Oilfield Injury Attorneys in Corpus Christi

What Types of Oilfield Injuries Qualify for Compensation?

Unfortunately, many oil and gas companies continue to put profit over safety, often resulting in poor supervision, faulty equipment, a lack of safety training, and worker fatigue. When accidents occur, they are almost always the result of negligence or intentional short cuts taken by oil and gas companies trying to save a buck.

Even when oil companies do implement proper safety training and procedures, contractors, equipment manufacturers, and other third-party entities can still act with negligence or intentionally cut corners — placing the lives of land rig workers, derrick hands, pipeline operators, roustabouts, platform workers, oil and gas truck drivers, and other crew members in danger.

Some of the most common oilfield accidents include:

• Blowout preventer failures
• Drilling rig collapses
• Defective drilling equipment, valves, and machinery
• Oilfield electrocutions
• Ergonomic hazards
• Onshore and offshore chemical fires
• Pipeline explosions and refinery fires
• Exposure to toxic sulfur hydroxide, carbon monoxide poisoning, or radiation
• Falls from the mast, drilling platforms, and oil derricks
• High-pressure line, pipe, or rotating wellhead injuries
• Oilfield vehicle accidents (trucks, aircraft, boating)
• Mine or trench collapses

Oilfield accidents can lead to any number of debilitating injuries, including amputations, bone fractures, severe burns, blindness, neck and spine injuries, hearing loss, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), permanent disfigurement, and traumatic brain injury (TBI). In most cases, maximum financial compensation is critical to full recovery and quality of life.

Am I Eligible to File an Oilfield Injury Lawsuit?

In general, oilfield workers are eligible to file an oilfield injury lawsuit against an oil company, contractor, or third party when the employer:

• Doesn’t carry appropriate workers’ compensation insurance: Most North Dakota companies carry workers’ compensation insurance. Texas law does not require all companies to carry this insurance. An experienced oilfield injury lawyer will be able to determine whether your employer’s workers compensation program protects them from civil liability.
• Hires a third-party who did not follow safety regulations: Any time you are injured because of a contractor, subcontractor, or other third-party’s actions (or inaction), you may be able to sue that party for damages to cover your losses.
• Uses defective equipment or machinery: If equipment or machinery isn’t working as it is supposed to and causes your injury, you may have a claim against the manufacturer or designer of that equipment.
• Contributes to your exposure to a toxin: If your personal protective equipment (PPE) is ineffective against silica, radiation, sulfur hydroxide or carbon monoxide, you may have a claim against the PPE manufacturer. You may also have a claim against your employer if your employer knowingly exposes you to a toxic substance without providing the appropriate PPE.
• Acts with extreme negligence or intent to harm: Perhaps a company refuses to give you personal protective equipment, or a supervisor intentionally knocks you off a mast. Many states, including North Dakota and Texas, allow crew members to sue their company for more than worker’s compensation insurance will pay when a worker’s employer intends to hurt them or acts with gross negligence.

As opposed to workers’ compensation claims where you just have to show that you were injured, to win an oilfield injury lawsuit, you must prove that your employer or a third-party contributed to your injuries. This is where an experienced oilfield injury lawyer is critical.

How to Collect Compensation for an Oilfield Accident

Oil and gas companies are powerful, wealthy entities that will utilize the best legal defense teams in the country to avoid paying the full compensation you deserve for your injuries.

Without an experienced, aggressive oilfield injury lawyer to support your claim, it can be nearly impossible to succeed against oil and gas company giants using popular defense tactics like:

• Claiming that you assumed the risk of injury when you signed on
• Saying you were at fault for your own injuries
• Arguing that you yourself made your injuries worse
• Asserting that your injury was not a direct result of any negligence or intent to harm
• Stating that you waited too long to file and violated the statute of limitations
• Hiding or “cleaning up” evidence you need to prove your case

Adding to the complexity of oilfield injury cases, statute of limitations deadlines can be short, and potential defendants can quickly start cleaning up evidence against them.

This is why it’s vital that you contact an experienced oilfield injury attorney as soon as possible. Your attorney will make sure you meet all deadlines and will immediately begin work with OSHA and industry professionals to preserve evidence for your case.

Always speak with your lawyer before signing any company paperwork or giving any statements about your injuries. Never accept any premature settlement amount. Never speak with claims adjusters, co-workers, or others who could be hired to collect evidence against you.

Make sure your oilfield injury lawyer has:

• Extensive experience in oilfield drilling and production lawsuits and litigation
• Access to leading U.S. expert witnesses (accident reconstruction professionals, OSHA inspectors, confined space experts, engineers, chemists, safety management experts)
• A solid track record of success in the courtroom
• In-depth knowledge of the oil and gas industry

Our lawyers have successfully represented oil crew members injured in numerous refinery, rig, and platform accidents across the Bakken, Barnett, Eagle Ford, and Haynesville Bossier plays, and the Gulf of Mexico, including injured parties of the 2011 Bakken Oilfield Explosion.

Our investigations are thorough, including extensive review of mud logs and IADC reports to identify the cause of an accident at its source — no matter what the company claims was at fault for your injuries.