LNG export terminals and liquefaction facilities are massive industrial construction projects. Building or expanding one can require thousands of workers, dozens of contractors, heavy equipment, cranes, scaffolds, electrical systems, excavation work, structural steel, piping, welding, and large-scale material deliveries. Much of that work may occur at the same time and within a relatively confined industrial site.
Those conditions create significant risks for workers. An LNG construction accident may involve a fall from height, a crane or rigging failure, heavy equipment, an electrical incident, a fire, falling materials, vehicle traffic, or an unsafe interaction between contractors performing different tasks.
Workers injured during LNG construction may also face complicated questions about responsibility. The company issuing the worker’s paycheck may be only one of several companies controlling the project, the work area, the equipment, or the activity that caused the injury.
An LNG plant accident lawyer investigating a serious construction injury may therefore need to examine the roles of the facility owner, general contractor, engineering and construction companies, subcontractors, equipment providers, and other entities involved in the project.
Why LNG Construction Projects Present Unique Risks
An LNG facility is not an ordinary commercial construction project.
These sites combine traditional construction activities with the installation of highly specialized industrial systems. Workers may be erecting structural steel in one area while other crews install large-diameter piping, compressors, electrical systems, tanks, process equipment, or marine infrastructure nearby.
The size of an LNG project can also mean that numerous companies are working simultaneously. One contractor may control cranes. Another may perform electrical work. A different company may erect scaffolding. Other crews may handle excavation, welding, concrete work, instrumentation, or mechanical installation.
As the project progresses, completed systems may begin testing or commissioning while construction continues elsewhere. The hazards therefore change throughout the life of the project.
Some of the most significant risks encountered during LNG plant construction include:
- falls from elevated structures, ladders, scaffolds, and work platforms;
- workers struck by cranes, suspended loads, vehicles, equipment, or falling materials;
- electrical shock, electrocution, or arc flash incidents;
- excavator, loader, forklift, and other heavy-equipment accidents;
- fires and explosions during welding, cutting, or other hot work;
- trench collapses;
- crush injuries involving equipment, pipe, steel, or prefabricated modules; and
- accidents caused by poor coordination between multiple contractors.
Each of these hazards requires planning and supervision. When several hazards exist in the same work area, failures in communication or coordination can expose workers who had no role in creating the dangerous condition.
Heavy Equipment Accidents During LNG Construction
Heavy equipment is essential to LNG construction.
Excavators, loaders, bulldozers, telehandlers, forklifts, haul trucks, and other machines may operate throughout the site. Workers on foot frequently perform their jobs near these machines, which creates struck-by, caught-between, and crushing hazards.
Some of the most significant construction equipment hazards arise when operators have limited visibility or when workers enter areas where equipment is moving.
Backing equipment presents a particular danger. A backover accident can occur when an operator cannot see a worker behind the machine or when a project lacks adequate spotters, traffic controls, alarms, or designated pedestrian routes.
Large LNG construction sites can make these hazards more difficult to control because equipment may operate alongside delivery vehicles, contractor trucks, material staging areas, and workers traveling between different parts of the project.
An LNG construction accident lawyer may investigate site traffic plans, equipment inspections, operator qualifications, spotter requirements, and whether workers were properly separated from moving machinery.
Crane and Rigging Hazards
LNG projects often require extremely large and complicated lifts.
Cranes may be used to install structural components, process equipment, pipe racks, vessels, prefabricated modules, and other heavy materials. Some components can weigh many tons and require detailed lift planning.
Crane accidents can occur when loads are improperly rigged, equipment is overloaded, communication breaks down, ground conditions are inadequate, or workers enter the fall zone beneath a suspended load.
Safe crane safety requires more than simply having a qualified operator. Lift planning, rigging, signaling, equipment inspections, load control, and coordination with surrounding work are all important.
Workers can be injured even when they are not part of the crane crew. A dropped load or uncontrolled swing can strike workers performing unrelated tasks nearby.
Major LNG projects may also rely on multiple cranes operating in different areas of the site. An LNG plant accident attorney investigating a crane injury may need to determine who planned the lift, who controlled the crane operation, who supplied the rigging, and whether the surrounding work area was properly protected.
Falls From Height
LNG construction frequently requires work at substantial elevations.
Workers may perform tasks on structural steel, pipe racks, tanks, scaffolding, temporary platforms, ladders, or other elevated surfaces. Falls can result in traumatic brain injuries, spinal injuries, fractures, internal injuries, or death.
Proper planning should account for the importance of fall protection before elevated work begins.
The specific protection required depends on the work being performed and the environment. Guardrails, personal fall-arrest systems, controlled access areas, properly constructed scaffolds, safe ladders, and appropriate anchor points can all play a role.
Fall risks can also develop when construction conditions change. Openings may be created in floors or platforms. Temporary barriers may be removed. Access routes may change as equipment is installed. Work surfaces can become cluttered with tools, materials, hoses, or cables.
A worker may therefore encounter a dangerous condition created by another contractor hours or even minutes earlier.
Falling Materials and Dropped Objects
Construction above other workers creates another serious hazard.
Tools, pipe, steel, fittings, bolts, construction materials, and equipment can fall from elevated work areas. Larger materials may also become dislodged during lifting or installation.
Even relatively small objects can cause devastating injuries when they fall from significant heights.
Companies performing elevated work should account for the danger of falling debris and protect workers below through barricades, controlled access, tool tethering, proper material storage, and other appropriate measures.
An LNG plant accident lawyer investigating a dropped-object incident may examine which contractor controlled the elevated work, whether the area below should have been restricted, and whether materials were adequately secured.
