Our lawyers know first hand the dangers associated with the oilfield work environment. Although oilfield technology has dramatically improved over the years, the oil and gas industry remains tradition bound and as a result, safety considerations have lagged behind technology. Most oilfield accidents and injuries are the result of either catastrophic equipment failure or lack of communication between rig operators, oil field workers and heavy equipment operators.
If you or a loved one has been injured or if a family member has been killed as a result of an oilfield accident, do not hesitate to call an oilfield injury lawyer at Nadrich & Cohen to discuss your case. Even if the employer carries workers’ compensation insurance, many times third parties bear responsibility for the injuries and the only way to determine if you have a viable claim is through consulting with the oilfield injury lawyers at Nadrich & Cohen. In addition, sometimes the insurance company doesn’t want to pay, but our oilfield accident attorneys can make them. With personal experience in the “oil patch”, Nadrich & Cohen has represented injured oilfield workers and their families. We have a working knowledge of the work practices and the hazards which oilfield workers face.
Please immediately call an experienced oilfield injury lawyer at Nadrich & Cohen, text us from this page or complete the contact form on this page for a free consultation. We never collect a fee for our services unless a recovery is made. Call now to speak with one of our experienced oil rig accident attorneys.
What Compensation Can An Oilfield Injury Lawyer Recover For Me After An Oilfield Accident?
Oilfield accident injuries often lead to many forms of compensation which oilfield accident lawyers can recover for injured workers. This includes compensation for:
Medical Bills
The costs of medical treatment are usually the largest part of any recovery for someone injured in an oilfield. Our personal injury lawyers can help you recover compensation for any past or future medical expenses related to your accident, even if you suffered severe injuries.
Lost Wages
Common oilfield injuries like burns and fractures can leave workers unable to work for quite some time, causing them to lose out on wages. Workers for oil companies might also have to take time off from work to attend medical treatments. Our oilfield injury attorneys can help you recover compensation for any wages you miss out on due to your accident.
Loss Of Earning Capacity
Serious injuries can happen while working for an oil company, such as traumatic brain injuries or other injuries which can leave workers disabled. If you are no longer able to work or no longer able to do the job you used to, an oil field injury lawyer at Nadrich & Cohen can help you recover compensation for your loss or reduction of earning capacity.
Pain And Suffering
One common form of damages in a personal injury claim is pain and suffering. You may qualify for compensation for your physical pain, as well as your mental suffering such as post-traumatic stress disorder.
Wrongful Death
If you lost a loved one to an oil field accident, we can help you recover compensation for the loss of your loved one’s companionship, love, income and household services. We can also help you recover compensation for your loved one’s burial costs, funeral costs, medical bills, pain and suffering.
What Should I Do After Oilfield Accidents?
Oil field accidents can be traumatic and jarring. It’s normal for you to be shaken up and dazed after one. After gaining your composure, though, you need to take certain steps to make sure you are safe and increase your chances of successfully recovering compensation for your injuries:
Tell Your Supervisor All About Your Accident
You need to do this as soon as you can. If you don’t, you might get fired. This may mean you would be ineligible to be compensated afterward. Be thorough and detailed when describing the accident to your supervisor. Tell your supervisor about any injuries, even minor ones, as minor ones can become major ones later on.
Immediately Seek Medical Treatment
It’s very important that you have even minor injuries treated immediately. This is because you need your injuries documented. Failure to have your injuries documented immediately could lead to an insurance company claiming something other than your accident caused your injuries.
Hire Experienced Oilfield Injury Lawyers
It’s important that you do so before you accept a settlement offer, make a statement or sign paperwork. Your attorney will assist you in evaluating the value of your claim to make sure you receive all of the financial compensation you’re entitled to.
Common Causes Of Oil Field Injuries
Injuries in oil fields often result because of a culture emphasizing greed and speed. This culture often results in workers in oil fields being given inadequate or non-existent safety instruction, ignoring safety protocols which are industry standards, using inadequate equipment and learning to take shortcuts when it comes to safety.
