Oklahoma City Personal Injury Blog

There are some toys marketed toward children that just seem like fun. Like small rounded balls that grow in water. Surely children will like these. However, due to choking hazards and the fact these types of toys do grow when wet, Consumer Reports is warning parents that these types of toys are dangerous.

Right now on the market are Orbeez toys. These are similar to previously recalled Water Balz. These Orbeez are small and marble-like, and when put in water, each grows 100 to 300 times the original size.

An oil field worker in Stephens County, Oklahoma, was seriously injured after being crushed by a heavy piece of steel weighing several hundred pounds. It is believed the oil field accident happened when a chain or cable failed on a piece of equipment.

The Velma, Oklahoma, man ended up having to be taken by helicopter to a hospital in Oklahoma City. The Stephens County sheriff said when an accident happens of this magnitude, it is imperative to get the injured worker to a hospital as soon as possible, preferably within one hour of the accident.

According to a study out of Purdue University's Agricultural Safety & Health program, there have been more than 900 grain entrapment cases in the U.S. since 1964. Twenty-seven of these commercial grain facility and farm accidents occurred in 2011. That is nearly 50 percent fewer accidents than in 2010 (51 accidents).

Yet, even though we saw a promising decline in 2011, the number of grain silo accidents has been increasing over the last decade. Compare the 36 grain entrapment incidents in 2010 with 19 in 2002. The five-year average between 2006 and 2011 is 36.6 accidents.

As researchers note, the number of accidents recorded do not reflect the actual number of entrapments, which is much higher. This is because most grain storage facilities are not required to report injuries to employees and some employers simply do not want to report partial entrapments. There may be as many as 30 percent more accidents that go unreported.

An early morning crash last month left one woman dead and critically injured another on Oklahoma City's busy Interstate 240. A drowsy man driving a Grand Marquis rear-ended a pickup truck carrying four passengers, sending both vehicles careening into the barrier walls.