Electrical Accidents During LNG Facility Construction
An LNG facility requires extensive electrical infrastructure.
Construction may include substations, transformers, switchgear, cabling, temporary power systems, control equipment, and numerous electrical installations throughout the site.
Electrical risks may increase as a project approaches completion. Some systems may become energized while other construction continues nearby. Workers who previously encountered de-energized equipment may suddenly be operating in an environment containing live electrical systems.
Temporary electrical systems can create additional dangers if equipment is damaged, improperly installed, inadequately grounded, or exposed to water or other harsh conditions.
Construction activity near overhead electrical lines may also create serious hazards. Cranes, lifts, long materials, and equipment can contact energized conductors. The risk of power lines should be identified before equipment is operated nearby.
Electrical accidents can result in electrocution, severe burns, arc flash injuries, falls, fires, and secondary injuries.
Excavation and Underground Work
Before an LNG facility can operate, substantial underground infrastructure may need to be installed.
Construction can require trenches and excavations for pipelines, utilities, drainage, foundations, electrical systems, and other infrastructure. Heavy equipment may operate close to workers performing excavation work.
Excavator risks include struck-by incidents, equipment rollovers, utility strikes, workers caught between machinery and fixed objects, and injuries caused by swinging buckets or attachments.
Excavations can also introduce collapse hazards, water accumulation, unstable soil, hazardous atmospheres, and dangerous access conditions.
When excavation work is involved, an investigation may need to determine who designed the excavation, who inspected it, who operated nearby equipment, and which company controlled the work area.
Fire and Hot Work Hazards During Construction
LNG construction includes significant amounts of welding, cutting, grinding, and other hot work.
These activities can ignite combustible materials or flammable vapors when proper precautions are not taken. The risk of fire can increase as a project moves toward commissioning and more process systems become active.
Hot work may occur near insulation, temporary materials, coatings, piping, equipment, or other combustible substances. Sparks can also travel beyond the immediate work area.
A proper hot work permit process can require an assessment of the surrounding area, fire watches, removal or protection of combustible materials, atmospheric testing, and other safeguards.
When a construction fire occurs, investigators may need to determine whether work was properly authorized and whether conditions changed after the permit was issued.
Weather Can Affect LNG Construction Safety
Large LNG projects often involve extensive outdoor work.
High winds can affect cranes, suspended loads, scaffolds, elevated workers, temporary structures, and unsecured materials. Rain can make walking and working surfaces slippery and affect ground conditions beneath heavy equipment.
The severe weather common along portions of the Gulf Coast can create additional challenges for projects involving large structures and outdoor lifting operations.
Safe construction requires monitoring weather and having clear criteria for stopping work when conditions become dangerous.
Production schedules and project deadlines should not override worker safety when winds, lightning, storms, or other weather conditions make a job unsafe.
Contractor Coordination Is Critical on LNG Projects
One of the defining characteristics of LNG construction is the number of companies working on the same project.
A worker may be employed by one subcontractor while another contractor controls the equipment, another company controls the work area, and the general contractor coordinates the overall project.
That creates opportunities for hazards to cross company lines.
An electrical contractor may energize equipment affecting another crew. A crane contractor may lift materials above workers employed by someone else. One company may remove a barricade protecting an opening. Another may create an excavation along an access route used by multiple trades.
These situations can raise questions of third-party liability when a company other than the injured worker’s direct employer creates or controls the dangerous condition.
An LNG plant construction accident lawyer may review contracts, safety responsibilities, daily reports, work permits, job safety analyses, supervision records, and testimony from workers to determine which company actually controlled the activity involved.
Preserving Evidence After an LNG Construction Accident
Large construction sites can change rapidly after an accident.
Equipment may be moved. Materials may be removed. Barricades may be installed after the fact. A damaged machine may be repaired. A work area can look completely different only days later.
Relevant evidence may include photographs, surveillance footage, site plans, equipment records, inspection documents, lift plans, work permits, safety meetings, job safety analyses, contractor agreements, incident reports, electronic communications, and witness statements.
Video can be particularly important on large industrial construction sites because fixed cameras may capture the work area or activity involved.
Prompt investigation can help identify and preserve that information before it disappears.
The broader risks associated with these facilities are discussed in our article about an LNG plant accident.
Serious Injuries From LNG Construction Accidents
Construction accidents at LNG facilities can result in devastating injuries.
Falls, dropped objects, crane accidents, equipment incidents, electrical contact, fires, and crushing events can cause traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injuries, crush injuries, burns, amputations, fractures, and internal injuries.
Workers who survive catastrophic accidents may require surgery, rehabilitation, long-term treatment, and substantial future medical care.
Some may never be able to return to the physically demanding industrial or construction work they performed before the accident.
In fatal cases, families may also have claims arising from the loss of their loved one.
Speak With an LNG Plant Construction Accident Lawyer
LNG projects bring together some of the most dangerous activities in industrial construction. Heavy equipment, cranes, electrical systems, scaffolding, excavation, elevated work, welding, and multiple contractors may all operate within the same project.
When someone is seriously injured, determining what went wrong often requires looking beyond the injured worker’s immediate employer.
An LNG plant accident lawyer can investigate which companies controlled the work, preserve important evidence, evaluate contractor responsibilities, and determine whether another company contributed to the incident.
Spagnoletti Law Firm represents workers and families affected by serious construction and industrial accidents. If you or a loved one has been impacted by an LNG plant construction accident, call us.
Contact Spagnoletti Law Firm at 713-804-9306 or contact us online for a free consultation.
We handle personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning our clients do not owe attorney’s fees unless we recover compensation for them.