Benzene Negligence
OSHA rules require employers to report any death that is possibly work related as well as any accident causing three or more workers to be admitted to a hospital. The chief of OSHA’s Division of Record Keeping Requirements says that the agency expects that the employers will “err on the side of reporting” if a death is even questionable.
But companies are often reluctant to report anything less than the most severe fatal accidents because of investigations, lawsuits, and negative publicity. Work related deaths in 1984 were estimated to range from 3,740 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics to 11,700 according to the National Safety Council.
Controversy has surrounded various of unreported work-related deaths, including a case of aplastic anemia that resulted in death that was not reported despite the employee’s benzene exposure. Benzene is a human carcinogen shown to cause aplastic anemia. The former employee had worked as an operator on the docks of a refinery helping to load and unload benzene containing products for twenty years. The connection between aplastic anemia and benzene is identified in many different pieces of medical literature.
Serious, life-threatening conditions have been connected with benzene exposure and you may be eligible to receive a large compensation for the resulting conditions. Benzene lawsuits have been filed, alleging various companies that work with benzene-containing products have known about the dangers benzene poses to workers, yet failed to properly warn the people exposed to the carcinogen.