If you got hurt while working at an oilfield in Texas, you might wonder what to do next. Can someone pay for your injuries? Think about how tough it is with all the doctor’s bills, the pain from your injuries, and not being able to earn money like before. You’re not the only one who has had to deal with this. Lots of other workers have been hurt at work too and they have asked for help to get money for their injuries. This could be because something was wrong with the equipment, there weren’t enough safety rules, or the boss didn’t take good care of the equipment or materials.
At Chad Jones Law, we know that getting hurt at work can upset you. We want to help you understand the difficult things about the law and fight for you to get the money and fairness you should have. Don’t let the confusing law make you feel worse. We’re ready to help you start feeling better.
Our team works throughout West Texas, including:
In Texas, people work hard in oilfields every day. But sometimes, accidents happen, and workers can get hurt. If this happens, you might have to pay a lot for doctor visits and you might not be able to work for a while.
In Texas, you have two choices:
You can ask for money to help with your bills through something called workers’ compensation.
or
You can go to court and tell them someone else should pay because they didn’t keep you safe, this is called a personal injury lawsuit.
Workers’ comp is like a commitment from your boss that if you get hurt while working at an oilfield, they will help you pay for doctor visits and give you some money if you can’t work because of your injury. You have to tell your boss you got injured within 30 days of the accident to get this assistance.
If you get help from workers’ comp, you can’t take your boss to court for more money for your oil field injuries. This might sound scary, but sometimes it’s better to tell a judge about your injury if you think your boss could have stopped the accident from happening. For example, if the safety alarms were silent or the emergency exits were hidden, it’s time to let the court know.
If you get hurt in an oilfield, you can go to court with a personal injury lawsuit. This is different from asking for workers’ comp. In a lawsuit, you can ask for all the money you need because of your injury. This can be money for doctor bills and for the pain you feel. You can also ask for money because you can’t do the things you enjoy anymore.
For example, if your boss didn’t follow safety rules and that’s why you got hurt, or if something like an oil rig blowing up happened, you might be able to start a lawsuit.
But when can you do this? You can start a lawsuit if your boss chose not to have workers’ comp insurance—something that’s not required in Texas—or if they didn’t care enough about keeping you safe.
In Texas, bosses don’t have to carry workers’ compensation insurance like in other places. If your boss doesn’t get this insurance, you might have to ask a judge for help to get financial compensation for your injuries.
If you get hurt at an oilfield, you might not know what to do. Should you tell your boss and get help from workers’ comp, or should you go to court? It’s a big choice! At Chad Jones Law, we can help you decide.
Chad Jones Law is a group of Texas oilfield accident lawyers who understand that these things can be confusing. We will talk to you in a way that’s easy to understand and we will listen to your story and look at all the details. We will explain your choices so you can understand them and make the best choice after an accident.
You might be thinking what makes these oil field accidents happen? There are a lot of different things that can go wrong, and they can be pretty dangerous for the people working there.
A big reason for accidents is when the equipment doesn’t work right including:
But it’s not only about machines going wrong; sometimes people make mistakes too.
When something goes wrong in an oilfield, people can get injured in lots of different ways. Some injuries are small, like cuts or scrapes, but others can be really big and serious.
People can get burns from fires or chemicals, break their bones, or get their muscles injured. If they get caught in machines, they might even lose fingers. Severe accidents can hurt someone’s head, back, or spine, and that can happen from explosions, getting shocked, or falling.
But not all injuries show up right away. If you’re around loud noises a lot, it can make it hard to hear after a while. And if you’re not careful with chemicals or things that can hurt your eyes, it could cause long-term or permanent effects.
If you’re an injured worker from an oilfield, you might wonder about who will pay for your doctor or how you can buy things if you can’t work. That’s when you might get money called compensation. Depending on what happened and the choices you make, you could get money for different things.
There are two kinds of money you can get. The first kind is for things you can count, like how much you spent on doctors and how much money you didn’t make because you couldn’t work. The second kind is for things you can’t see but still feel bad about, like being in pain, feeling very sad, or not being able to have fun like you did before the accident.
When you get hurt in an oilfield, you might need money or compensation to help fix things. This money is called economic damages. It helps pay for your doctor visits and the money you didn’t get because you couldn’t go to work. If you had to pay for your doctor or medicine, you can get that money back. This is for money that you spent and money you won’t get in the future because you can’t work right now.
You will have to show things like bills and papers that prove you spent the money on doctors. If you already got help from something called workers’ comp, where your work helps pay for the doctor, then you can’t ask for more money in court from your boss for these things.
When bad things happen at an oilfield and you get hurt, you might have some problems you can’t see but still feel. Non-economic damages are money for these kinds of problems, like:
It’s hard to say how much money these problems are worth because you can’t touch or count them. But they are very important, and a skilled lawyer at Chad Jones Law can help you tell a judge or jury about them so you can get the money you need.
Sometimes, people who work in oil fields have really bad accidents and pass away. If this happens, their family can ask for money to help them because they lost someone they love, this is called a wrongful death lawsuit.
In Texas, only certain people in the family can do this:
But you can’t wait too long. In Texas, you have to ask for this help within two years after the wrongful death.
If you get hurt in an oilfield accident, the rules and paperwork can be really difficult to understand. At Chad Jones Law, we know a lot about these kinds of accidents. We are dedicated Texas personal injury lawyers, working hard to help people just like you.
We think everyone should know what they can do if they get injured. That’s why we talk to you for free during a case evaluation to learn about your accident and tell you about your choices. Our team works throughout West Texas, including:
We are good at helping people and we want to help you too. We will listen to your story and work hard to get you the help you need. Remember, you’re not alone, and Chad Jones Law is ready to stand up for you. So don’t wait, call us right now for a free case evaluation.
In Texas, if something bad happens to you at an oilfield, you have two choices. You can tell your boss and get help from something called a workers’ compensation claim, or you can go to court and ask for money because someone didn’t keep you safe.
When you get hurt and need money, there are two types: economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages are for things you can count with numbers, like paying for the doctor or not making money because you can’t work. Non-economic damages are for things you feel but can’t easily put a number on, like if you’re hurting, really sad, or can’t have fun doing your favorite activities like before.
Yes, even if the accident was a little bit your fault, you might still get some money. In Texas, there’s a rule called “comparative fault.” This means that if the accident was mostly not your fault, you can still ask for money. But the amount you get might be less if you were also a bit careless.
