Mississippi Automobile Accident Attorneys Want You to Know What to Do if Your Vehicle Catches Fire

Automobile accidents are one cause of vehicle fires, but they are not the only cause. Did you know that collisions cause only about five percent of vehicle fires? Many vehicle fires are caused by the failure or malfunction of one or more of the vehicle’s mechanical or electrical components. Over one hundred and seventy thousand vehicle fires are reported in the United States each year, which makes vehicle fires a safety concern that every driver and passenger should know about.

Vehicle fires can start quickly and without warning. If you notice smoke coming through the air vents of your vehicle or flames or smoke coming out of the hood, find a safe place to pull over right away. Turn your car off, to stop the flow of fuel within the vehicle. Exit your vehicle quickly, and ask anyone else who is in the car with you to do the same. Do not open the hood or the trunk if you suspect that the fire is in one of those areas – increased access to air can cause a fire to burn even more intensely. Do not try to put the fire out – people are often injured when they try to put out vehicle fires, and some people have died trying to extinguish vehicle fires. Make sure that you and anyone who is with you move to an area that is at least one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet away from your vehicle and call for help. If you or the others with you do not have a cell phone, or if all of you left your phones in the vehicle, flag down someone driving by and ask them to call for help. Do not return to your car to retrieve items that are inside of it.

Some vehicle fires are preventable. Keeping your car, truck, or SUV maintained properly could prevent a vehicle fire. Check fluid levels regularly, and get any leaks repaired promptly. Many problems that lead to vehicle fires, such as frayed electrical wires or shorts in a vehicle’s electrical system may cause fuses to blow repeatedly or make a smell of burning plastic. As you are driving, be sure to look at your gauges occasionally. If your vehicle experiences sudden changes in the fuel or oil level or a sudden rise in engine temperature, that could be a sign of a problem.

When multiple fires are reported by people who own similar vehicles, the manufacturer of those vehicles must determine if a faulty component involved in the production and assembly of the cars is the reason that they are catching fire. If a vehicle manufacturer discovers that a component used in the manufacture of some of its vehicles is causing fires, the automaker must recall any cars manufactured using that part. They must then repair the affected vehicles with a part that does not create the risk of fire, at no cost to the vehicle owners. If you receive a recall notice for a car that you own, it is essential that you make time to have the recall work done as soon as possible, whether the recall is because of a fire risk or some other safety concern.

If a vehicle fire hurt you, we’re here to help. Call the Mississippi Automobile Accident Attorneys of Barrett Law PLLC at 1 (601) 790-1505 to arrange an initial consultation.

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Mississippi Workplace Accident Attorneys Talk About Caught-In-Machinery Accidents

A California woman recently lost her life in a workplace accident when her clothing became stuck in a machine. The woman was working at the Del Ray packing plant when the fatal accident occurred. She was employed as a contract employee for the plant for two years before her death.

The woman was working near a machine that breaks apart bunches of raisins, when a piece of her clothing became entangled in the machinery. Two employees who were working nearby shut down the machine, but she hit her head before it came to a stop. The woman died at the accident scene from the blow to her head.

Manufacturing and processing jobs are not the most dangerous jobs out there, but they are not without risk. One of the biggest dangers to employees working in manufacturing and processing facilities is the equipment they use to manufacture or process the goods that their employer produces. One of the most common types of workplace accidents at manufacturing and processing facilities is the caught-in-machinery accident. This type of accident can severely injure or kill workers, even if other employees working nearby see the accident happen and rush to turn off the machine. Many caught-in-machinery accidents happen when workers are not actively using a machine. Workers who service machinery are at work of being caught in it if the machine turns on while they are working on it.

Unfortunately, manufacturing and processing facilities are not the only workplaces where caught-in-machinery accidents happen. Landscape and logging companies, as well as utility companies, use tree chipping and debarking machines that can quickly amputate limbs or otherwise severely injure or kill people who accidentally become entangled in them. Agricultural workers also face the risk of being caught in many types of farm machinery at work. From balers and combines to the power take-off (PTO) units and driveshafts used to transfer power from tractors to farming implements, many moving parts can entangle workers, causing severe injury or death. The mining, construction, scrap metal, and recycling industries also involve machinery that workers can become caught in.

