The California Department of Water Resources is being slapped with a $141,000 fine in connection with a job injury accident that left five workers injured at Oroville Dam last year. According to a news report in the Sacramento Bee, the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (CAL-OSHA) has determined that five serious safety violations contributed to the accident, which caused a giant steel bulkhead to fail. That subjected workers to hurricane force winds in a valve control room deep inside the dam.

Several Violations Caused Injuries, Investigation Shows

The force of the water passing through the tunnels in the dam caused a suction force that also exposed workers to flying objects and risk of catastrophic injuries, drowning and death. Two workers were sucked over the edge of the platform and closely avoided drowning by hanging on to a damaged railing. One worker sustained serious injuries including a broken leg, broken arm and head trauma.

OSHA's investigators have determined that an energy dispersion ring designed to prevent exactly what happened had been removed two months before the accident. It was never replaced. DWR officials knew that opening the valves 100 percent without that ring would be dangerous. Still, they directed their employees to do so. OSHA also found that DWR failed to maintain equipment in the valve room properly and did not inform workers about new safety procedures. DWR is appealing the fines.

Claim for Compensation

My heart goes out to these workers who went through this near-death experience. I hope the seriously injured worker is recovering well. However, these types of job injuries can leave a worker unable to return to work for a long period of time.

In such cases, injured workers will be entitled to receive California workers compensation benefits. However, these benefits are just insufficient when it comes to covering seriously injured workers or employees who have been out of work for a long time because of those injuries. In such cases, an experienced California personal injury lawyer can help injured workers and their families look into the possibility of filing a third-party claim. This is a claim against a party other than the employer, such as a contractor, sub-contractor or manufacturer of a defective product. It could also include companies contracted for equipment maintenance that failed to do their jobs.

Please remember that there are time limitations to file such claims. The best personal injury law firms will always offer a free and comprehensive consultation to injured victims and their families.

We are not representing any of the parties mentioned in this article at the time the article was posted. Our information source is cited in the article. If you were involved in this incident or a similar incident and have questions as to your rights and options, call a reputable law firm. Do not act solely upon the information provided herein. Get a consultation. The best law firms will provide a free confidential consultation to "not a fault" persons named in this article and their family members.

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