The pedestrian, James Harris, spent a year negotiating with the city for a settlement. But Harris says that the city has yet to make a reasonable settlement offer, and he is now filing a lawsuit against the city of Houston and against McClelland.

Harris, a lawyer, says that the accident has left him with severe medical problems and has affected his ability to work. Harris writes with his right hand, which was badly injured in the accident and needs frequent surgical intervention. He is suing for lost wages, medical bills, and pain and suffering.

The accident underlines a greater problem: the dangers posed to Houston pedestrians. In spring of 2014, Houston was named the seventh most dangerous metro area for pedestrians in a report on pedestrian fatalities, according to the Houston Chronicle.  

The report’s author, the National Complete Streets Coalition, claims that better street design would alleviate many of the risks. But Harris claims that unsafe driving was the main cause behind the accident that injured him. His lawsuit charges that the city failed to properly train police officers to avoid accidents and asserts that McClelland failed to brake properly because he was using a cellphone at the time of the accident.

By Richard LaGarde

According to a recent drilling article in the Houston Chronicle, workers have no one to rely on for their safety or assistance in the event of an accident, not even the federal government. It’s a depressing commentary on the human condition when 60 oil rig workers die, one at a time, and it does not register as a warning flag. This observation came from no less that the former assistant regional administrator for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

It’s not news that onshore oil fields are virtually the most dangerous places to work. This fact was revealed in 2007, at the beginning of the fracking boom, by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSHIB), who revealed that 40 percent of the 663 riggers killed while working on rigs, died in Texas. 2012 was a bad year, featuring a ten-year high, with 65 deaths, 79 workers who had a limb amputated, 92 who sustained burns, 675 with broken bones and 82 crush deaths. These are grim statistics. Unfortunately, with the increased activity, particularly in the Eagle Ford Shale patch, the problem will only get worse.

Furthermore, the CSHIB study showed the federal government has done nothing for 22-years with regard to putting safety procedures and standards in place for onshore gas and oil drilling. These findings did not let the OSHA off the hook for their lackluster rules and regulations pertaining to safety. They are only mandated to launch an investigation relating to accidents that kill a worker or that resulted in three or more employees being sent to hospital. There were 18,000 work-related injuries in the past 6-years, and only 150 were investigated.

Perhaps it goes without saying, but bears mentioning as a reminder of the lack of government involvement relating to safety in the oil industry in Texas, that when the OSHA conducted an investigation, safety infractions and violations were cited in 78 percent of them. It’s not too difficult to suspect that the accidents that were not investigated were also caused by safety violations.

Instead of getting better, it appears safety procedures and standards rank dead last with the government. Hundreds of Texas families would disagree with this approach. Hundreds more workplace accident lawyers also find fault with this hands off attitude.

Perlmutter & Schuelke, LLP is one of the premier trial firms in Austin Texas. Contact a wrongful death attorney by calling 512-476-4944 or learn more at http://www.civtrial.com/.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) maintains a list of U.S. employers with severe and/or repeated violations of safety regulations: the Severe Violator Enforcement Program (SVEP). A major investigation by the Houston Chronicle revealed that several Texas oil companies with repeat violations and multiple fatal accidents in recent years have somehow avoided inclusion in the list.

In fact, according to the Chronicle, none of the Texas oil and gas companies with multiple reported fatalities is included in the SVEP.

The program was once called the Enhanced Enforcement Program, and the names of companies included in it were kept secret. But now, the SVEP’s intent is to focus attention on companies with “repeat” and “willful” violations, according to OSHA official Jordan Barab. However, many companies have avoided that attention.

The Chronicle noted that OSHA supervisors have considerable leeway in assessing whether a particular company should be included in the list. But safety experts interviewed, including John Newquist, a former OSHA administrator, said the omission of some Texas violators was problematic.

Enforcement of safety standards is critical to keeping workers safe. One important aspect of that enforcement is government oversight. But often – and especially when government oversight becomes lax – injured workers, their families, and the attorneys who represent them must also work to hold employers accountable for their actions. If you are injured or a loved one is killed while on the job, contact the attorneys at LaGarde Law Firm.

By Mary Ellis LaGarde