Many people know and love their Bumble Bee Tuna. What they tend to forget is the work that goes into canning their favorite lunchtime protein. A 62-year-old man, a father of six, had worked canning in the tuna plant for several years before he recently died in an unthinkable way.
News of the out-of-state industrial accident has made its way around the country due to its reported gruesomeness. According to reports about the fatal accident, the workplace victim became caught in a pressure steamer, was essentially cooked and then killed. Not even the victim’s family knows yet how their loved one ended up in the deadly machine.
There’s no doubt that working with machines such as the industrial sized steamer is dangerous. This worker, however, had years of experience doing his job. How could this accident have happened? Surviving family members of the victim want the answer to that question, not that the answer could bring back what they’ve lost.
Officials, including OSHA, continue to investigate the terrible incident. OSHA has six months to complete its investigation. Depending on what authorities uncover regarding the worker’s death, the family might find sufficient reason to file a civil suit.
If the machinery that the victim was working on was not properly maintained, for example, a family in this situation could sue for wrongful death. Though compensation doesn’t turn back time and erase what happened, it can take away some of the stress that a family is left with after their loss and bring them a sense of security.
Source: Daily Democrat, “UPDATED: Death at Bumble Bee tuna plant devastates man’s family,” Larry Altman, Oct. 15, 2012