A Houston company has been issued a $1.5 million fine for safety violations after a wrongful death investigation conducted against the facility revealed it was at fault.
According to the Houston Chronicle, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued the fine against CES Environmental Services on January 4, 2009, although lawyers for CES Environment are contesting the fine. This all comes six months after an employee’s wrongful death was caused by an explosion and fire at the Griggs Road facility.
The tanker truck explosion on July 7, 2009 that caused the wrongful death of Bruce Clayton Howard was the third explosion at CES facilities in less than a year. Howard was standing on top of the tanker filing it with water to clean it when an explosion caused him to fall about 30 feet. Howard suffered third degree burn injuries over almost 90 percent of his body, and he died in about an hour.
Our wrongful death lawyers have heard about factory explosions in the past. While there could be many reasons for these types of accidents, the fact remains that human lives are often lost in them. Since we’re concerned first and foremost with worker safety, we hope that companies make preventing employee hazards a priority. If not, they could be putting their employees in danger.
In total, CES has been charged with 71 violations related to Howard’s wrongful death. The OSHA alleges that CES’s failed to properly ventilate tanks where employees were working and also charged them with improper storage of chemicals. If the OSHA’s allegations are true, CES could be held liable for any personal injury or wrongful death it caused its employees.
Worker’s injuries are not the only concern for CES. Back in December of 2008, an explosion sent metal debris over the fence that surrounds the facility into the backyards of nearby residents. The good news: no one was injured by the debris.
At the end of the day, all we ask of these companies — as wrongful death lawyers — is that worker safety be made a priority. Hopefully for CES Environmental Services, Bruce Howard’s wrongful death was just an unavoidable tragedy.
Call us now at 1-800-655-6585 or click here for a free consultation with an experienced wrongful death attorney and find out how we can help you. We speak English and Spanish, and we look forward to providing advice for your case. No fee if no recovery.
About Michael PinesMichael Pines is a former insurance company attorney who specializes in car accident injury. While he was an insurance attorney, he learned from behind the scenes on how insurance companies work and how they decided to pay injured people. Now that he works against insurance companies, Michael's inside knowledge has resulted in significant benefits to his clients injured in car accidents.
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Tags: CES Environmental Services, workers' compensation, wrongful death
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