Omaha Plant Explosion Lawyer

Were you or a family member working at International Nutrition when the sudden explosion and collapse of the building occurred?

You have valuable legal rights. You may have a claim for workers’ compensation or wrongful death with the help of an Omaha plant explosion lawyer.

At Inkelaar Law, our workers’ compensation attorneys have tremendous sympathy for all victims of this horrific incident. Our law firm has been serving the Omaha community for many years, and would like to offer our local support to all victims and family members. If you or a loved one has been injured or killed in the International Nutrition explosion, you may be entitled to compensation for losses and damages.

International Nutrition Plant Explosion

On Monday, January 21, 2014, part of the International Nutrition plant in Omaha, Nebraska collapsed after an explosion occurred inside the plant. At the time of the explosion, there were 38 people working. While most made it out alive, some did not.

There have been two confirmed deaths following the Omaha plant explosion, while over ten workers have been injured. One worker indicated that the building collapsed from the third floor down, causing the lights to go out, and pitch blackness to occur.

Previous Plant Violations

To most of the workers’ general knowledge, they may not have recognized that International Nutrition has been cited multiple times for “serious” violations by OSHA. According to OSHA, “a serious violation exists when the workplace hazard could cause an accident or illness that would most likely result in death or serious physical harm, unless the employer did not know or could not have known of the violation.”

Some “serious” violations OSHA cited International Nutrition for include:

  • In 2002, a man was crushed to death in a mixing machine – OSHA would fine International Nutrition $13,600 for five serious violations and a sixth discovered while investigating the man’s death.
  • In 2012, International Nutrition was fined $10,430 to settle six serious violations found during a planned inspection.

Following this incident, OSHA will likely perform another investigation of the plant, as the cause of the explosion has yet to be identified.

Potential Injuries

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), grain manufacturing is a high-hazard industry, as there is a large risk of grain dust igniting or combusting. Furthermore, over the past 35 years over 500 explosions have occurred at grain handling facilities, causing 675 injuries and more than 180 fatalities.

Following the Omaha plant explosion, family and friends waited outside the plant anxiously to ensure their loved ones were okay. Unfortunately, not everyone made it out without a scratch, while some remained trapped inside the dark and dusty building.

Some injuries that may have occurred during the plant explosion include:

  • Abrasions
  • Broken bones
  • Burn injuries
  • Collapsed lung
  • Concussion
  • Crushing injuries
  • Falls
  • Hypothermia
  • Smoke inhalation
  • Wrongful death

If you were a worker at International Nutrition at the time of the explosion, it is highly advised to seek immediate medical attention, even if no injuries are present. These medical documents may be used by our attorneys to formulate a robust case against the negligent entity.

Contact Our Omaha Plant Explosion Lawyers Today

Our attorneys at Inkelaar Law offer our condolences to the families of those who passed during this incident and offer our support to all injured victims and families involved in this horrific plant explosion.

The members of our legal team offer Free Case Evaluations and operate on a contingency fee basis, which means that we will not charge you for our services unless we achieve a verdict or settlement for your case.

To learn more about how our attorneys can help, we welcome you to contact us at 1-877-537-4665, or simply complete the Free Case Evaluation form at the top of this page.