate share of the fatal workplace accidents.
Learn More about Fatal Workplace Accidents in Texas
Click the links to read about the deadly fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas and about a fire at the ExxonMobil refinery in Beaumont that seriously burned several workers.
Texas leads National Increase in the Number of Fatal Motorcycle Wrecks
Overall, traffic fatalities decreased from 2005 to 2010. But the numbers of fatal motorcycle crashes have increased in 14 of the last 15 years according to a recent study by the Governors Highway Safety Association.
Our Galveston motorcycle accident attorneys point out that while the number of fatal motorcycle wrecks in the United States was around 4,200 in 2009, it had increased to almost 5,000 in 2011. And in the 9 months from January 2012 to September 2012, preliminary data showed about 4,000 fatal motorcycle crashes with the number for the entire year of 2012 likely to mount to 5,000 or more.
In that first 9 months of 2012, Texas led the nation in the number of fatal motorcycle wrecks with 358. California followed with 318. Florida ranked third with 287. The Governors Highway Safety Association indicates that year-round warmer weather in these states, coupled with higher gas prices leading people to seek more fuel-efficient forms of transportation, might cause more motorcycle riders to be on the roads in these three states.
The Galveston motorcycle accident attorneys at Denena Points, PC emphasize that a motorcycle is more complicated to operate than a car. The rider has more parts to manipulate in order to ride safely. A biker’s risk of being killed in a fatal traffic accident is 30 times greater than that of a car occupant. But simply wearing a good motorcycle helmet can reduce a biker’s fatal risk by 40%. (Sources: Governors Highway Safety Association; and Ray Reyes, Tampa Tribune, 4/27.13)
The Governors Highway Safety Association (the GHSA) offers the following 5 tips to help reduce your chances of a fatal motorcycle crash:
- Always wear a good motorcycle helmet.
- Obtain motorcycle operator training.
- Get properly licensed.
- Ride at a safe speed (slower generally).
- Don’t drink and ride.
Click the link to read our Galveston motorcycle accident attorneys’ article about a recent fatal motorcycle wreck and what caused it in Vidor, Texas.
Savar Garment Factory Building Collapse Kills over 300, Injures 2000
The Rana Plaza Building, an 8-story factory complex, collapsed on Wednesday. Our building collapse attorneys emphasize that the deadly collapse in Savar occurred a day after dangerous cracks had appeared in the building walls. Industrial police on Tuesday had ordered the factory evacuated and shut until engineers and inspectors from the University could come and assess the building’s status.
Mohammed Sohel Rana, the building owner and a local leader of a wing of the ruling party, apparently indicated that the wall cracks were “not serious” and ignored the warning to keep the building shuttered. Thousands of workers came back to their jobs in Savar on Wednesday, only to be killed or grievously injured when the structure collapsed.
Workers and their family members have indicated that garment factory managers threatened to dock their pay if they did not return to the factory. Our building collapse attorneys note that a branch of BRAC Bank Ltd. wisely kept its doors closed and its workers away on Wednesday.
The Death Toll Continues to climb in the Rana Plaza Tragedy in Bangladesh
The death toll currently stands at over 300, with more deaths expected as crews continue to dig out collapsed sections of the factory complex. More than 2,000 have been injured, and many of them are in critical or serious condition after being buried in heavy rubble and debris. The Rana Plaza Building was in Savar, a suburb of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.
The Rana Plaza Garment Factories were Suppliers to Major European Fashion Chains
The several garment factories in the building mainly supplied U.K. and European fashion retailers like Primark. The building collapse attorneys at Denena Points, PC were deeply saddened when New Wave Style, one of the garment factories, said that the casualties were at least half women and that children comprised many of the remainder because the company provided nursery facilities in the building for the workers’ children.
All the upper floors of the Rana Plaza Building collapsed one atop the other, leaving only the ground floor somewhat intact, and trapping and crushing many workers in between the collapsed floors. Opposition party leaders cancelled a planned anti-government strike so that members could help in the rescue efforts.
Continue to Part 2 to read about how building and factory owners ignored warnings of the building’s imminent collapse and had workers back on site on Wednesday.
On the Deadly Triangle Shirtwaist Garment Factory Fire in New York City
Continued from Part 2. The final toll from the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire was set at 146 dead and 71 injured. The final toll in the Savar Rana Plaza Building collapse is not yet available, but our building collapse attorneys point out that already the toll is over 300 dead and 2000 injured. And many believe that there are still more buried beneath the rubble.
