Statistics show that accidents involving exploding dust have been connected to a minimum of six workplace fatalities in 2011. Five of those occurred in different incidents at Tennessee factories that produce powdered metal for carmakers and other industrial applications.
These accidents are seen every year across the nation in factories that process fine metal, wood, or chemical powders. Safety authorities have researched and confirmed the hazards associated with these kinds of manufacturing plants for almost ten years, according to reporting by The San Francisco Gate. However, increased regulatory measures remain gridlocked by industry and government agendas, while workplace safety continues to be jeopardized. Safety risks rival those seen in grain factories (such as the one that blew up in Kansas last month and resulted in six fatalities); however, experts speculate that the 2.5 million facilities that produce metal, wood, and chemical dust may be less regulated, according to the SF Gate.
An examination conducted before the fatal explosions in Gallatin, Tennessee, shows that dust dangers were allegedly not monitored. Workers suffered severe injuries as a result of a blaze that examiners attribute to the collection of iron dust at the same facility for the company Hoeganaes. The plant is still currently in operation. Family members of those injured and killed in these devastating accidents are speaking out publicly against the negligence. If you or a loved one has been injured in a Tennessee workplace accident that you believe resulted from reckless operation standards on the part of the company, call the workers’ compensation attorneys in Chattanooga with Massey & Associates, P.C. at (423) 396-0720 for a complimentary and confidential consultation today.
Gary Massey, Jr., is a well-known courtroom advocate practicing law in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Gary is a native of Tennessee who began practicing law in 1998. He graduated from Cumberland School of Law where he was ranked in the top 3% of his class and was an editor of the Cumberland Law Review.
