Two brothers, identified as 22-year-old Eladio Ramirez and Armando Ramirez, 16, suffered fatal injuries on the job after they were overcome by toxic fumes in a drainage tunnel at a recycling facility. According to a news report in the Bakersfield Californian, the fatal workplace accident occurred the morning of October 12, 2011 at the Community Recycling and Resource Company. Officials say Armando Ramirez was cleaning the inside of the drain pipe when he was overcome by fumes. Eladio Ramirez then went in to rescue his younger brother when he too was overcome by the gas later determined to be hydrogen sulphide, which can be extremely poisonous in large concentrations. A third victim was injured and treated.

I offer my deepest condolences to the Ramirez family for their tragic and heartbreaking loss. They had apparently moved from Mexico two years ago and worked for minimum wage. Tragic! Please keep this grieving family in your thoughts and prayers.

Lack of Safety Equipment?

Based on this news report, it appears that the brothers were given nothing more than painter's masks and rubber boots as protection when they were inside the drainage pipes. Relatives of the victims say the brothers has complained before about the strong odor in the pipes they were told to clean. Investigators with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal-OSHA) are looking into whether there were any safety violations here. U.S. Department of Labor officials are also looking into how the 16-year-old Armando Ramirez got a job at the facility and was allowed to perform such dangerous work.

Causes and Compensation Issues

With any job-related accident, there are several questions. Were the workers trained properly to do their jobs? Were they given proper safety equipment to help prevent injuries and illnesses? Were they supervised at the time of the accident? I trust Cal-OSHA investigators are looking into these and other issues in order to determine precisely what occurred here and why.

The victims' family in this case would be well-advised to contact an experienced Bakersfield personal injury lawyer who will stay abreast of the official investigation and ensure that the negligent parties are held liable. In such cases, families may also be able to file a third-party claim in addition to receiving workers compensation benefits from the worker's employer. A third party claim is usually filed against parties other than an employer such as a general contractor or sub-contractor whose negligence may have caused or contributed to the accident.