BP’s Texas City Chemicals plant provides many people with jobs and opportunities. However, it can also be a very hazardous work environment due to factors like heavy machinery, harmful chemicals, and flammable materials. If a safety violation occurs, or if a fellow plant worker fails to perform their job duties carefully, an employee of the plant can be injured or killed in an accident.
The Houston industrial accident injury attorneys of Queenan Law have more than 20 years of experience representing injured chemical workers in Texas, and may be able to help you and your family get compensated if you were hurt in a fire, explosion, chemical exposure accident, slip and fall accident, or other type of accident at the Texas City Chemicals plant. To talk about your workplace accident claim in a free and completely confidential legal consultation, call our law offices right away at (817) 476-1797. We’re here to help you exercise your legal rights as an injured worker under Texas law.
Health Hazards of Paraxylene and M-Xylene for Chemical Plant Workers in Houston
BP, or British Petroleum, has U.S. headquarters in Houston. A key player in Texas’ booming energy industry, BP is also a huge employer in the region, creating jobs for more than 22,000 Texans. One of BP’s major operations in Texas is its Texas City Chemicals (TCC) plant, which is capable of producing more than 1.5 million tons of chemicals annually.
The plant produces two chemical compounds: metaxylene (meta-xylene, m-Xylene, MX) and paraxylene (para-xylene, p-Xylene, PX), which are used to make products like clothing, fabric, and upholstery. Though crucial to many of the products we need for our daily lives, working with these chemicals carries several safety risks. For example, according to a safety sheet produced by the petrochemical company Chevron Phillips, paraxylene has the following dangerous characteristics:
- It is flammable.
- It can cause skin irritation, respiratory irritation, and eye irritation.
- It can damage auditory (hearing) organs if a plant worker experiences “prolonged or repeated exposure if inhaled.”
- It can be fatal if it is swallowed and enters the victim’s airways.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes some of these hazards in greater detail. For example, paraxylene inhalation can lead to headaches, nausea, drowsiness, and dizziness, states which increase the risk of having an accidental fall or suffering other injuries.
In addition, paraxylene exposure can also cause chemical pneumonitis and problems with the central nervous system. Furthermore, though the following has not been confirmed, “Animal tests show that this substance possibly causes toxicity to human reproduction or development.”
Exposure to metaxylene, which is also flammable, carries very similar hazards, including possible skin irritation, eye irritation, lung problems, central nervous system damage, and hearing damage.
If these chemicals are improperly stored or handled due to issues arising from negligence – for example, improper maintenance or repairs to damaged or defective equipment – a plant worker can accidentally be exposed, which can lead to injuries, organ damage, and in severe cases, potentially wrongful death.
Furthermore, in addition to these serious chemical hazards, industrial workers are also in jeopardy of sustaining injuries from blunt force trauma. For instance, unsafe conditions can cause a worker to have a slip and fall accident, accidentally fall from a height, or be struck by or against an object.
BP Texas City Chemicals Plant Accident Attorneys Representing Injured Employees
Chemical workers risk their lives to produce goods that many of us take for granted. When a careless human error leads to an accidental injury at the BP Texas City Chemicals plant, or at any other industrial plant in the Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, or Arlington areas, the accident victim deserves to pursue justice and compensation for the losses he or she has sustained. Our mission is to aid you in that pursuit by advising you of your legal rights, protecting your interests, and fighting hard for a favorable outcome to your matter.
The Houston chemical accident lawyers of Queenan Law have more than two decades of experience handling personal injury and wrongful death claims on behalf of injured workers and the surviving spouses or family members of workers who were killed in fatal accidents, including but not limited to chemical burns, lung damage, hearing loss, bone fractures, head injuries, brain injuries, lacerations, scarring, and skin damage. We possess the knowledge, skill, and the resources that are needed to aggressively investigate the causes of complex industrial accidents in Texas.
Our Houston chemical exposure attorneys represent injured chemical plant workers in and around Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, and Arlington. If you, your spouse, or one of your family members was hurt while working at BP’s Texas City Chemicals plant, or at another chemical plant in these areas of Texas, turn to our accomplished team of attorneys for compassionate, strategic representation driven by years of experience. To talk about your chemical exposure claim in a free and confidential legal consultation, call our law offices at (817) 476-1797.