WORKPLACE ACCIDENTS

Fires and Explosions

Fires and explosions are some of the most frightening and catastrophic events that can occur in the workplace, or in the home. The lawyers at Sico, White, Hoelscher & Braugh have handled many of these tragic cases. This litigation is some of the most difficult and expensive because the immense destruction caused by fires and explosions requires the use of extraordinary measures to collect and preserve evidence so that the sequence of events leading to the incident can be reconstructed. Our firm commits the necessary resources early in the evaluation of these cases to determine the root cause of the incident and identify the responsible parties.

The lawyers at Sico, White, Hoelscher & Braugh have worked on high-profile fire and explosion cases, such as the 2005 British Petroleum Texas City Refinery explosion that killed 15 people and injured 170 others, and the 2005 Corpus Christi Coastal Refining and Marketing plant explosion, a case in which firm partner Craig Sico obtained a jury verdict for his clients. The firm's lawyers have also handled cases involving pipeline explosions, a pipe coating plant explosion and cases involving various other residential and commercial fires and explosions.

Industrial Accidents

The lawyers at Sico, White, Hoelscher & Braugh have successfully tried and settled complex and deadly workplace accident cases involving fires and explosions, falls, structural collapses, toxic substance exposures, oilfield accidents, electrocutions, and defective tools, industrial machinery and safety equipment. Workplace accidents arise from many causes, but may involve poor management, lack of proper policies and procedures, improper use or maintenance of equipment and machinery, and defective products or safety equipment. Nonetheless, in many cases, the injured victim is blamed. We strive to uncover the truth about workplace incidents by immediately hiring highly qualified experts, conducting a detailed initial investigation of the accident and ultimately proving the truth through rapid, hard-nosed discovery.

Defective Industrial Devices

Workers use dangerous industrial equipment and rely on industrial safety devices daily. When they fail, serious incidents can result. As with any other workplace accident, these incidents may arise from many causes, but often involve poor management decisions, lack of proper policies and procedures, improper use or maintenance of equipment and machinery, and defective products or safety equipment, such as fall protection, respirators and emergency recovery devices.

Proper investigation of workplace accidents that potentially involve defective machinery or safety device failures requires experience and knowledge in the handling of both workplace incidents generally and also product liability matters. Sico, White, Hoelscher & Braugh has the experience and knowledge needed to successfully handle these cases.

Toxic Exposures

Hazardous chemicals and poisons exist in most industrial workplaces, and they are also sometimes released from industrial facilities, exposing innocent bystanders to the risk of serious diseases, injuries and fatalities. State and federal laws and various governmental agencies regulate chemical releases from facilities and occupational exposure to hazardous chemicals, poisons and other industrial by-products. However, unlawful toxic exposures and releases still routinely occur in the United States, often with catastrophic results for the victims. The causes of these unlawful toxic exposures and releases may include inadequate policies and procedures, poor training, equipment failures caused by design or manufacturing defects or poor maintenance, and lack of adequate warnings and instructions for the safe use of the equipment and chemical agents involved.

Evaluating chemical exposure and release cases may require the expertise of many professionals, such as engineers, medical doctors, chemists, industrial hygienists, air modeling experts and toxicologists. These cases almost certainly require detailed discovery of the sources of the chemical agents, their toxicities, safety practices utilized to guard against exposure or release, and corporate knowledge concerning the hazards of the chemicals involved. Many victims do not know or suspect that their injuries or diseases were caused by toxic exposures until much later in life. Sico, White, Hoelscher & Braugh can help you evaluate whether exposure to toxins may have injured you.