The U.S. Chemical Safety Board is trying to improve workplace standards in gas-fired plants after the investigations of two terrible explosions caused during the cleaning of natural gas pipes.  The most recent accident occurred in February at the Kleen Energy plant in Middletown, Connecticut killing six and injuring at least fifty workers.  Investigators saw extreme similarities in the Kleen Energy explosion and the explosion at the ConAgra Foods Slim Jim plant in Garner, North Carolina last June 2009.  In the explosion at ConAgra four workers were killed and sixty-seven were injured.

Both of the accidents occurred during the cleaning of gas-piping through either flushing pipes or venting gas.

Members of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board voted 4-1 in Middletown on Monday for a list of 18 urgent recommendations to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the National Fire Protection Association, and other organizations.

Board member John Bresland stated, “CBS investigators have determined that no specific federal workplace safety standards prohibit intentional, planned releases of natural gas into workplaces…We also determined that there are safe, feasible, economical alternatives to the unsafe gas-handling practices that caused this accident”.

If your or someone you love has been injured in the workplace, contact the Raleigh workers’ compensation attorneys of Scudder & Hedrick PLLC at 919-851-3311 to learn more about your rights.

A worker in New York lost seven fingers and part of an eight in a manufacturing accident on Wednesday, June 16th.

The man, 53-year old Manuel Rosario, was working at the aerospace company Hughes-Treitler in Garden City on Long Island when the machine he was using shut suddenly before he could move his hands out of the way.  Rosario is left with his two thumbs and part of his right pinkie.

A spokesperson for Hughes-Treitler’s parent company, Ametek Inc., confirmed there was an accident but offered no further details.  The Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the accident to determine what caused the equipment malfunction.

If you or someone you love has been injured in the workplace, contact the Raleigh manufacturing equipment malfunction lawyers of Scudder & Hedrick PLLC at 919-851-3311 to learn more about your rights.

A long time TIMCO employee, died last month in a tragic manufacturing accident at the company’s Greensboro, North Carolina facility.

41-year old Preston Strickland was working on a plane about two stories tall at TIMCO’s Aviation Services when he fell off the plane.  Strickland was pronounced dead at the scene.

Strickland worked for TIMCO for sixteen years and was an honored veteran of Operation Desert Storm.  ”We are truly heart-broken at this terrible and devastating loss.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to his immediate family and to all of his extended family and friends,” stated TIMCO President and CEO, Ron Utecht.

Officials are investigating exactly what caused this terrible accident.

Our utmost sympathies go out Strickland’s family and friends.

The former Wake Forest player and NBA Sixth Man of the Year, Rodney Rogers recently created the Rodney Rogers foundation for paralyzed and wheelchair-bound people.

Rogers broke his neck and became paralyzed from the neck down after a dirt bike accident in 2008.  Doctors say he has about a five percent chance of recovering but Rogers still hangs onto hope.  ”I hope and pray that in the near future, I’ll get my arms back, and then hopefully my legs,” stated Rogers.

Rogers and his wife created the foundation for “charitable, scientific, and educational purposes to help families with a paralyzed or wheelchair-bound person in need”.

Rogers understands that the cost of being paralyzed is extremely expensive.  His wheelchair cost over $80,000, nursing care can cost up to $60,000 a month, not to mention medication, transportation, and other amenities.  For these reasons, Rogers created the foundation and will be making speaking appearances in hopes of inspiring others in similar situations.  The funds raised will go towards “providing financial and emotional support to those dealing with paralysis”.

If you or someone you know is disabled due to workplace injury, contact the Raleigh workers’ compensation lawyers of Scudder & Hedrick at 919-851-3311 to learn more about your rights.

This Monday a construction worker from North Carolina was rescued after being trapped 30 feet inside a tunnel on the University of Tennessee campus.

The 27-year old man, whose identity has not been released, was working for Blount Excavating Inc. of Maryville on excavating a horizontal channel for a sewer line on UT’s future Sorority Village.  While working, the man was trapped by an auger, or large drill, 30 feet inside the channel.  His leg was caught between the drill’s blades and the wall of the tunnel.

Officials said the man was taken to the UT Medical Center with serious leg injuries.  Circulation to the man’s leg was cut off for about an hour before he was rescued, and workers worried his femoral artery might have been cut by the drill’s blade.

If you or someone you love has been injured in the workplace, contact the Raleigh workplace injury attorneys of Scudder & Hedrick, PLLC at 919-851-3311 to learn more about your rights.

The school board and officials of Raleigh County recently stated that the county currently ranks third in the state for workers’ compensation costs.

The school board is now working to cut these costs and plan financials for 2011. The board passed a new budget this Wednesday estimating the school year budget for 2011 to be $125 million.

Board member Larry Ford stated, “Every $100,000 workers’ compensation claim- that could be another teacher or two”.

The county has recruited Wells Fargo to help lower their workers’ compensation costs, while still maintaining its insurance company, BrickStreet.

The county is also considering hiring a new safety director position.

If you or someone you love has been injured in the workplace and are in need of workers’ compensation contact the Raleigh workers’ compensation attorneys of Scudder & Hedrick, PLLC at 919-851-3311 to learn more about your rights.