The ways that caught-in-machinery accidents can occur are varied. Some accidents happen when clothing or hair becomes entangled in the machinery, as happened to the woman who recently died at the raisin processing facility. Others become caught in a machine when they try to service it while it is running. Sometimes, a worker turns a machine off to repair it and then is injured or killed when another worker turns the machine on while they are servicing it. Other workers become entangled in machinery when they try to reach over or across it. Some caught-in-machinery accidents happen when workers fall into machines.

Prevention of caught-in-machinery accidents involves active participation by employers and employees to make safe operation procedures known and ensure that they are followed. Machines should be operated with safety guards in place. Workers who service machinery must be trained in the safe and proper procedures for doing so. These procedures may involve lockout/tag-out procedures and other safeguards against accidental activation of the machinery during service, and they must follow them to ensure their safety and the safety of others.

If you were injured in a caught-in-machinery accident, call the Mississippi Workplace Accident Attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC today, at 1 (601) 790-1505.

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Mississippi Personal Injury Attorneys Say Slip and Fall Accidents Can Be Dangerous and Even Deadly

It’s winter again, and the risk for slip and fall accidents is higher than it is at other times of the year. Slip and fall accidents are dangerous. They can lead to severe injury and even death. Last February, a college student died after slipping on ice on the campus at the University of Washington in Seattle. The young woman suffered a head injury from the fall and passed away at the hospital.

Winter weather in Mississippi is as unpredictable as it is elsewhere in America. There are dry days, wet days, cold days, warmer days, and all kinds of storms and patterns that make it hard for people to know what to expect when they go outdoors. The highly variable nature of winter weather can make it hard for building owners to keep track of the condition of sidewalks, parking lots, and even the flooring inside of their establishments. Try as they may, they might be unable to remedy every safety hazard promptly. This makes the winter season a time where people are more likely than usual to be injured in a slip and fall accident.

Slip and fall accidents can cause anything from minor scrapes and bruises to serious, painful injuries that require lengthy recovery time, physical therapy, and sometimes even surgery. Every part of your body can be hurt during a slip and fall accident, and some slip and fall accident victims also end up suffering from a concussion in addition to other injuries. Cold weather can make muscles tight, and more likely to be pulled or strained during an unpredictable or unanticipated movement like a slip and fall.

Fortunately, some slip and fall accidents are preventable. There are several things you can do to help yourself and others in your family to avoid slip and fall accidents. First, select appropriate footwear for the weather. While winter boots don’t look amazing with every outfit, neither do casts, bandages, and neck braces. Put on properly-fitting winter footwear before you go out the door. If you’re heading to work or your kids are heading out to school, make sure that you and they take along indoor shoes to wear while they’re inside. Stashing winter boots near the door or in another designated storage area at work or school can help keep water, snow, and ice off the floors and reduce the chance of a slip and fall. When you are walking outdoors, take it slow and maintain an awareness of what you’re walking on. That means put away the cell phone – people can and do slip and fall when they’re texting or talking as they walk.

If you do have a slip and fall accident, seek medical attention right away. After you have received any necessary medical care and you are moving forward to recovering from your slip and fall, you may wonder whether you can pursue financial recovery for your injuries. The Mississippi Personal Injury Attorneys at Barrett Law can help you determine whether you have a viable claim related to a slip and fall accident. To learn, please call our office today at 1 (601) 790-1505 to schedule a free initial consultation.

 

 

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Mississippi Workplace Accident Attorney Asks – Do You Work At One of America’s Ten Most Dangerous Jobs?

The end of the year comes with many lists, especially lists of the ten best or ten worst of just about anything. One of those lists is a compilation of the ten most dangerous jobs in America. The list is based on workplace accident, injury, and fatality numbers from 2018, and by now, you may be wondering whether your job is on it.

According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, over five thousand American lives were lost on the job during 2018. The number of lives lost at work is slightly higher than it was in 2017. Interestingly enough, a full forty percent of those fatalities involved transportation. Contact with objects and equipment is an increasingly common cause of workplace fatalities, causing thirteen percent more deaths than it had the previous year.

