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Plant & Refinery Accident Lawyers

Helping Injured Workers in Texas, Louisiana & Nationwide

Our industrial accident lawyers are dedicated to representing victims of workplace accidents throughout all of Texas, Louisiana, and across the nation. If you are employed at a production plant or oil refinery, you know how dangerous your job can be. Aging equipment, ineffective safety policies, poorly-trained workers, and little maintenance has resulted in an industry that routinely harms its own workers every year. The worst part of the tragedy is that plant accidents and explosions are largely preventable—all it takes is for plant managers to do their job, create safe policies, and care for their workers.

When plant managers and owners don't care about their workers, Arnold & Itkin will. Our plant explosion attorneys from our legal team have secured billions for victims of negligence, including two massive verdicts for victims of the 2013 Olefins plant explosion. Our work has helped industrial employees all over the country achieve justice and lifelong security for themselves and their families.

Contact Arnold & Itkin today for a free consultation at (888) 493-1629. We can give you the answers you're looking for while helping you recover from your injuries.

Why Should You Contact Us?

Benefits of Working With Our Team

  • Billions of Dollars Recovered for Our Clients
  • 100s of Cases Won in Excess of $1 Million
  • Cases Won for Our Clients from Coast to Coast
  • Frequently Featured in Local & National Media
  • You Don't Pay a Dime Unless We Win
  • The Inner Circle of Advocates
  • Best Lawyers in America
  • Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers
  • Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America
  • U.S. News – Best Lawyers® Best Law Firms
  • Super Lawyers
  • The National Law Journal Top 100 Verdicts
  • NTL: Top 100 Trial Lawyers
  • Top 50 Personal Injury Jury Verdicts
  • The National Law Journal Elite Trial Lawyers
  • Top 100 Jury Verdicts
  • Super Lawyers Rising Stars

The Role & Importance of OSHA

How the Occupational Safety & Health Administration Impacts Workplaces

Plants and refineries are similar to many industrial workplaces, as more common accidents can happen on a regular basis. These do not have to be large in order to be deadly. While many accidents, such as the Texas City refinery explosion, are large in magnitude, many smaller accidents are just as catastrophic for the victims.

To better avoid these accidents, as well as more severe ones, the OSHA has set up rules and regulations for plants and refineries to follow. If an accident investigation shows that these standards were violated, then the responsible parties may be held accountable.

Human error is the most common cause of plant and refinery accidents, and when it comes to human error, the truth of the matter is that the most common cause is negligence. Whether that be the negligence of the employer, maintenance worker, or a third party, it is typically the cause of things like explosions, fires, and other disasters. This means that the majority of these accidents could be avoided with proper training, supervision, safety measures, screening, and other actions.

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Catastrophic Chemical Plant Accidents

Understanding the Danger of These Plants

Due to the volatile nature of the chemicals involved in chemical plants, it is absolutely crucial for workers to handle these substances correctly to avoid potential injury.

Unfortunately, accidents can happen—including those that could have been avoided through more care and caution being taken at the workplace. As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pointed out, some of the most common causes of chemical plant accidents include the use of poorly-designed equipment, poor hazard review, inadequate indications of process condition, and ignored warnings about potential problems—all of which could have been corrected before an accident occurs.

For instance, the Williams Olefins plant in Geismar had a design flaw the company was warned about for years. The flaw led to an explosion that killed and injured 167.

Plant Explosion

Common Accidents

Understanding the most common types of accidents to occur at our nation's plants, refineries, and factories.

  • Chemical Plant Accidents

    Working in a chemical plant comes with many inherent risks due to the volatility of the chemicals that are being produced. Even so, many of the injuries that occur in chemical plants could be easily avoided if workers practiced caution and followed proper safety protocols. Chemicals are toxic materials and highly flammable, which means that production plants for chemicals are extremely dangerous. If proper safety regulations are not held to, machine malfunctioning, improper handling, or another kind of negligence can cause serious accidents.

  • Oil Refinery Plant Accidents

    Oil refineries are a type of plant where crude oil is turned into types of petroleum products. Because of the technology used in oil refineries, they can be thought of as a type of chemical plant in many ways. Heating is used to refine the crude oil, so accidents that result from overheating are common. These plants develop things such as gasoline. Defective equipment, malfunctioning equipment, and unseen corrosion are common factors contributing to accidents.

  • Plant & Refinery Explosions

    Plants and refineries are particularly dangerous due to the high volume of flammable and combustible materials inside the plant. If employers do not enforce proper safety protocols, catastrophic explosions could happen at any moment. While following proper safety protocols is vital, it is also crucial that management properly maintain and update the equipment in the plant. Many past explosions could have been avoidable had worn-down or outdated equipment been maintained or upgraded. The prolonged lack of proper maintenance and care for equipment is typically the cause of these accidents.

