Carbon monoxide poisoning sickens dozens in Utah factory

An Illinois company will not be fined by state authorities in Utah after dozens of employees became ill from carbon monoxide poisoning in February.  Investigators determined that a contractor hired by the company to replace a flue pipe on an industrial washer did not use the proper materials in doing their work.  As a result, the replacement pipe corroded, allowing the carbon monoxide to escape and causing dozens of employees in the factory to become ill due to carbon monoxide poisoning.

A situation such as this is one where the injured employees have the option of pursuing both a worker's compensation case against their employer and a third party liability case aganist the contractor.  The theory of liability against the contractor would be that they did the work negligently, resulting in the carbon monoxide poisoning of the company employees.  However, because worker's compensation is a no-fault system, all that the factory employees would have to show is that they were injured in the course and scope of their employment, something that would be quite easy as their job duties brought them into contact with the hazardous carbon monoxide.