The tenth most dangerous job in America is supervising landscaping and groundskeeping work. Supervisors for these services often visit multiple job sites every day as they manage the teams that provide the landscaping and groundskeeping services, increasing the risk that they will be hurt or killed in a work-related transportation accident. Transportation accidents are the leading cause of work-related fatalities among groundskeeping and landscaping supervisors.

The ninth most dangerous job in America is also a supervisor’s job – supervising construction and extraction work crews. Again, transportation-related fatalities top the list of workplace deaths for this job, which involves a great deal of travel between job sites each day. Another significant contributor to workplace fatalities for supervisors of extraction and construction work is falls, slips, and trips.

Structural iron and steel workers have the eighth most dangerous job in America. Slips, trips, and falls were the most common cause of workplace injuries and deaths for structural steel and ironworkers, who often work at substantial heights installing structural components during building construction.

Farmers, ranchers, and others who work in agriculture have the seventh most dangerous job in America. Transportation accidents top the list of causes of injury and death for agricultural workers.  It is unclear whether those figures include travel between farms, using tractors, combines, and other farming equipment, or both. Most of the training that agricultural workers receive is on-the-job, so agricultural workers who are teaching newer workers how to do their jobs must emphasize safety during that training.

American workers provide valuable services to our communities and our nation. Without American farmers and fishers, our food supply would not be as diverse and accessible as it is, and we would be more dependent on other nations for food. Without American loggers, we would not be able to harvest our forests for the diverse assortment of wood products that many of us use every day. Every job on the list of America’s ten most dangerous occupations is vital to the success of our nation’s society and economy. When workplace safety is not the priority that it should be, American workers face on-the-job dangers that could hurt or kill them. If you were injured on the job, call the Mississippi Workplace Accident Attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC today, at 1 (601) 790-1505.

 

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Mississippi Workplace Accident Attorneys Discuss Line Work Accidents

A Florida man died in November when he was electrocuted while working on a power line. Co-workers attempted to perform CPR on the man, and he was transported to a hospital after rescue workers arrived at the accident scene. The man died at the hospital as a result of his injuries.

Line work is one of the ten most dangerous professions. This is not surprising, because line workers work with or near electrical wires, and they often work in rain, snow, and other severe weather to restore service to homes and businesses that have lost power. Even when there are no power outages, line workers are busy installing, repairing, and maintaining the electric and utility lines that bring power, telephone, television, and internet to businesses and homes. Line workers do a diverse assortment of tasks in their work, from trimming trees and setting poles to stringing wires, splicing and soldering cables, replacing worn or damaged components of the electrical and utility distribution systems, and inspecting and testing lines.

For every one hundred thousand people who work on utility lines each year, there are between thirty and fifty fatalities. In addition to workplace fatalities, line workers experience a high risk of on-the-job injuries. Electrocution is an obvious risk of line work. The risk of falls, fires and explosions, musculoskeletal trauma, confined space injuries, and stress-related injuries are also present on line work job sites. Electrical burns and mechanical injuries lead the list of the types of injuries suffered by line workers on the job. Some injured utility workers even lose limbs because of workplace accidents.

Many utility companies acknowledge the high level of risk associated with line work. Still, the injury and fatality rate for the profession is slow to drop despite their increased efforts to improve employee safety. While some companies have improved their employee training programs, others have not, and employees who are not adequately trained to perform this dangerous work pose a danger to others as well as to themselves because line workers work in groups. Sometimes, safety equipment is not maintained in good repair, or line work vehicles are not in good working condition. These issues increase the risk of a line work accident, as does the cumulative stress of working long hours, which often happens for line workers, especially during storms and widespread power outages.

A line work injury can keep you out of work for quite some time. Medical bills can pile up if you have to miss work while you heal, and you may face uncertainty about whether you will recover enough to be able to return to doing line work. If you were injured in a line work accident or if you lost a family member in a line work accident, know that you do not have to navigate the daunting process of filing a workplace injury or death claim alone. Call the Mississippi Workplace Accident Attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC at 1 (601) 790-1505 to learn more.