This deadly Rana Plaza collapse in Savar that has taken such a high toll is only one among several deadly garment factory collapses or fires in Bangladesh over recent years. At last report, none of the factory owners or managers responsible for thousands of workers being on site in Savar in a building already identified as being in danger of imminent collapse had been arrested.
The disregard for worker safety that managers and owners at Rana Plaza displayed and the fatal consequences bring to mind the deadly fire in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City in 1911.
The True Horror of the Triangle Shirtwaist Garment Factory Fire
Eyewitness accounts of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City in 1911 describe horrific scenes of workers jumping 80 to 100 feet to their deaths and of hysterical onlookers fainting as bodies thudded into bloody pulp before their eyes. Our building collapse attorneys sadly mention that some workers who had tried to escape the burning building on a rickety, possibly already broken, outside fire escape fell almost 100 feet to their deaths when the fire escape twisted away from the building and collapsed beneath them.
The owners of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, which occupied the upper floors of the 10-story Asch Building by Washington Square in Manhattan, had locked exits to stairwells to prevent unauthorized breaks or theft. So when fire broke out among bins of fabric scraps and hanging rolls of fabric, the workers could not escape. They were left to jump to their deaths or burn.
The Aftermath of the Deadly Garment Factory Fire and Improvements to Working Conditions
The building collapse attorneys at Denena Points, PC note a few positive developments from the tragic garment factory fire in New York City. The deadly Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City brought attention to workers’ conditions, particularly in the garment factories of the time. The attention led to reforms like new legislation limiting working hours and providing for better working conditions and fire extinguishers on site. The fire was the real beginning of the workers’ rights movement in the United States.
Our building collapse attorneys remark that the Triangle Shirtwaist fire also led to the founding of the American Society of Safety Engineers and the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union (ILGWU). Some of you may remember TV commercials from some years ago with workers singing, “Look for the union label.” That’s the label they were talking about.
Continue to Part 4 for discussion of needed improvement to working conditions.
Improved Working Conditions needed in Bangladesh Garment Factories
Continued from Part 3. Conditions have improved for some American workers, though we see workers’ rights and working conditions eroding once again. The garment factories of Bangladesh however have yet to see any of the improvements in workers’ conditions that eventually occurred in America after the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire.
News accounts of the Savar Rana Plaza Building collapse mention politicians’ promises that something will be done. But our building collapse attorneys remind readers that this deadly factory building collapse is just one in a sequence of many such deadly factory collapses or fires that have taken place in Bangladesh over recent years. Authorities say that there are probably hundreds of similar buildings, illegally constructed and/or poorly built with substandard materials, in danger of imminent collapse across that nation.
The building collapse attorneys at Denena Points, PC have written, quite recently in fact, of the deadly building collapse dangers posed in India by illegally and/or poorly constructed residential structures. Click the link to read about the deadly residential building collapse in Thane, a Mumbai suburb, which claimed scores of lives and injured dozens of others.
Thousands of Illegally Constructed Buildings exist in India and Bangladesh and They Remain in Danger of Collapse
There are thousands of similar buildings to Rana Plaza throughout India and Bangladesh that pose dangers of collapse to impoverished workers and their families. Very little is ever done about it. The economic incentives to turn a blind eye are too great. Low labor costs attract businesses to India and Bangladesh.
If India and Bangladesh raise the costs of doing business, business will go elsewhere. In part because consumers elsewhere in the world have increasingly smaller disposal incomes, retailers cannot afford to hike prices or they will lose customers. And better working conditions in the sweatshops would produce higher costs and higher prices further along the supply chain.
Perhaps there’s a solution that our building collapse attorneys haven’t thought of to this tangle of interdependent problems. But it seems clear that no one else has thought of it either, since little is being done. Workers worldwide seem to be facing erosion of their wages, safety, and working conditions.
The hearts and prayers of the building collapse attorneys at Denena Points, PC are with the workers of Bangladesh, India and elsewhere that face injury and death because of the conditions imposed on them.
Learn about the Steps to Take after a Building Collapse Injury
Learn more about what to do if a structural collapse injures you or a loved one. Click to download our free book on the steps you need to take to protect your rights and build a successful claim for financial compensation for the needless harm you have suffered. And don’t hesitate to contact our Board Certified personal injury attorneys at 281-369-4363 or through our online contact form for a free, no obligation initial legal consultation if you have suffered injuries from a structural collapse in the United States and you have questions about what you should do.
