Major workplace accidents in Georgia over the last few years have exposed serious gaps in safety, training, and oversight. While each incident has its own facts and context, they share a common trend: people went to work expecting an ordinary day and never made it home. In this article, we’ll look at some cases side by side- the Gainesville, Georgia poultry plant nitrogen leak, the Hyundai/LG battery plant construction deaths, and the boiler explosion at Tyson’s Camilla plant. For these accidents, it is extremely important to identify the causes, examine who is liable, and figure out ways to prevent more of these accidents from happening in the future in order to keep workers safe.
Poultry Plant Nitrogen Leak in Gainesville, Georgia
In January 2021, a Gainesville poultry processing plant experienced a catastrophic liquid nitrogen leak that killed six workers and injured many others. A freezing system on a chicken processing line released large amounts of nitrogen into an enclosed area, rapidly displacing oxygen and causing workers to collapse in seconds. Federal investigators later described the disaster as “completely preventable,” emphasizing not only the severity of the leak but the plant’s lack of preparedness once things began to go wrong.
Investigations by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) and OSHA pointed to serious problems with the design and installation of the freezer system and associated piping. The CSB found that the system had been configured in a way that allowed liquid nitrogen to escape into the workspace when a line failed, and that critical safeguards, such as effective gas detection and automatic shutoff, either were not installed or did not function as needed.
From a liability perspective, multiple parties were drawn into scrutiny. OSHA cited Foundation Food Group and several other companies involved in operating and maintaining the facility for dozens of serious violations, stating that they failed to protect workers from known hazards associated with liquid nitrogen. In situations like this, potential liability can extend beyond the plant owner to include equipment manufacturers, system designers, installers, and maintenance contractors if their actions, omissions, or designs contributed to the dangerous conditions. Determining who is legally responsible often requires detailed technical and contractual analysis: Who designed the freezer? Who installed or modified the piping? Who was responsible for training and emergency planning? Each answer points to a potential share of responsibility.
At the design stage, systems using asphyxiating gases need inherent safety measures: robust piping, pressure relief, leak detection, ventilation, and automatic shutoff integrated from day one. Once installed, regular inspections and maintenance should be guided by a formal process hazard analysis, not just routine checklists. Finally, workers need clear training and drills on what a gas leak looks and feels like, how to respond, and when to evacuate instead of attempting improvised rescues. The CSB’s recommendations following the Gainesville tragedy emphasize these points, highlighting that when a process involves lethal chemicals, “business as usual” is never enough.
Hyundai/LG Battery Plant Construction Accidents near Savannah
On the other side of the state, a massive electric vehicle and battery project in Bryan County, near Savannah, has become another focal point for workplace safety concerns. Since construction began on the Hyundai-LG Energy Solution megasite in 2022, at least three workers have been killed and many more seriously injured in a series of accidents, including falls from structural steel and forklift-related incidents. These incidents occurred amid intense construction schedules and a heavily subcontracted workforce on a sprawling site that is central to Georgia’s economic development plans.
In publicly reported cases, investigators have pointed to issues such as workers falling from height, safety lines failing or not being used properly, and powered industrial trucks like forklifts being involved in fatal accidents. Unlike the Gainesville nitrogen leak, there is no clear indication in public reporting that a single defective machine or product was the root cause. Instead, the pattern that emerges is one of how equipment is used rather than how it was built: fall-protection systems not adequately planned or enforced, forklifts operating in conditions where people are working in close proximity, and an overall safety culture strained by tight deadlines and a multi-layered chain of contractors and subcontractors.
The question of who could be held liable on such a site is complicated by the number of entities involved. OSHA has fined specific subcontractors for violations involving fall protection and forklift operations, while the Hyundai-LG joint venture has received smaller penalties for documentation failures and related issues. In a civil context, injured workers or families may look to the immediate employer, higher-tier contractors, and the project owners, arguing that they failed to provide a safe workplace, adequate oversight, or proper training. The more layered and diffuse the contracting structure, the more difficult it is to determine who actually controlled day-to-day safety conditions.
Most of the reported incidents at the Hyundai/LG site trace back to well-known construction hazards: falls, struck-by incidents, and equipment operation in busy, evolving work zones. Those risks are not new, and neither are the tools to reduce them. Comprehensive fall-protection plans, strict enforcement of harness and lanyard use, engineered anchor points, clear traffic management for forklifts, and meaningful stop-work authority for safety concerns are all standard in strong safety programs. What these tragedies underscore is the gap between having rules on paper and building a culture where those rules are followed consistently, even when time pressures and production goals are intense.
Tyson Foods Camilla Plant Boiler Explosion and Fire
At the end of 2024, a poultry processing plant in Camilla, Georgia, operated by Tyson Foods’ Keystone Foods subsidiary suffered a deadly boiler-room explosion and fire. A 61-year-old woman who was resting in a truck outside the facility was killed when a collapsing wall crushed her vehicle, and several workers were injured as flames and smoke poured from the plant. The incident rattled the local community, where the plant is a major employer, and led to questions about how a boiler-room failure could escalate into such a devastating event.
Subsequent investigations by the U.S. Department of Labor concluded that a hose filled with oil in the boiler room ruptured, creating a mist that ignited and triggered the fire and explosion. OSHA cited Keystone Foods for a serious safety violation and proposed penalties, indicating that the company had not done enough to identify and control the hazards associated with its boiler systems. In this case, the faulty product appears most likely to be the failed hose and perhaps the broader design and maintenance of the boiler system. Whether that hose failed due to age, improper specification, installation error, or manufacturing defect is a technical question, but the fact that an oil-filled component could rupture and release flammable mist in an occupied industrial setting speaks to significant risk in how the system was configured and managed.
When an explosion like this occurs, liability analysis can extend across several layers. The plant operator, in this case, a Tyson subsidiary, is an obvious focal point, because it controls the facility and is responsible for maintaining equipment, conducting hazard analyses, and training workers. Depending on the facts, other potentially responsible parties might include the manufacturer of the boiler system, the supplier of the hose or fuel-handling components, and any contractors tasked with inspection or maintenance. If, for example, the manufacturer failed to warn about specific failure modes, or a service provider neglected obvious signs of wear, those facts could support claims that their negligence contributed to the eventual explosion.
From a prevention standpoint, boiler rooms demand disciplined attention to hazard recognition and control. That means choosing components rated for the pressures, temperatures, and chemicals involved; adhering to strict inspection and replacement schedules; and implementing monitoring systems that can detect leaks or abnormal conditions before they escalate. It also involves planning for worst-case scenarios with emergency shutdown procedures, fire suppression systems, and structural designs that minimize the chance that an internal blast will cause cascading damage to surrounding areas. The Camilla explosion illustrates how the failure of one component, in a space that may be tucked out of sight in daily operations, can have deadly consequences for workers and even for people who are technically outside the plant’s walls.
Workplace Injury Lawyer in Georgia
If your loved one has been injured or killed in a workplace accident, it is crucial to hire a Personal Injury attorney immediately. The McArthur Law Firm can provide the legal assistance you need to ensure your case is in the right hands, and you will be getting the best representation that you deserve.
McArthur Law Firm serves the cities of Atlanta in Fulton County, Macon in Bibb County, Kathleen in Houston County, Peachtree Corners and Lawrenceville in Gwinnett County, Marietta and Smyrna in Cobb County, Stonecrest, Brookhaven, and Dunwoody in DeKalb County, Albany in Dougherty County, Columbus in Muscogee County, and throughout the surrounding areas of the state of Georgia.
Contact one of our offices at the following numbers to start building your case. You can call our Atlanta Office at 404-565-1621
