http://www.insiderexclusive.com/show-content/303-deadly-explosions--the-imperial-sugar-story.html
On February 7th 2008 an explosion at the Imperial Sugar Refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia kill 14 workers, injured 44 more, and resulted in millions of dollars worth of damages....
What was the source of this horrifically powerful industrial explosion that took over a dozen lives and completely destroyed an entire factory? Was it some exotic chemical substance that was being used as part of some industrial process?
This devastating explosion was fueled by nothing other than a simple accumulation of otherwise harmless sugar dust.
You might not think of sugar, corn, or metal as materials that can cause a catastrophic explosion in a factory, but when they're ground into dust-and suspended in the air-all it takes is a small spark to set off a major disaster.
As the INSIDER EXCLUSIVE Investigative TV Series discovered..... Devastating dust explosions at American factories are more common now than ever.
In an industrial setting otherwise benign substances such as flour, corn, sugar, metals, or wood, can accumulate. When exposed to an ignition source these can lead to immensely powerful explosions.
Since 1980, there have been at least 350 such explosions in the U.S., killing 133 people and injuring hundreds more. There are at least 30,000 factories in the nation vulnerable to dust explosions, and yet, some top federal safety officials tell the INSIDER EXCLUSIVE that the government agency whose job it is to protect workers is ignoring a tried-and-true way to prevent those explosions.
If the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) had acted to control combustible dust levels in the nation's factories, the 14 workers killed in the explosion probably would be alive today.
The Insider Exclusive Investigative TV Series filmed this documentary on location in Savannah Georgia researching and interviewing one of the key figures who investigated this catastrophic disaster, Mark Tate, founder and Partner of the Tate Law Group, and who successfully represented 14 of the victims of the Imperial Sugar refinery explosion. He is joined by one of the surviving family members of this horrific, preventable disaster.
Most lawyers didn't want to pursue this litigation because they thought it was an open-and-shut workers' comp case.
But Mark was able to cut through the corporate veil and determine there was a real viable defendant. He successfully proved that Imperial Sugar was negligent in its maintenance and upkeep of the Port Wentworth facility.
He and his law firm showed that the accident was preventable, and that before the explosion.......... Imperial Sugar had been aware of the dangers of combustible dust for some time... but that the company had not taken measures to ensure the safety of the refinery.
And this was supported by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. With these findings supporting their claims, the Tate Law Group was able to move forward and secure recoveries for all of their clients.
Two years before, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) urged OSHA to adopt combustible dust standards. Former CSB director Carolyn Merritt stated that...
"If OSHA had acted and if the industry itself had paid more attention, possibly this incident would not have happened. These people should not have been killed."
Bowing to concerns over a lack of standardize federal safety regulations in this area, members of the U.S. Congress have recently taken steps to combat this danger.
The bill is fiercely opposed by the industry. God forbid Congress pesters Big Business just to save a few hundred workers' lives.
We hope you'll tune in to "DEADLY EXPLOSIONS - The Imperial Sugar Story" this November and join us on our TV website to watch it again.
On February 7th 2008 an explosion at the Imperial Sugar Refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia kill 14 workers, injured 44 more, and resulted in millions of dollars worth of damages....
What was the source of this horrifically powerful industrial explosion that took over a dozen lives and completely destroyed an entire factory? Was it some exotic chemical substance that was being used as part of some industrial process?
This devastating explosion was fueled by nothing other than a simple accumulation of otherwise harmless sugar dust.
You might not think of sugar, corn, or metal as materials that can cause a catastrophic explosion in a factory, but when they're ground into dust-and suspended in the air-all it takes is a small spark to set off a major disaster.
As the INSIDER EXCLUSIVE Investigative TV Series discovered..... Devastating dust explosions at American factories are more common now than ever.
In an industrial setting otherwise benign substances such as flour, corn, sugar, metals, or wood, can accumulate. When exposed to an ignition source these can lead to immensely powerful explosions.
Since 1980, there have been at least 350 such explosions in the U.S., killing 133 people and injuring hundreds more. There are at least 30,000 factories in the nation vulnerable to dust explosions, and yet, some top federal safety officials tell the INSIDER EXCLUSIVE that the government agency whose job it is to protect workers is ignoring a tried-and-true way to prevent those explosions.
If the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) had acted to control combustible dust levels in the nation's factories, the 14 workers killed in the explosion probably would be alive today.
The Insider Exclusive Investigative TV Series filmed this documentary on location in Savannah Georgia researching and interviewing one of the key figures who investigated this catastrophic disaster, Mark Tate, founder and Partner of the Tate Law Group, and who successfully represented 14 of the victims of the Imperial Sugar refinery explosion. He is joined by one of the surviving family members of this horrific, preventable disaster.
Most lawyers didn't want to pursue this litigation because they thought it was an open-and-shut workers' comp case.
But Mark was able to cut through the corporate veil and determine there was a real viable defendant. He successfully proved that Imperial Sugar was negligent in its maintenance and upkeep of the Port Wentworth facility.
He and his law firm showed that the accident was preventable, and that before the explosion.......... Imperial Sugar had been aware of the dangers of combustible dust for some time... but that the company had not taken measures to ensure the safety of the refinery.
And this was supported by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. With these findings supporting their claims, the Tate Law Group was able to move forward and secure recoveries for all of their clients.
Two years before, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) urged OSHA to adopt combustible dust standards. Former CSB director Carolyn Merritt stated that...
"If OSHA had acted and if the industry itself had paid more attention, possibly this incident would not have happened. These people should not have been killed."
Bowing to concerns over a lack of standardize federal safety regulations in this area, members of the U.S. Congress have recently taken steps to combat this danger.
The bill is fiercely opposed by the industry. God forbid Congress pesters Big Business just to save a few hundred workers' lives.
We hope you'll tune in to "DEADLY EXPLOSIONS - The Imperial Sugar Story" this November and join us on our TV website to watch it again.