Texas Truck Driver Fatigue and the Deadly Risk of a Fatal Crash
Trucks are heavy vehicles with immense power and momentum. Truck drivers and even ordinary passenger car drivers tend to experience a phenomenon sometimes called “highway hypnosis” after long hours behind the wheel. Drivers will fall into a trance-like state from their long periods of relative immobility and lack of real stimuli on long drives. It’s a short step from highway hypnosis to briefly dozing off at the wheel and causing a serious injury accident requiring long hospitalization. Our Alvin, TX truck accident attorneys realize that you might have experienced the phenomenon yourself. Texas highway journeys are often quite long.
Even the briefest doze can cause a fatal truck wreck when the truck drifts off course. Fortunately, most dozing truck drivers snap back to wakefulness before any real harm is done. But occasionally a brief doze behind the wheel could lead to a serious or even a fatal truck wreck.
Our Alvin, TX truck accident attorneys note that driver fatigue is an especial problem for long haul truckers. They spend long hours behind the wheel day in and day out. Even the liveliest banter on a CB radio can’t necessarily deflect the danger of accumulated fatigue and keep the truck driver alert. A poll of long haul truckers found that within the 30 days preceding the survey, 20% of the drivers admitted to dozing off at least once behind the wheel.
Federal officials recognize the danger of fatal truck wrecks caused by driver fatigue. The government has issued regulations limiting the number of hours that long haul truckers may drive in a single day. The regulations prescribe scheduled rest breaks in an effort to limit the effects of truck driver fatigue. Truckers are also supposed to keep accurate logbooks noting their hours driven, rest breaks taken, and other information showing their compliance with the federal regulations.
The Alvin, TX truck accident attorneys at Denena Points, PC understand that there’s probably nothing that the ordinary driver can do to prevent truck driver fatigue or the fatal truck wrecks in Texas that result from it. But when you’ve been injured in a truck wreck caused by truck driver fatigue, you should make every effort to hold those who caused it legally accountable for their actions. Only then will long haul truckers and the trucking companies that employ them have real incentive to abide by the laws regulating the numbers of hours that they can drive and their rest breaks.
The trucking companies themselves are often to blame for truck driver fatigue problems. These companies may set unrealistic delivery deadlines. And their truck drivers might have to drive long hours to meet their goals. The trucking companies might offer incentive rewards for early deliveries that tempt their truck drivers to skip needed rest breaks.
Our Alvin, TX truck accident attorneys emphasize that trucking companies and their insurers do know how frequently trucking accidents occur. So they maintain aggressive teams of highly trained accident investigators, manipulative insurance adjusters, and clever defense attorneys always at the ready to defend truck accident claims.
Continue to Part 2 to learn what to do after a serious truck wreck from driver fatigue harms you.
Making a Financial Recovery after Serious Texas Truck Accident Injury
Contact the Alvin, TX Truck Accident Lawyers at Denena Points, PC if a Big Rig has Harmed You or Your Loved One
Continued from Part 1. At Denena Points, PC, we believe that needlessly injured Texas truck accident victims deserve strong advocacy and protection of their rights against the big trucking companies and powerful insurance companies that would minimize the value of their losses to protect their own profits.
These days, with modern technology, there are many ways to track long haul truckers’ hours and routes driven. An experienced and knowledgeable Alvin, TX truck accident lawyer like Chad Points or Tony Denena could investigate your Texas truck accident and put his knowledge to work for you.
Your lawyer’s examination of the facts and circumstances of the Texas truck accident might turn up just the proof you need to show how driver fatigue helped caused your injuries. And in driver fatigue cases, fault might well lie with the trucking company as well as the long haul trucker. Making your claim against a trucking company as well as a long haul trucker increases your chances of obtaining the full financial compensation you deserve for your accident losses.
The Board Certified Alvin, TX truck accident lawyers at Denena Points, PC could help you hold the trucking company accountable for the losses that a fatigued long haul trucker inflicted on you. Call us today at 281-369-4363 or fill out our online contact form to schedule a FREE initial legal consultation to discuss your injuries. We will meet with you face to face to hear your story. You have no obligation to hire an attorney. And our in-depth knowledge and experience with Texas truck accident injury cases could help you make informed decisions about your future following a serious wreck.
When you’ve been injured in a Texas truck accident, you won’t be able to win your claim on your own. You need practiced Alvin, TX truck accident lawyers who can stand up to trucking companies’ tactics. Your able lawyers should know how to prove your claim with evidence the truckers can’t refute. Our law firm has extensive experience helping injured victims of Texas truck accidents recover fair compensation for their injuries. We could negotiate a fair settlement for you or if the trucking company won’t agree to a proper settlement, we could take your case all the way through trial.