Serious, even fatal injures can happen in oil fields for many reasons. Oil field accidents often occur because:
- The chain of command is not followed
- There aren’t enough employees so not enough employees are around at job sites to make sure work is being done safely
- Unsafe work environments are created by badly maintained machinery or defective equipment
- Workers are pressured to complete jobs on time at all costs by drilling schedules set by the oil industry
- Employees are overworked and thus take shortcuts to get their jobs done more quickly
- Workers don’t know enough about the circumstances surrounding them due to language barriers
- Workers fail to recognize hazards and communicate properly about hazards, leading to explosions and being exposed to hazardous gases
- Workers are put in danger by the poorly trained workers around them
Common Types Of Oil Field Accidents
Drilling for oil can be a very dangerous job when safety is not taken seriously enough. Common types of oil field accidents include:
Explosions And Fires
The most common accidents which occur in oil fields are explosions and fires. It is common for combustible gases to escape during drilling. These gases can explode when they react with the air. It is also common for welding and cutting to occur in oil fields. When these activities occur near combustible gases, explosions and fires can be the result.
Electrocution
Water and chemicals can conduct electricity very well. Water and chemicals are often present on oil rigs. Water and chemicals can make simple tasks like changing lightbulbs quite risky. Oil field workers need to always wear electrical insulation to avoid being electrocuted. Workers should regularly perform safety inspections of any and all electrical equipment.
Falls
It is common for oil workers to fall. These falls often occur in rig areas which are elevated. Workers may fall from platforms into the ocean or onto hard ground. Accidents like these are extremely dangerous. However, a lot of them may be prevented by following the right safety guidelines.
Caught In Machinery
Oil field workers can find their limbs and clothing getting caught in machinery. Sometimes these accidents involve pipes, rotary tables or spinning chains. These accidents can trap the limbs of a worker and severely injure a worker. Oil field workers need to always maintain an awareness of their surroundings in order to avoid being severely injured.
Heavy Objects Striking Workers
One risk oil workers face is being struck by moving or falling objects at an oil field. Workers are often struck by objects such as hoses, chains, pipes and rotary cables.
Chemicals
A lot of dangerous chemicals can be present at oil fields, like hydrogen sulfide. When workers are exposed to dangerous chemicals over the long term, they can experience burns, irregular heartbeats, respiratory paralysis and even death. It is vital for workers to take safety precautions in order to prevent being exposed to chemicals. Wearing a gas mask is one way workers can protect themselves.
Rig Failures And Collapses
Oil rigs may collapse when they end up weighing more than they are designed to, or when they are not properly maintained. Mechanical issues that are the result of improper maintenance and upkeep can make it far more likely than an oil rig will collapse.
Oil Rig Accident And Worker’s Compensation
We represent oil rig workers who are injured on the job while working for oil and gas companies on an oil rig or in navigable waters. The Outer Continental Shelf Act is a Federal law which provides for those working in oil and gas and liquefied natural gas in the Outer Continental Shelf. The Outer Continental Shelf Act was written so that oil workers could be fully compensated for their injuries sustained while working during blow-outs, loss of oil control, spillage, fire, and any other injuries or oil rig accidents that occur. Included in the act are injuries caused by unsafe equipment, outdated technology or a dangerous work atmosphere. Our law firm obtains compensation for injured employees through the Office of Workers Compensation program under the Outer Continental Shelf Act.
We obtain compensation for workers who suffer serious and fatal injuries in oil rig accidents in navigable waters of the United States. An experienced oilfield accident attorney at Nadrich & Cohen can obtain disability payments for an injured worker. We will also obtain a recovery for pain and suffering from a serious injury, past loss of earnings, future loss of earnings and all medical expenses, including past and future medical bills. In a death case, we will obtain funeral expenses and will provide the surviving family members with regular payments of half of the diseased worker’s weekly wage. You must file a written claim within one year of the date of the oilfield accidents.
Who Is Covered Under The Outer Continental Shelf Act?
- Ship – Breaker
- Harbor worker
- Ship – Builders
- Longshoremen
- Oil Rig Workers
- Ship – Repairmen
We will obtain all benefits for you under the law.
We represent workers under the act worldwide.
We are contingency lawyers. This means you will never have to pay us a legal fee unless and until we first obtain a recovery for you to compensate you for your oilfield injuries. If we do not obtain a recovery, you do not owe us even one dime for our costs, fees, services or expenses.
There are deadlines that you have to meet to file oilfield injury claims for oil rig accidents. If you do not meet the deadlines, you cannot file a claim for benefits. Do not delay. Call us today. If you or a loved one has suffered as the result of an oilfield accident, please contact an oilfield accident injury lawyer at Nadrich & Cohen immediately.
