Refinery Worker Files Suit Against Four Companies After Neck Injury

A refinery worker has filed a personal injury suit against four companies, alleging that he ruptured two discs in his neck after he struck his head on a pipe while climbing a scaffold.

According to the suit filed by Coy “Frank” Tyson against Huntsman Petrochemical Corp., The Brock Group, Scaffolding and Scoring Services, and United Scaffolding in Texas’ Jefferson County District Court on April 30, he was conducting thickness testing and a visual inspection on the pipes at the Huntsman Refinery as part of his employment with METCO Inspections at the time of the May 1, 2007 incident.

Tyson says that as part of his duties, he worked on the third level platform of a heat exchanger. He said that on the day of the incident, upon arriving at the site, he discovered that Brock had constructed scaffolding for workers to access higher levels of the levels of the heat exchangers.

Tyson claims the scaffold had been constructed in such a way that there was a one-half inch pipe behind his head as he was climbing. He claims he hit his head on said pipe while climbing.

According to the suit, the pipe line had not been marked and no warnings were present to make workers aware of an obstruction.

The suit says that Tyson struck his head with such force that he suffered two ruptured discs in his neck, despite wearing a hard hat.

Tyson claims the incident caused him to experience physical impairment, pain, suffering, lost earnings, and mental anguish.

The suit alleges negligence on the part of Brock for failure to construct the scaffolding without adequate clearance between the ladder and the pipe, failure to mark the pipe, failure to warn of an obstruction, and failure to safely construct the scaffolding.

The suit alleges negligence on the part of Huntsman for authorizing the scaffolding’s construction.

Tyson seeks unspecified damages.