Chemical injuries can result in permanent harm or death to workers in a variety of industries here in Indiana and Illinois, where job site exposure to things like poisons and corrosives can result in immediate bodily injury or long-term physical illness. Of particular concern for safety agencies and advocates for injury victims and their families are the following worksites in our area, where workers face an especially high risk of severe harm or death as a result of accidental chemical exposure:
- Residential Construction;
- Commercial Construction;
- Trucking;
- Railroad and Train Freight;
- Steel Mills;
- Mines;
- Farming; and
- Manufacturing.
For more, read Forsyth, Elizabeth B. “Solving Widespread Toxic Chemical Exposure: A Taxing Job.” Virginia Environmental Law Journal (2011): 115-141.
Hundreds of Dangerous Chemicals on the Job
What are these perilous worksite chemical hazards? There are a great many different types of potentially deadly toxins and hazards used in modern industry. The list is long and continues to grow with industrial advances.
- Silica, for instance, is a growing danger for our mine workers and those working in various manufacturing facilities. See, Silica Injuries in Indiana and Illinois: Rising Danger from Deadly Work Exposure to Industrial Sand.
- Another example: pesticides used in our commercial farm operations, which cover a significant portion of state land in both Indiana and Illinois. See, Serious or Deadly Farm Accidents in Indiana and Illinois.
In fact, there are so many different chemical hazards today that the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) studies workplace chemical harm in our country, categorizing various chemical hazards according to their level of danger to the human body as follows:
- Anticholinergic Agents (Anticholinergic Toxidrome) – QNB (BZ)
- Biotoxins
- Blister Agents/Vesicants (Irritant/Corrosive – Topical Toxidrome) – including lewisite, sulfur mustard, nitrogen mustard
- Blood/Systemic Agents (Knockdown Toxidrome) – including hydrogen cyanide, and arsine
- Caustics (Acids) (Irritant/Corrosive – Topical/Inhalation/Ingestion Toxidrome) – including hydrogen fluoride (hydrofluoric acid)
- Choking/Lung/Pulmonary Agents (Irritant/Corrosive – Inhalation Toxidrome) – including ammonia, chlorine, and phosgene
- Convulsants (Convulsant Toxidrome) – including strychnine, and hydrazine
- Long-Acting Anticoagulants (Anticoagulants Toxidrome) – including super warfarin
- Metals
- Opioids (Opioid Toxidrome) – including fentanyl
- Organophosphorus Pesticides and Nerve Agents (Pesticide Syndrome, also called Cholinergic or Nerve Agent Toxidrome) – including sarin (GB), soman (GD), tabun (GA), VX, and fourth generation agents (FGAs)
- Organic Solvents (Acute Exposure to Solvents, Anesthetics, or Sedatives (SAS) Toxidrome) – including benzene, gasoline, and toluene
- Riot Control Agents/Tear Gas – including Chloroacetophenone (CN) and chloropicrin (PS)
- Toxic Alcohols
- Vomiting Agents.
Also read: Unprecedented EPA Releases of Previously Confidential Chemical Information For Increased Public Awareness.
Four Different Ways Chemicals Enter to Harm the Human Body
While there are hundreds, even thousands, of potentially fatal chemicals threatening the safety of workers in our country, there are only a few ways that these dangers can successfully target human harm. Specifically, there are four (4) avenues traveled by chemicals into the human body, each involving the chemical substance making contact and finding physical entry where harm can be instantaneous or subtle and slow. They involve:
- Breathing in the chemical (inhalation);
- Swallowing the chemical (ingestion);
- Touching the chemical (contact with skin or surface of the eye); or
- Injection of the chemical (foreign object transports the chemical into the body through puncture).
No matter the route taken, the result of the chemical contact is its introduction into the body’s blood stream as well as damage to other parts of the body, such as skin layers when the touch involves a chemical burn or lung linings when chemically contaminated air is inhaled. Read, e.g., Respiratory Protection: Deadly Dangers Facing Variety of Workers in Indiana and Illinois.
How fast the accident victim perceives chemical injury will depend upon the type of exposure and the kind of chemical involved. Workers exposed to asbestos through inhalation or touch may not be aware for many years of the probability of developing mesothelioma. In comparison, workers in mines and mills may be injured through chemical burns or inhalation where the harm is obvious and immediate.
Accordingly, employers are under the duty not only to understand the risks involved with each and every chemical on the work site which may cause damage to a human body, they are also under a legal duty to instruct workers on the dangers of chemical exposure and to provide all necessary safety equipment to block exposure to these job site hazards.
Justice for Workers Suffering Chemical Injuries in Indiana or Illinois
These risks cannot be underestimated. In the aftermath of a serious chemical accident on the job, the worker can perish from exposure to the chemical, or survive only to suffer lifelong injuries due to loss of bodily function (such as weakened lung or kidney capacity) or the risks of amputation; painful and incapacitating scarring (internal and external); pain and suffering; and psychological trauma and hardship. Chemical injuries can limit future earning capacity in addition to necessitating years of expensive physical rehabilitation and therapy needs.
Any instance of a worker in Indiana or Illinois suffering harm from chemical injuries on the job site must be given independent consideration in the investigation of the causes that resulted in the accident and its aftermath.
The state laws of Indiana and Illinois provide legal redress to the injured worker and his or her loved ones which may be provided by wrongful death laws as well as workers’ compensation statutes, alongside negligence, product liability, and other bases for liability involving one or more third parties to the incident.
For instance, if a chemical manufacturer failed to warn or instruct on the proper safety protocols, then that company may be legally liable for the chemical exposure accident under laws that are separate from any workers’ compensation action against the employer for injuries on the jobsite.
For more on the dangers facing workers on the job in Indiana and Illinois, read:
- The Increasing Danger of Dying on the Job: Fatality Risk Just Keeps Growing for Workers
- AFL-CIO 2021 Report: Shocking Risk of Dying on the Job for Workers in Indiana and Illinois
- Rising Trend in Workers Killed on the Job: BLS Reports Highest Number of Worker Deaths Since 2008.
Dangerous and deadly chemicals are commonplace on many worksites here in Illinois and Indiana. Today’s worksites continue to place workers at an unacceptable risk of serious injury or death. Please be careful out there!
