Houston Work Accident Lawyers Discuss Fatal October 2015 Forklift Accident

October 2, 2015

A Houston man died in a tragic work accident on October 1, 2015, while working at the Tenaris plant on East Sam Houston Parkway near Tidwell. The tragic industrial incident occurred in northeast Houston around 4:30 a.m.

According to the Houston Sherriff’s Office, the victim, a plant employee or contractor, was working on a forklift just prior to the accident. He dismounted from the vehicle and was situated in between it and a large industrial spool when, all of a sudden, the forklift rolled forward and crushed him.

Tenaris released a statement in which they stated “We are collaborating with local authorities as well as conducting our own investigation. We will issue a statement with more information once available.”

The name of the worker has not yet been released, but Tenaris says he was a 7-year veteran of the facility. Preliminary reports indicate the man should have had a helper present with him at the time of the accident, but he did not. This may be a failure that would subject one or more of the companies involved to liability in a wrongful death lawsuit.

It is not currently known whether the forklift had any dangerous defects that would make the forklift manufacturer liable for the accident.

About Tenaris

Tenaris is “a leading supplier of tubes and related services for the world’s energy industry and certain other industrial applications.” The North American headquarters of the corporation is in Houston, Texas.

Tenaris operations in Texas “produce a wide range of TenarisHydril integral and threaded-and-coupled premium connections, including products with Dopeless® technology – a dry, multifunctional coating applied in the controlled industrial environment of the mill to eliminate the need for threading compound in the field. Tenaris also produces traditional API threads.”

They also “offer continuous coiled tubing in a variety of steel grades, sizes, and wall thicknesses to meet the most demanding downhole and subsea environments” as well as “products for other US energy and industrial-related areas including:

Industrial and mechanical
Automotive
Power Generation
Hydrocarbon processing”

Dangers Of Forklifts Exposed In Houston Wrongful Death

As our Houston forklift injury lawyers know very well, every year in the United States nearly 100 workers are killed and another 20,000 are seriously injured in forklift-related incidents.

Several well-known forklift dangers appear to have played a part in the October 2015 incident.

Known dangers that cause forklift injuries include:

Forklift rollovers and turnovers – 25% of forklift fatalities are caused when a forklift flips or turns over. These accidents are often caused by things like dangerous and slippery floor conditions, a poorly maintained or defective forklift, improper training and supervision, inadequate staffing, and rushing employees to perform jobs in a specified time frame.
Worker Struck By Forklift – these accidents often cause serious injury or death, and can be caused by things like inadequate training, excessively long work shifts, and failure to pay attention.
Crushed by forklift—nearly one in five forklift accidents involves someone being crushed, as was the case in the October 2015 Tenaris accident in Houston. Forklifts weigh several thousand pounds and easily crush bones and body parts.
Lack of training or improper training of forklift operators
Production factors such as speed or stress.
Inadequate tools and safety equipment.
Improper use or application of forklifts.
Poor maintenance.
Forklifts that are too old.