A hearing scheduled for today to decide if an injunction would remain in effect regarding the death of a chemical plant foreman in Tyrone last Friday has been postponed.
\nMichael Rosenzweig, an attorney for the family of Lee H. Henninger, told The Daily Herald the hearing before Blair County Judge Daniel Milliron was postponed after his law firm worked out an agreement with Albemarle Corp. to allow a chemical engineer to inspect equipment and the area where Henninger was working when he was exposed to a chemical while troubleshooting a flow problem in a line. A petition for the injunction was filed earlier week and Judge Milliron granted it. Mr. Henninger\u2019s family is also being represented by attorneys Cary Valyo and Nathaniel Smith, they along with Rosenzweig work for Edgar Snyder and Associates.
\nPlant manager Randy Andrews said the company followed standard protocol after the incident. Henninger went to an eyewash station followed by a showering procedure and a company physician examined him. He was reevaluated later in the day by a physician and was cleared to return to work for the Friday third shift at 11 p.m. Mr. Henninger died at his home and the company received word of his death about 7:30 on Friday evening.
\nThe chemical thiophosphoryl chloride contacted Henninger\u2019s face under his protective equipment. The attorneys hired by his family have indicated Henninger inhaled the chemical and it went into his lungs.
\nRosenzweig said the petition for the injunction was filed after talking to witnesses and the family. He said, \u201cit is our understanding that (the inhalation) is what the coroner is looking at.\u201d
\nDeputy Coroner Jeff Guyer handled the case and an autopsy was conducted last week. The cause of Henninger\u2019s death remains undetermined and further tests were done. Rosenzwieg noted the effects of exposure to the chemical can result in death and the effects can be delayed. The effects can include respiratory failure or death from entrance into the bloodstream.
\nRosenzweig explained why an injunction was sought on behalf of the family prior to the agreement being worked out yesterday. He explained that when a workeR is injured or dies, they or their families don\u2019t have access to the work site.
\n\u201cWe seek the protection of the court and ask the court to allow us to have access and seek to have the employer preserve the scene,\u201d said Rosenzweig.
\nHe said there are multiple potential causes in this type of case. He explained his firm wants to look at the supplier or manufacturer of the fitting valves, hoses and tanks that were in use at the time of the mishap to determine if there was anything faulty in design or otherwise. Rosenzweig said they also want to look at the supplier or manufacturer of the chemical to learn if they warned or instructed those who come in contact with it about its effects or how to avoid the effects of exposure to it. The attorneys also want to take a look at the safety equipment to determine if there were any issues with its supplier or manufacturer.
\nRosenzweig noted, \u201cWe are not talking about Albemarle, we are talking about a potentially defective product. We assume Albemarle used all proper care.\u201d
\nHe explained evidence can be short lived or what he termed \u201cperishable evidence.\u201d Rosenzweig said, \u201cWe try our best to preserve that perishable evidence.\u201d
\nThe engineer hired by the attorneys is scheduled to visit the Albemarle plant in the Tyrone Industrial Park sometime next week. Meanwhile, Albemarle has conducted its own internal investigation and has been working with the Occupational Safety & Health Administration. OSHA officials were at the plant earlier this week as part of their investigation and were due back at the plant today to conduct interviews.
\nThe company had previously said through plant manager Andrews, that they would do whatever they are asked to do regarding the investigation of the incident. Earlier this week, Andrews said the company had already preserved the scene and the equipment, which is standard procedure whenever there is an investigation into an incident.
\nHenninger had worked at Albemarle for more than 20 years. The company has offered grief counseling for employees and their family members and time off for any employee who might request it. The plant employs about 180 people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A hearing scheduled for today to decide if an injunction would remain in effect regarding the death of a chemical plant foreman in Tyrone last Friday has been postponed. Michael Rosenzweig, an attorney for the family of Lee H. Henninger, told The Daily Herald the hearing before Blair County Judge Daniel Milliron was postponed after […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41485\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}