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In March, 2005 one of the most serious refinery explosions in history occurred at the BP (NYSE: BP) refinery in Texas City, Texas. It killed 15 and injured 170. To BP’s credit, they have accepted personal responsibilty for what happened and have paid over $2 billon to those harmed and the families of those who died. This trial involves five cases that have not settled and is the first case to go to trial. Lead attorney Brent Coon said: “As horrible as this was, the worse thing was that this was avoidable.” The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, one of several agencies that investigated the accident, found that BP fostered bad management at the plant. The USCSB also said cost-cutting moves by BP were factors in the explosion. Coon told the jury pool that all the plaintiffs are claiming that BP did not adhere to various safety practices that would have prevented the blast. Employers need to make certain that safety is job number one and insure incidents like this one never happen again.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Premises Liability / Slip & Fall.

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