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Mississippi Personal Injury Attorneys Say Vaping Linked to At Least One Mississippi Death

Numerous illnesses and deaths related to vaping have been reported across America over the past few months. Unfortunately, Mississippi has not been spared the impact of this growing public health crisis. The state health department says that earlier this year, a vaping-related death claimed the life of a young Mississippi resident.

Many of the people who are being injured and killed in vaping-related incidents across America are young. The person who died from vaping in Mississippi was under thirty years of age, and there are at least four people in Mississippi who are between the ages of eighteen and thirty-four who have suffered severe lung injuries because of vaping. Vaping has been marketed as a smoking cessation method. Still, its safety and effectiveness are being called into question as more and more people who use e-cigarettes are getting sick. E-Cigarette companies are facing lawsuits related to their advertising, which is alleged to promote e-cigarette use by teens.

As of September 19, seven people in six different states were reported to have died as the result of vaping, and another five hundred and thirty reported vaping-related lung injuries. There is a nationwide investigation underway to assess the risk of severe pulmonary disease and lung injury associated with vaping. The risks related to using vaping products that contain THC may be more severe than the risks associated with products that contain only nicotine. It is important to note that all vaping products are likely to produce some degree of risk.

The investigation into vaping-related illnesses and injuries is proving difficult and complicated, as there are so many vaping products available from a wide variety of manufacturers. Adding to the complexity of the situation is the black market for e-cigarette cartridges, which makes it hard for investigators to determine what ingredients are in cartridges that were purchased on the black market. One particular ingredient, diacetyl, has been identified as a possible cause of vaping-related illnesses and deaths. Exposure to diacetyl can cause a potentially fatal disease called bronchiolitis obliterans. The chemical is widely used in the flavoring industry, and some food industry workers who manufacture popcorn and coffee, two foods that are often chemically flavored, have been found to have the disease. Diacetyl is a common ingredient in e-cigarettes, which is why it is being examined as a possible culprit in vaping-related injuries and deaths.

Public health officials are suggesting that people discontinue their use of all kinds of vaping products and get immediate medical attention if they experience any sighs of vaping-related illness or injury. Chest pain, shortness of breath, coughing, fever, vomiting, nausea, fatigue, and diarrhea are some of the symptoms that have been reported by people who have suffered vaping-related illnesses. E-cigarette sales have already been banned in at least twenty-eight other countries. Several cities and states are working on legislation that would limit access to e-cigarette products and pull flavored vaping products, which make the products very appealing to teens, off the market.

E-cigarette injury law is an emerging area of personal injury law. Some individuals who have been hurt or killed by e-cigarettes are pursuing litigation against e-cigarette manufacturers. To learn more about how our Mississippi Personal Injury Attorneys can support you in pursuing your personal injury claim, please call our office today at 1 (601) 790-1505 to schedule a free initial consultation.

 

 

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Mississippi Workplace Accident Attorneys Discuss Workplace Accident Risks for Plumbers

Every job has specific risks associated with it. Plumbing does not make it to the top of lists of the most dangerous jobs, but there are many ways that plumbers can get hurt or even killed at work. An Australian man recently died in the hospital from injuries he received when a pressurized water pipe burst and struck him in the head. The man was working at the iMax theatre construction site at Darling Harbour. This fatal workplace accident is currently being investigated by authorities, who are concerned about several workplace safety concerns that have been reported at the Darling Harbour site. Earlier this year, a Nebraska plumber died when the ceiling of the building where he was working on fixing a leaky pipe collapsed and pinned him under the debris.

Plumbers sometimes have to work on ladders or scaffolding to reach pipes and other equipment that are in high places. There is a risk of falling from a height when a plumber does a job that requires the use of scaffolding or a ladder. Confined space injuries are a job site risk for plumbers, who sometimes must go into pits, ducts, and other places that do not have a safe level of oxygen. Severe injury and death can result when a plumber is unable to breathe or becomes trapped in a confined space like a collapsed trench with no way to escape.

Some of the tools that plumbers use regularly are rather heavy. Pipe wrenches can weigh a lot. When a plumber uses pipe wrenches and other heavy tools frequently, the strain that their body experiences from that work can add up over time to produce repetitive motion injuries like muscle strains, back injuries, or soft tissue damage. There is a great deal of bending, carrying, and lifting, in a plumber’s typical workday, and injuries can result when loads are too heavy, or lifting is done improperly.

