Oil Field Injury Law Firm in Forth Worth, Texas
Oilfield accident victims have options when equipment failure causes injury in Fort Worth.
Cooper Law Firm in Texas offers experienced legal assistance in complex cases that include catastrophic personal injury stemming from oilfield dangers, and related accidents caused by equipment malfunction. Texas is the top producer of natural gas and crude oil and the United States consumed over 18 million barrels of petroleum and petroleum products daily in 2020 employing a large number of oilfield workers. Personal injury cases leave victims feeling scared and unsure of what measures can be taken to help them through life-altering injury, or the loss of a loved one. Oilfield injury lawyers in Fort Worth at the Cooper Law Firm will help accident victims in Fort Worth Texas by utilizing relevant laws and the Texas Oilfield Anti-Indemnity Statutes to support case building efforts.
Equipment malfunction.
A common cause of oilfield injury is a malfunctioning component in the specialized equipment used to extract oil in Texas. Because of the explicit dangers of working in oilfields, companies have a legal and moral obligation to protect workers from avoidable accidents and toxic dangers in Fort Worth. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that oil and gas drilling industry workers are employed in some of the most dangerous jobs in the United States, citing the rate of injury associated with the derrick and rotary drill operators. Employees who have suffered a catastrophic injury while working can take legal action against their employers and the manufacturers of equipment when equipment failure is found to be a possible cause. Oilfield injury attorneys in Fort Worth can assist injured victims with a worker’s compensation damage complaint toward the recovery of needed compensation in an attempt to remedy injuries and harmful losses named in the oilfield accident complaint.
Standard safety operating procedures.
Drilling rigs may look different externally, but the internal components contain the same basic drilling equipment and fall under similar maintenance procedures for the:
- Power system
- Circulating system
- Rotary system
- Hoisting system
- Well control system
Oilfield lawyers are familiar with the industry terminology and mechanics of a hoisting system and the derrick which is the metallic structure that has four supporting legs resting on a square base. Oilfield machinery experts may be called in to determine if a system was in safe working order when an accident occurred. The derrick supports the weight of the drill stem when it is suspended and when it is in resting positions. If there is a malfunction within the derrick support, falling objects can injure employees, or cause their death. Operators need to be trained in the proper user technique of all specialized equipment and maintenance personnel need to make certain that equipment is in safe working order. When equipment such as rotary tables, the drill floor, a Kelly hose, or suction lines are damaged, the dangers to operators are increased and may include fires, explosions, or falling parts.
Responsibility of maintenance.
Rig worker maintenance crews are responsible to limit the dangers to workers by ensuring equipment is properly functioning. They are supposed to do this by performing thorough and routine checkups. Supervisors and maintenance managers owe employees the duty of patrolling work areas regularly to make sure there are no deviations from safety standards, and to check for naturally-occurring hazards related to weather changes, or aging equipment. Experienced Fort Worth oilfield attorneys can assist accident victims when deviation from work safety standards causes harmful loss related to electrocution, explosions and falls, or falling equipment injuries.
Working at an oilfield is a dangerous job, but it is not as risky of a work place as imagined when even if the minimum requirements of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) specific to that occupation are met. Deviations from standard requirements can lead to disastrous outcomes for workers, and negligence is often the cause for work site accidents at oilfields including gas pipeline explosions, industrial vehicle accidents, silica exposure, other chemical exposures, and collapsing rigs.
Work site accidents.
Oilfield workers are exposed to many dangers while operating heavy machinery, working with large unstable compression valves, toxic chemicals, and electrical components related to big rigging. Brain injury can result from falls, objects hitting an employee in the head, high voltage from electrocutions, and explosive blasts that may cause internal organ damage as well.
Catastrophic injury.
Injuries that result in a victim becoming permanently disabled are considered catastrophic injury requiring long-term care, physical and financial assistance. Accident victims are not the only people who suffer after a catastrophic oilfield injury. Entire families can suffer the devastating effects of losing a breadwinner, a father, a spouse, and partner. The negative impacts may be more than financial and The Cooper Law Firm’s legal team will pursue all available avenues to secure the damage compensation for each unique case.
Negligence.
Negligent parties to an oilfield accident can include a single worker, but more often there are shortcomings in inspections and maintenance that lead to accidents at Fort Worth oil refineries. Liability can fall on to companies, supervisors, equipment suppliers, parts manufacturers, or a parent company for failure to train workers, and/or individuals maintaining site equipment.
Wrongful death accidents.
Oilfield accidents are generally catastrophic events that can cause severe and lasting detriment through injury to workers including illness, broken bones, burns, brain damage and wrongful death. Wrongful death proceedings are more involved and require the assistance of a legal professional. Fort Worth wrongful death lawyers can guide loved ones of oilfield accident victims toward compensation to cover medical expenses incurred up to the time of death, funeral and burial expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and punitive damages.
Individuals who have been injured in a Fort Worth oilfield accident should contact a competent oilfield injury lawyer in Texas, who has successfully handled and settled many related cases with good results. Cooper Law Firm lawyers will work with accident victims, compassionately building a case and objectively speaking on their behalf in a courtroom, and filing workers’ compensation claims toward a comprehensive settlement award.
Cooper Law Firm
N. Eric Cooper
Address: 621 Hemphill St,
Fort Worth, TX 76104
Telephone ; (903) 297-0037
Toll-Free: 1-855-297-HURT (4878)
Facsimile: (903) 236-0035
Sources:
https://www.tdi.texas.gov/wc/index.html
https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.101.htm
https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.127.htm