Worker’s Compensation Might Not Be Enough
When workers in oil fields seek compensation from employers for injuries and accidents, even when those accidents and injuries happen because of safety violations or negligence, workers are often limited to just worker’s compensation benefits. However, sadly, it’s often difficult to obtain these benefits, and this adds anxiety, frustration and insult to the workers’ injuries. Like any insurance company, the worker’s compensation insurance company for your employer wishes to pay as little money as possible to you. Because of this, they might challenge your eligibility for benefits. They may claim you weren’t hurt on the job. They might claim your injuries already existed. They might claim you’re not hurt as bad as you claim. They might claim you don’t deserve all of the benefits you ask for. It’s important to have an experienced oil field accident lawyer by your side if you want to get the compensation you deserve.
Even when all worker’s compensation benefits that are available get provided by employers, these benefits are sometimes not enough when the injuries are severe, the family loses its breadwinner and the medical bills are huge. This is why that not only do we pursue worker’s compensation benefits for our clients, but we also pursue third-party claims against anyone else who might be liable for an accident.
Oilfield accidents don’t always occur solely because of the negligence of an employer. If your injuries are also the result of the negligence of a third party, we can help you obtain damages from them by filing a civil lawsuit. The compensation you may be eligible for in such a lawsuit can be much greater than the compensation you’re eligible for through worker’s comp and this compensation can include compensation for pain, suffering, loss of companionship, loss of consortium, and other damages which worker’s compensation doesn’t cover.
What Should I Do After An Oil Field Accident?
If you are injured in an oil field, you should remain calm and handle yourself strategically. The time following the accident will be difficult and confusing. You should follow the following steps to help guide you through this time:
- Make sure your medical needs are immediately addressed. Even if you think your injuries are only minor, you need to have them evaluated and treated by a medical professional immediately. For one, you may have a severe internal injury you don’t realize. In addition, it’s very important for your case that you get any injuries documented immediately. Failure to do so could result in an insurance company claiming your injuries were caused by something other than your accident.
- Take down detailed notes regarding the accident. Take pictures. It’s best if you can gather as much information as possible and if you can provide as much evidence as you can. This gives you the best chance of proving what occurred before your account of the accident is disputed.
- Contact the experienced oil field accident lawyers at Nadrich & Cohen before talking to anyone else. We know all about the tricks and tactics that oil companies, their insurance companies and their lawyers use. Because of this, we can carefully guide you through the legal process and ensure you obtain fair compensation and justice.
- Once you hire experienced lawyers, you might need to handle reporting requirements regarding an insurance company.
- When you talk with an insurance company, coworkers, your employee or anyone else, be incredibly careful not to say things that can be interpreted as admitting fault for the accident. Insurance companies will take all opportunities possible to avoid liability for the accident.
Call Us Today If You Were Injured In An Accident At An Oil Field
If you were injured or your loved one was injured or killed in an accident at an oil field, your employer as well as its lawyers will do whatever they can to avoid taking responsibility. They will pay you as little as they can to compensate you for your losses and injuries.
Even if your employer tells you they will make sure you are taken care of, they are not going to. This isn’t because they’re not willing to. This is because the insurance company is now in charge of things.
You need to protect your future, your family and yourself. If you don’t, your employer’s insurance company and lawyers will:
- Deny liability for the accident
- Shift blame for the accident onto you
- Discard and lose evidence that’s necessary for you to prove your employer caused your accident or that you didn’t cause your accident
- Offer you a tiny fraction of what your case is actually worth
- Limit you solely to worker’s compensation, which will not fully cover your wages you lost and which won’t provide compensation for future medical bills, inability to work, impairment, pain or suffering
- Make you go to specific doctors whose interests lie in saving your employer money rather than ensuring your well being
- End your employment the first moment they can, this usually being the moment the statute of limitations expires and you can no longer sue your employer
- Try to convince you not to hire an experienced oil field accident lawyer and try to convince you not to file a lawsuit so your employer can avoid paying you what you deserve and avoid responsibility
We have been representing oil field workers since 1990. We have recovered over $350,000,000 on behalf of our clients. We have the experience and know-how to recover the maximum compensation on your behalf.
Call us today for a free consultation. You can also text us from this page. You can also fill out the free case evaluation form on this page. We will not charge you any fee until and unless we win your case. Call us now.
