Experts Descend Upon ConAgra Plant in Garner, NC
Attorney
(866) 735-1102 Ext 645
Industrial accidents are tragic. They are usually unnecessary and preventable. These tragedies are usually caused by defective products or negligence. They occur usually because the employers involved, and independent third party contractors and suppliers failed to take basic safety precautions to protect workers.
The most recent tragedy occurred yesterday in Garner, North Carolina when an explosion at the ConAgra Plant blew open the plant, killed at least 3 workers and sent 4 people to the Burn Center at Chapel Hill, North Carolina and hospitalized at least 38 others.
Experts from around the country have descended upon the little North Carolina town of Garner, North Carolina to investigate what happened.
Governmental agencies such as the US Chemical Safety Board, the agency charged with investigating industrial accidents are on the scene.
ConAgra Foods, Inc., the owner of the plant sent a team from Omaha, Nebraska to investigate.
Undoubtedly third party contractors and suppliers and their insurance company sent teams of experts in with a view towards finding evidence to extricate them from any potential liability for the tragedy.
The unfortunate workers, and the families of the 3 workers tragically killed will most likely not have a team of experts working for them. They are too much in shock to think clearly about how to protect their interest and keep incomes coming into the household to support their families.
You can be sure however, that the experts sent in by the insurance companies that insure ConAgra and any third party suppliers or contractors will be focused solely on how to protect themselves from claims which are sure to come from the victims and their families.
Of course, the injured employees and the families of the deceased employees are entitled to immediate workers’ compensation benefits. However, workers’ compensation benefits are extremely limited. Workers’ compensation insurance does not include payment for pain and suffering, punitive damages and other damages which have certainly been suffered by the employees and their families.
In order to recover more than basic workers compensation benefits, the employees will have to show that the conduct of the employer was substantially certain to cause injury or death. This is a heavy burden for these employees.
If the families can prove that third parties (individuals employed by entities other than ConAgra Foods) were responsible for the tragedy or that products supplied by third parties caused or contributed to the tragedy, the family would be entitled to full compensation for their losses.
It appears that 3 of the ConAgra employees died in the explosion: Barbara McLean Spears 43 of Dunn; Lewis Junior Watson 33 of Clayton; and Rachel Mae Poston-Pulley 67 of Clayton