Why Every Gas Explosion Victim Should Consult a Lawyer

If you were injured in a gas explosion, you should speak with an experienced gas explosion lawyer right away about your options for recovering financial compensation for your damages.

How is Negligence Proven in A Gas Explosion Accident?

In order to obtain financial compensation for your damages, you need to show that an individual, business, or other entity acted negligently. Establishing negligence is often challenging as four distinct elements must be proven. They are:
- Care: You have to prove that the defendant owed you a duty of care. A duty of care is a moral or legal responsibility to take reasonable precautions to ensure the safety of others. For example, a gas tank manufacturer or a gas utility company owes you a duty of care by making sure their employees are properly trained or that the products they sell you are safe to use in their intended manner.
- Breach: The second step is proving that the defendant violated their duty. For instance, if a gas utility company sends an untrained worker to repair a problem and the worker’s lack of knowledge causes an explosion, the company would be liable because they breached their duty of care.
- Causation: The third element that must be proven is causation, meaning you have to show that the defendant’s violation was the direct cause of your injuries.
- Damages: Finally, you must also prove that the accident caused your injuries. Generally speaking, these would consist of property damage and/or bodily harm. In some instances, emotional trauma also satisfies this requirement.

Proving negligence in a gas explosion accident is challenging. It requires the collection and precise organization of multiple forms of evidence. If you were injured in a gas explosion, it is best to enlist the aid of a qualified gas explosion attorney.

Gas Explosion Injuries Are Usually Serious

The most common injury caused by gas explosion accidents is thermal burns. A severe burn injury can cause excruciating pain and can leave the victim disfigured or with permanent scars, as well as psychological damage. Serious burn injuries often have long recovery periods.

Other common injuries caused by gas explosion accidents are:
- Lung damage: After being involved in a gas explosion, the victim’s lungs usually experience trauma even in the absence of any type of external injuries. Healing blast-related lung trauma can take months or, in some cases, years.
- Penetration by foreign objects: The force of the blast created by a gas explosion can propel loose and broken objects at a high rate of speed. Glass, metal, and wooden shrapnel can easily penetrate a victim’s flesh, skull, and internal organs, inflicting serious and even fatal injuries.
- Hearing loss: Also known as acoustic trauma, hearing loss can be caused by an injury to the inner ear due to the high-decibel sound of the blast.
- Traumatic brain injuries: A gas explosion accident can cause a foreign object to strike someone in the head, penetrate their skull, or cause the victim to fall, leading to an irreversible brain injury.

The most tragic gas explosion accidents occur when innocent people are killed because of someone else’s negligence. In these cases, a gas explosion lawyer can advise you on the process of filing a wrongful death lawsuit.

Who Is Liable For a Gas Explosion Accident?

The person or entity liable for your injuries and other damages will hinge on the circumstances of your accident. If your claim centers around a faulty product, like a water heater, you will have to prove that the manufacturer was negligent. If you are able to do so, then the manufacturer could be held responsible for compensating you fully for your damages.

Your claim could also be based on negligent training if an employer did not properly train the workers who were operating the equipment that caused the explosion. Trained workers are held to a higher standard of care, and when they fail to uphold that standard, they can be found negligent.

If you were injured in a gas explosion, you are likely eligible to file a personal injury lawsuit provided that you can prove the defendant acted in a negligent manner and that their negligence caused your injuries.