Worker Killed in Accident at Shell Refinery in Port Arthur, Texas

It is being speculated that a “falling object” was responsible for the death of a worker at the Motiva Port Arthur refinery operated by Royal Dutch Shell.

The man died on Monday at an expansion project at the refinery. The victim was an employee of Becon Construction Company.  According to Shell which operates the refinery, it is investigating the cause of the man's death. Currently however, there is speculation that the man was killed by a falling piece of crane equipment.

The expansion project at the Motiva refinery will increase the refinery's crude processing capacity to 600,000 barrels a day in 2010. When construction is completed, it is expected to be the largest refinery in the United States.  There are currently 4,500 workers employed on the construction project. Another thousand workers are expected to join the workforce later in 2010.

During a time of rising unemployment rates nationwide, Texas is enjoying a high rate of growth, greater industry expansion, and more employment opportunities. No Texas work accident lawyer would argue with that. However, we can't just turn a blind eye to the fact that Texas leads the nation in the number of workplace deaths. In 2008, which is the last year for which accurate fatality rates are available, there were 457 workplace deaths in Texas. We were ahead of California, which was at second place on the list, by 53 fatalities. Between 2008 and 2009, five people died in workplace accidents in southeast Texas alone.

That is a dismal record by any standards. As Texas industrial accident attorneys, we don't believe that people in Texas should be dying simply because they want to work.