  • Plant & Refinery Fires

    Fires are catastrophic events that do not necessarily cause an explosion. Chemicals, crude oil, and similar materials are highly flammable. If not handled properly, they could result in a fire. Fires occur often in conjunction with explosions, but sometimes in isolated instances too.

When Should You Call Arnold & Itkin LLP

Our Team of Plant Injury Lawyers Is Here for You

If you were injured in one of these accidents, it is time for you to talk with a plant and refinery accident lawyer about your legal options. For example, your employer may be found to have acted negligently by not providing adequate training to employees. In other cases, those responsible for the maintenance of machines may have been negligent if their neglect of maintenance led to an equipment malfunction.

You may be unsure of what factor caused your accident, which is exactly why you should seek help from our plant accident attorneys. We have helped hundreds of workers just like you obtain recoveries for their injuries. We are proud to fight for the rights of the injured, and should you become our client, we will do the same for you.

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"I’d recommend Arnold & Itkin to anyone in any type of accident where they can help you. They will be your best lawyer."

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Case Results

Check Out Our Victories

  • $171Million One of the Largest Confidential Settlements in History Arnold & Itkin worked over the course of several years to represent clients in a case that many other law firms turned down. In the end, we were able to obtain a record-setting confidential settlement of $171 million.
  • $97Million Massive Settlement Secured for Refinery Workers Arnold & Itkin is proud to share that after months of preparation for trial, our firm was able to secure a huge settlement for clients who were injured in a refinery fire. Find out more now.
  • $39.7Million Record Verdict Won for Victim of Industrial Accident Attorneys Kyle Findley and Adam Lewis obtained a record $39.744 million verdict on behalf of a client who was burned in a severe dust fire and explosion at a plywood plant in Corrigan, TX.
  • $18.5Million Second Verdict Won for 4 Victims of Geismar Explosion In our second trial on behalf of victims of the 2013 plant explosion in Geismar, LA, Arnold & Itkin won a massive verdict for 4 workers and their families. The verdict will go toward providing the extensive care they have required in the years since the explosion as well as the care they will need for the rest of their lives. This was the second of 2 massive verdicts Arnold & Itkin won against Williams Companies, Inc.
  • $15.5Million Massive Verdict Won for Geismar Explosion Victims Arnold & Itkin won a landmark verdict against Williams Companies, Inc. and child company Williams Olefins LLC for their part in the 2013 explosion that killed 2 workers and injured over 100 more. Williams Companies tried to blame the incident on their limited liability shell company, but the jury saw through the defense. They awarded 95% of the blame to Williams Companies, Inc. and gave our clients the money they needed for medical care.
  • $13.7Million Massive Settlement Won Only Months After Injury Arnold & Itkin represented a plant worker who was seriously injured in an accident on the job. Plant injuries are often complex, taking years to fully investigate and litigate. Fortunately, our firm’s work was able to secure a multi-million dollar settlement mere months after the injury took place. Now our client’s medical expenses and other needs are taken care of for the rest of his life.
  • $12Million Injured Worker Received Settlement for Burn Injuries Our industrial injury lawyers have recently recovered $12 million on behalf of a plant worker who suffered burns when a safety valve failed at the refinery where he was employed. His settlement will go toward providing him with extensive and long-term medical care. His employer chose to settle his case two weeks before trial was set to begin.
  • $11.7Million Settlement Won for Plant Worker Injured During Turnaround Attorneys Kurt Arnold and Jason Itkin successfully recovered $11.75 million on behalf of a man who was injured while working a turnaround at an industrial plant. He was injured because he and his team were not informed of the plant’s dangers, and his family turned to Arnold & Itkin shortly afterward. Our team was able to get him money for his present and future medical expenses less than a year after he was injured.
  • $11.6Million Verdict Secured for a Worker Partially Blinded on the Job Our client was only offered $300,000 by the defendant for his near-total loss of sight in one eye, but the jury only deliberated for less than 2 days before they found the defendant guilty of defective equipment design. They gave our client an award of $11.6 million.
  • $4.97Million Settlement Reached for Orthopaedic Injury Victim Our team worked to represent a client who was severely injured while working at a chemical plant. He was performing construction and maintenance work at the time of the incident. In the end, our firm was successful in settling the case for $4.97 million.
  • $4.8Million Verdict Won for Bereaved Daughter Kurt Arnold recovered $4.8 million for a client whose father was killed after suffering a severe head injury in Port Arthur, Texas. Winning justice for grieving clients is a primary reason we became lawyers, and it's our honor to help clients like this one receive help.
  • $4Million Victim of Plant Explosion Received Millions in Settlement Arnold & Itkin attorneys represented a Mississippi man who was severely injured in a Texas refinery plant explosion. Cases like these require a high level of experience and investigative resources due to the myriad factors involved in a plant explosion. Our attorneys are proud to have helped our client receive a settlement of $4,000,000.
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“What I feel is that he never considered me as a number, never looked at me as a number. He looked at me as a person, as an individual who needs help, who needs guidance.” - Mildred Solar Cortes

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