Sometimes, plumbers must work in areas where water and electricity are present near each other. That is a dangerous combination and can result in severe or fatal injury from electrocution. Plumbers use torches for soldering, and they can get burned by the torch, hot pipes, and even the solder itself. Soldering and working with plastic and metal pipes involves a range of chemical compounds. Some of the chemicals that plumbers use can cause severe damage if they get into eyes, and could contribute to illness or injury if used over the long term or without proper ventilation. Plumbers also come into contact with sewage regularly. Many serious and potentially fatal diseases can occur as the result of contact with raw sewage or soil that is contaminated with sewage. Hepatitis, E. coli, giardiasis, and encephalitis are just some of the illnesses that plumbers could be exposed to through their work.

If you are a plumber who suffered an injury on the job, call the Mississippi Workplace Accident Attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC today, at 1 (601) 790-1505.

 

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Mississippi Personal Injury Attorneys Explain The Benefits of Hiring a Personal Injury Attorney

The public often misperceives personal injury attorneys. Unfortunately, television dramas, social media, and other societal influences are doing little to dispel personal injury law myths or do away with the ambulance-chaser caricature. The worst thing about the widespread misunderstanding of who personal injury attorneys are and what they do is that it can prevent people who have a legitimate cause of action from filing a lawsuit.

Consider what would happen if personal injury attorneys really were the way they appear on tv. They would be unable to find any clients, and they would be unable to sustain their business. With many lawyers handling personal injury cases and many clients receiving compensation for their injuries, there must be something more going on. The practice of personal injury law is alive and well because attorneys have worked diligently to earn the trust of their personal injury clients by helping them pursue claims for damages in a way that supports their clients’ healing and recovery. Personal injury attorneys have the privilege of coming alongside their clients during a difficult time in their lives and helping them move forward after their injuries. Compassion, perseverance, knowledge, and experience are required to complete that task well. If you are injured, take time to meet with several personal injury attorneys and get to know them. There’s a good chance that you’ll encounter someone that you can trust to help you.

The public also scorns personal injury plaintiffs. If you were injured by someone’s actions, you might be able to file a claim for damages. That claim could hold the party who hurt you responsible for their actions while also providing you with compensation for the damages that you have experienced as the result of your injury. That’s a far nobler and much more accurate portrayal of a personal injury plaintiff than the bitter, resentful complainer that society so often portrays them to be.

All too often, injured people blame themselves for their injuries instead of acknowledging that another party may be partially or fully responsible for their injury. There is often societal pressure to “own your mistakes,” and while personal responsibility and accountability are essential, it’s also important to hold others accountable when they have not acted responsibly. For example, if a business has a legal responsibility to keep its parking lot and entrance safe and accessible. If a customer slips in the icy, unsanded parking lot or on the unsalted sidewalk, it is entirely appropriate to file a claim for damages against the business for failing to maintain their parking lot and entryway in a safe condition.

The Mississippi Personal Injury Attorneys of Barrett Law PLLC have helped a diverse group of plaintiffs and their families pursue claims for damages or losses in connection with many different types of injuries. To learn more about how our Mississippi attorneys can support you in pursuing your personal injury claim, please call our office today at 1 (601) 790-1505 to schedule a free initial consultation.

 

 

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Mississippi Workplace Accident Attorneys Discuss Workplace Accidents at Wood Pellet Manufacturing Facilities

Wood pellet stoves and boilers are fast becoming a popular way to heat buildings of all kinds. Manufacturing facilities that produce wood pellet fuel make various types of wood pellet fuel and sell it to their customers in bulk or bag it in preparation for sale to consumers through a diverse selection of retail stores. Every workplace, including wood pellet manufacturing facilities, has an array of different injury and accident risks.

A long-time employee of a Mississippi wood pellet plant died in a workplace accident this month. Fifty-five-year-old Johnny Dale Bishop served faithfully as the maintenance manager for years before he died in an early morning accident on October 25. Bishop was working on a burner bin when he fell several feet to the ground. The Monroe County Coroner reports that Mr. Bishop died at the scene of the accident. OSHA and several other authorities are currently investigating the fatal accident.

