Gonzales County, TX — May 2, 2025, Justin Martinez died as the result of a work accident which reportedly happened off County Road 284.
Initial details about the accident say it happened off the corner of CR-284 and FM 794, south of Harwood.
According to OSHA officials, 33-year-old Justin Martinez was on the job, which involved tank cleaning. Due to factors unclear, Justin Martinez sustained fatal injuries. Authorities did not confirm a cause for the accident. However, OSHA did list 29 citations for alleged violations. The report lists all of the alleged violations as either Serious or Repeat. The inspection summary also shows a recommended penalty of nearly $500,000.
Additional details are unavailable at this time. The case status appears to still be “open.”
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
Just to be clear up front, this information comes from a preliminary OSHA online summary. The allegations are just that until proven otherwise, and any potential penalties may change depending on how the OSHA investigations proceed. With that said, even if every alleged wrongdoing surrounding this accident proved true, it likely wouldn’t make things open-and-shut. Let me explain why.
Put simply, Texas has the most complex work fatality laws in the whole country. Despite what many people think, there is not always an automatic process for getting a family much needed benefits. I have handled cases where an employer was subject to serious administrative penalties due to mistakes that led to a worker dying on the job. However, independent investigations and focused legal tools and strategy to ultimately get the family the help they needed and an opportunity to hold the employer directly accountable.
To put it another way, OSHA has their own priorities. They usually just handle their business and move on. Meanwhile, the family is left to navigate a legal maze, and there isn’t always a clear path to do so. A company could set records with the fines imposed on them. None of that would go toward helping the family get back on their feet after losing a loved one—oftentimes the person who puts food on their table.
So, these preliminary OSHA reports raise glaring red flags that serious mistakes surrounded this fatal work accident. OSHA clearly seems to be taking steps to see there will be some sort of answers for those mistakes. But at the end of the day, that’s just one part of the puzzle. Families in these situations deserve some assurance that their needs will be looked after and that they’ll be able to get a fair and just resolution. Whether or not those steps have already been taken here remains to be seen.
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