Refineries and Toxic Chemical Injuries

Refineries are important parts of the oil industry's viability in the American economy. While extracting crude oil is the more public face of the process that brings petroleum out of the ground and into automobiles, the full refinement process includes the use of several deadly chemicals. While the use of these chemicals has been limited and protected by safety procedures and facility lay-outs, the possibility of individual workers suffering from exposure is a real threat.
The threat from oil itself is that it can produce several toxic fumes that can severely harm the human body. In addition to these, there is a veritable catalog of chemicals used to refine oil, many of which are dangerous to humans. Sulfuric acid, a potent chemical used in the process, can disintegrate human tissue, burning away skin and muscle. In addition to this, sulfur dioxide can be found in refinement facilities. Chlorine can be found in a gas form in refineries, which is extremely dangerous to human beings. Chlorine gas has been used as a chemical warfare agent since the First World War, and it can easily kill or severely injure a worker. Among these and other chemicals, hydrofluoric acid is also used.
Despite the danger present with each of these gases and acids, refineries continue to use these substances to purify their products. Normally, safety risks are minimized under refinery policies and management oversight, but this does not mean that no accidents occur. To the contrary, refinery accidents are often highly publicized events, illustrating the dangers of the industry. In these cases, the workers themselves are often not found at fault, but rather, higher management and safety inspectors are blamed for unsafe conditions.
If you want to learn more about negligence in the process of oil refinement and existing examples of their human and financial cost, contact a toxic chemical injury lawyer today.