Contact our Alvin, TX truck accident lawyers today for your free legal consultation and a free book on Texas truck accident claims. We’re here to help you recover.
What can you do after a Galveston drunk driver injures you in a wreck?
You’ve probably heard that everything’s bigger in Texas. That’s true even of the problems. For instance, Texas leads the nation in the number of drunk driving wrecks.
And drunk drivers leave their victims with Texas-sized costs after the wrecks they cause. Drunk drivers usually cause more damage than sober drivers. This is because drunk drivers might drive faster, weave more erratically in traffic, take crazier chances on the road, and generally do all this while also driving down the wrong side of the road.
This crazy combination makes a recipe for disaster for the innocent victims that cross the drunk driver’s path. Our Galveston DWI accident attorneys point out that DWI accidents are more often fatal than other accidents. And where victims survive, recovery might take months or years. And the victims might still be left with permanent disfigurements or disabilities.
Recovering the fair financial compensation you deserve after a DWI accident in order to get your life back on a sound financial footing is often more challenging than it should be. Defendants and their insurers will dispute your claims.
Contact the Board Certified Galveston DWI Accident Attorneys at Denena Points, PC; We could Help You Recover
We always provide you with a free, no obligation legal consultation to discuss your accident and evaluate your potential for financial compensation for your injuries. Reach us at 281-369-4363 or through our online contact form. Put our more than 15 years of successful experience to work for your benefit.
TX Fertilizer Plant Explosion Reveals Deadly Gap in Safety Regulations
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is supposed to oversee facilities containing large amounts of ammonium nitrate, the fertilizer that exploded in West, Texas on Wednesday. The same hazardous substance was also responsible for the deadly blasts that leveled Texas City in 1947 and the Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995.
Our Pearland, Texas industrial accident attorneys note that the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Act is the regulatory act that gives the DHS the ability to oversee the fertilizer plant in West, Texas and other facilities that store and use large amounts of the potentially explosive material.
DHS Apparently Remained Unaware of the Existence of the West, Texas Fertilizer Plant and its Ammonium Nitrate until the Deadly Explosion
Reportedly the DHS was not even aware that the West, Texas fertilizer plant existed until after it exploded, leveling several city blocks. The facility had reported to another agency last year that it had 270 tons of ammonium nitrate on hand. (According to a Reuters report, this is 1,350 times the amount of ammonium nitrate that should trigger DHS oversight.)
But our Pearland, Texas industrial accident attorneys point out that the information had not been passed along by that agency to the DHS and the fertilizer plant had also not informed the DHS itself. The DHS, once informed, would review a facility and its operations and create a safety plan.
A Byzantine Scheme of Overlapping Regulatory Authority Covered the Fertilizer Plant, Yet Still left Huge Safety Gaps, as the Explosion Revealed
The reporting oversight on the part of fertilizer plant owners and managers might not have been willful. The West, Texas fertilizer plant is subject to scrutiny and regulation by at least 7 state and federal agencies, so it might be difficult to keep track of which agencies are supposed to be told what.
This situation of confusing regulatory overlap with a lack of ultimate accountability reveals a dangerous and glaring hole in the regulatory oversight scheme. If the fertilizer plant in West, Texas was not known to DHS, there may be other such facilities that are not known. If the facility itself is responsible for alerting DHS to its presence, and other agencies with information about it do not forward that important information to DHS, our Pearland, Texas industrial accident attorneys emphasize that everyone’s safety remains at risk.
The government agencies that we must rely upon for our safety need to be reliable. They should share important information amongst themselves regarding such things as the locations at which enormous quantities of explosive materials are stored.
Some Information about Ammonium Nitrate and Anhydrous Ammonia
The Pearland, Texas industrial accident attorneys at Denena Points, PC mention that ammonium nitrate is fairly safe under most conditions. But high temperatures and high pressure can lead to explosions. And anhydrous ammonia, a gas that is often found in tandem with ammonium nitrate, can also explode at high temperature and even upon contact with water apparently. Some reports indicated that this is what might have happened in West, Texas since the fertilizer plant explosion was preceded by a fire that firefighters were attempting to quell.
