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Working at an oil refinery carries certain risks of accidents and injuries on the job. There are common, everyday injuries you could face from falling, tripping, or lifting, but other accidents and injuries could be life-altering or even deadly. Victims of oil refinery explosions often face permanent or deadly physical injuries, and they or their surviving loved ones might be entitled to file a personal injury lawsuit or wrongful death lawsuit to cover the costs of these injuries.
For a free legal consultation on your injury case, call the Houston oil refinery explosion accident lawyers at The Queenan Law Firm. Our attorneys are experienced in helping injury victims get the compensation they deserve after a serious accident. For help getting compensation for your oil refinery explosion injuries, contact us today at (817) 476-1797.
Oil Refinery Explosion Injuries in Houston, TX
Victims of oil refinery explosions can face a wide range of injuries. The most obvious injury these victims could face is burns. In addition to these injuries, there could also be serious injuries form the secondary effects of the explosion, such as injuries from falling debris and injuries sustained in the evacuation.
Burn Injuries
If you face serious burns, you could need ongoing medical care. The treatment for burns is often quite intensive and painful. Skin grafts could take months or even years to complete in full, and even with treatment, you might face extensive scarring and disfigurement.
Head Injuries
Falling debris could hit you and cause serious head and brain injuries, and the force of an explosion could knock you to the ground where you could hit your head on the way down. These injuries can cause permanent brain damage or moderate, lasting injuries. Skull fractures and serious head wounds are also common.
Shrapnel Injuries
Cuts and scrapes from shrapnel in an oil refinery explosion could cause substantial wounds. In many cases where the force of the explosion itself does not kill or seriously injure victims, shrapnel wounds could cause large pieces of metal and other material to be embedded in the body, leading to massive bleeding and requiring serious medical care.
Broken Bones
In a fall caused by an explosion or during the emergency rush to evacuate an oil refinery after an explosion, it is common to see people suffer broken bone injuries. These injuries could involve wounds if the bone punctures through the skin, and serious fractures might require surgery to set the bones or implant pins, screws, and rods.
Suing an Oil Refinery for an Explosion in Houston, TX
In general, there are three main ways that someone might have an injury case against an oil refinery for an explosion:
- The victim was an oil refinery worker injured in the explosion
- The victim is the family of an oil refinery worker that was killed in the explosion
- The victim is someone near the refinery who was injured by the explosion.
In any case, our attorneys can help you file a lawsuit for your injuries, but the case will proceed a bit differently:
Oil Refinery Workers Injured in Explosions
Workers in Texas are often governed by the state’s workers’ compensation rules. These rules would have an injured worker file for compensation through an insurance system. That system usually pays for medical bills only if you use a doctor that your employer selected, and it reimburses you for 66.7% of your lost wages. In Texas, workers can opt out of this system, which might allow us to file a lawsuit on your behalf instead, fighting to get you 100% of the compensation you deserve and additional damages for pain and suffering, disfigurement, and more.
These lawsuits are filed directly against an employer. To get the compensation you claimed, you will need to prove that the employer was at fault for the explosion, usually through negligent training, lacking safety gear, poor equipment maintenance, and other negligent acts and omissions.
Suing for Wrongful Death in an Oil Refinery Explosion
If your loved one worked at an oil refinery and was killed in an explosion in Houston, you might be required to use workers’ compensation to get damages. If your loved one opted out of workers’ comp., you could be entitled to sue the oil refinery instead.
When you sue for a loved one’s death in a serious accident at work, you might be entitled to any damages they could have claimed had they survived. This would usually include damages for pain and suffering, medical bills, and other harms.
You can also claim damages for yourself and your family. These usually include the cost of lost wages, grief, lost companionship, and funeral and burial costs, among other damages.
Suing for Injuries near an Oil Refinery Explosion
If you were near the oil refinery when the explosion occurred, you might have faced serious injuries even though you had no association with the oil refinery. People who live near the refinery could have suffered damage to their house that might have caused partial collapses or structural damage along with personal injuries. If you were on the street outside the refinery or otherwise in the area, you could have also suffered injuries, especially if the explosion, fire, or smoke spread to where you were.
Talk to a lawyer about suing a facility for explosions that cause damage and injuries to nearby people.
Call Our Houston, TX Oil Refinery Explosion Accident and Injury Attorney
If you or a loved one was injured in an explosion at an oil refinery in the Houston, TX area, contact The Queenan Law Firm today. Our lawyers have experience representing victims of injuries in the oil industry and working to get them compensation for their injuries. To set up a free case consultation, call our Houston oil refinery explosion accident lawyers today at (817) 476-1797.