Wood pellet manufacturing facilities can be dangerous places to work. Proper training and safe work habits can prevent workplace accidents, injuries, and fatalities. Some risks are inherent in the production of wood pellet fuel. One threat to workers at wood pellet plants is the amount of combustible material in their work environment. If a fire or explosion occurs in a pellet manufacturing plant, it can get out of control quickly because of the amount of available fuel. It took firefighters four hours to contain the fire that resulted from an explosion at a Connecticut pellet manufacturing facility in 2013.

The dust produced during the pellet manufacturing process creates a risk of fire and explosion. In 2013, a dust explosion at a New Zealand pellet factory injured an employee. In 2011, a hundred firefighters worked for fourteen hours to put out a fire that started in the dust conveyor system of a pellet plant in New Hampshire.

As evidenced by the aforementioned Mississippi pellet plant fatality, fire and explosion are not the only risks employees of wood pellet manufacturers face during their workday. Falls from equipment and machinery can cause injury or death. The machines used to make and package the pellets can cause crush injuries and other types of injuries or fatalities from employee contact with moving parts. The equipment used to load and move pellets can injure or kill workers.

Wood pellet manufacturing facilities can be dangerous places to work. Unfortunately, so can many other workplaces. A job-related injury can keep you out of work and out of a paycheck for a while as you work through the healing process. Medical bills can pile up if you have to miss work while you pursue the medical care that you need to heal and return for work. The process of filing a workplace injury claim can be daunting, but you don’t have to do it alone. If you were injured at work, call the Mississippi Workplace Accident Attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC at 1 (601) 790-1505 to learn more.

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Mississippi Automobile Accident Attorneys Talk About Passenger Vehicle and Train Crashes

A thirty-five-year-old man died after a train struck his jeep. He was traveling south on St. Paul Avenue in Pass Christian, and the train was traveling west. The gravely wounded man was taken to the hospital, where he died from the blunt force trauma that he experienced in the collision. There were no other injuries or fatalities as the result of this wreck.

While reports about the fatal crash did not specify whether the accident occurred at a railroad crossing, drivers must understand how dangerous and deadly accidents at railroad crossings are and how frequently they happen. A person who is in a passenger vehicle that hits or is hit by a train is forty times more likely to die than they would be if the other vehicle involved in the crash were a passenger vehicle.

Nearly six thousand collisions involving a train and one or more motor vehicles occur in America each year. Many of those crashes occur at railroad crossings, while some of the wrecks occur in other types of locations that are not railroad crossings.

When you add the number of car-train wrecks to the number of train- pedestrian accidents, statistics show that in the United States, one vehicle or person is hit by a train approximately every two hours. That’s an estimated twelve train-related collisions every day. What’s more, the frequency of train crashes has been increasing since 1997.

Railroad crossings are dangerous places. Some intersections do not have any safety devices to warn motorists of an oncoming train. Some have safety devices that don’t work correctly. It is estimated that eighty percent of America’s more than two hundred thousand railroad crossings have inadequate safety devices. Over half of all train accidents happen at these unprotected crossings. Drivers must pay close attention to what’s happening around any railroad crossing they encounter and make wise decisions about when to proceed through the crossing.

Accidents at railroad crossings often look different during the day than they do at night. At night, half of all vehicle-train collisions occur when a driver of a passenger vehicle runs into the side of the train as the train is passing through the crossing. During the day, three-quarters of the collisions that happen at railroad crossings result from a train hitting a passenger vehicle.

While many things can cause a train crash, some of the most common causes of train accidents are recklessness, human error, and negligence. Reckless actions by drivers or pedestrians such as walking on train tracks or trying to speed through a crossing before the train cause some train accidents. Human error by the train conductor or signal operator can cause a wreck. Negligence by the railroad, an equipment manufacturer, or a government agency can also result in conditions that cause a collision.

If you were hurt or if someone in your family was killed in a motor vehicle- train crash, call the Mississippi Automobile Accident Attorneys of Barrett Law PLLC at 1 (601) 790-1505 to arrange an initial consultation.

 

 

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