The West, Texas fertilizer plant also had recent safety violations on record. For example, the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration had fined the plant over $5,000 for transporting chemicals without a proper safety plan and for lacking safety labels on some tanks. Apparently the plant had also filed a safety plan late with another agency a few years ago. (Sources: Joshua Schneyer, Ryan McNeill, and Janet Roberts, Reuters: and KPRC click2houston.com, 4/19/13
Let’s Get Serious about Safety
Relying on the companies and individuals who store, transport, and utilize hazardous substances like ammonium nitrate to report the hazards themselves clearly presents a huge safety risk to all of us. Here in Texas, particularly along the Gulf Coast and in agricultural communities, we have enormous concentrations of potentially hazardous substances stored in tanks, processing plants, and other facilities. As the West, Texas fertilizer plant explosion reveals, a combination of the right conditions could turn the materials into a deadly hazard that claims innocent lives and injures scores of others.
Our Pearland, Texas industrial accident attorneys call upon the government agencies to work together, share information, and increase our actual level of safety. The West, Texas fertilizer plant explosion provides a huge wake-up call to take real safety concerns more seriously.
Click the link to read more about the deadly fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas.
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6 Key Numbers on U.S. Fatal and Serious Injury Motorcycle Crash Rates
After a low in 1997, motorcycle accident fatality and serious injury rates have been increasing sharply. The Galveston motorcycle accident lawyers at Denena Points, PC note that motorcycle ridership has increased slightly over the past couple of decades, but motorcycles still represent less than 5% of registered vehicles on U.S. roads. Reports from 2012 and 2013 document an alarming number of fatal motorcycle crashes.
The U.S. NHTSA compilation of annual statistics related to motorcycle accident fatalities and injuries shows that in 2010 (the most recent year for which they’ve compiled this report), a total of 4,502 motorcyclists died in their crashes and 82,000 received injuries, an increase over 2009 rates. The highest numbers of fatal and serious injury crashes for the decade were in the years 2007 and 2008. Other important numbers from the report include:
Motorcycle accident fatalities increased by 41% in the decade from 2001 to 2010. The fatality rate went up from 39% to 56% for bikers aged 40 and older in that same time period. That means that the fatality rate for this age group went up a full 100% just in one decade.
Motorcyclists accounted for 14% of driver fatalities and 16% of passenger fatalities in 2010. But our Galveston motorcycle accident lawyers emphasize that motorcycles made up only 3% of all registered U.S. vehicles and only 0.6% of all vehicle miles traveled. So bikers clearly suffer disproportionate numbers of fatal crash injuries.
NHTSA data reveals that motorcyclists are about 30 times more likely to suffer a fatal crash than passenger vehicle occupants. Bikers were also 5 times more likely to receive injuries in a crash than car or light truck occupants.
Collisions with other vehicles accounted for 51% of all fatal motorcycle crashes in 2010. 75% of the collisions were front-end crashes for the motorcycles. Of the 1,999 bike collisions with other vehicles, 770 (39%) involved the other vehicle suddenly turning left in front of the motorcycle, for example by failing to yield right-of-way.
The U.S. NHTSA estimated that helmets saved the lives of about 1,550 bikers in 2010 and that 706 additional motorcyclists could have been saved had they worn helmets. The agency says that helmets are between 37% and 41% effective in saving the lives of motorcycle riders and passengers involved in crashes. Our Galveston motorcycle accident lawyers point out that this means that for every 100 un-helmeted bikers who died from crashes, an additional 37 to 41 of them might have lived had they worn helmets at the time of the accidents.
66% of the motorcyclists who died in states without universal helmet laws in crashes in 2010 were not wearing helmets. Only 10% of those killed in states with universal helmet laws were not wearing helmets.
Need Information after a Serious Motorcycle Crash? Download our FREE Book
Click the link to download your FREE copy of our Galveston motorcycle accident lawyers’ informative book on the steps you need to take after a serious motorcycle crash to protect your rights and maximize your potential recovery of financial compensation for your losses. The book provides 4 important “do’s” and “don’ts” you need to know as you file your motorcycle accident claim. When another driver’s error has caused you or a loved one to suffer in a crash, you deserve justice.
If you have questions about the specific accident that harmed you or your loved one, don’t hesitate to call us at 281-369-4363 or fill out our online request form to obtain your completely free and confidential initial legal consultation. You have no obligation to hire an attorney.
In your free consultation, our Galveston motorcycle accident lawyers could discuss the facts of your individual accident with you and evaluate your potential eligibility for a fair financial recovery after the crash. We understand the pain you’re going through after a serious motorcycle crash, so we never charge you attorneys’ fees unless we win your claim, so there’s no financial risk to you.