Man Injured While Working In The 70s Seeking Money From Oil Firms

Posted in Our Blog,Workers Compensation,Workplace Safety on June 6, 2014

An enormous group of oil companies in Louisiana has been targeted by a man who claims that he was seriously sickened by exposure to chemicals at a drill site. The man says he was injured while working as a drilling pipe cleaner in Harvey, Louisiana. He says he was exposed to radioactive materials, and that exposure ultimately led him to suffer a heart attack. The man also says he is concerned that he now has a higher risk of developing cancer because of the exposure.

The defendants – a group of oil companies that includes Pennzoil, BP, Amoco and Pan American Petroleum, among others – are all accused of failing to warn workers about the danger of oil field generated radiation scale. That residue was apparently released into the air while the victim worked, causing him to be exposed to high levels of radiation. These unsafe working conditions allegedly led to the man suffering a heart attack after his employment at the facility; he worked there from 1973 to 1975.

The companies allegedly failed to warn their workers about the unsafe working conditions. The exposure occurred only a few years after the Occupational Safety and Health Act was passed in 1970. Therefore, the companies may not have been as committed to preventing occupational disease as many are in the modern economy.

The plaintiff is suing for financial damages because of his ill health. He is also seeking compensation for pain and suffering and other civil complaints. No worker should have to suffer long-term effects from dangerous exposure to hazardous chemicals. Such employees deserve financial compensation from these negligent companies.

Source: The Louisiana Record, “Several oil companies sued by man claiming heart attack was caused by exposure to radioactive materials” Kyle Barnett, May. 28, 2014