Receiving compensation for your injuries after an injury on the job may simply require reporting the accident to your employer and immediately seeking medical treatment. This procedure doesn’t always award you with adequate financial support or address issues of third-party liability in your accident. In San Antonio, the attorneys of Aaron A. Herbert, P.C., have the experience to evaluate when your claim may involve third-party liability and the expertise to pursue a claim so you can receive your due compensation.

Workers’ Compensation Claims

The most typical third-party liability claims result from complex workers’ compensation cases. In a typical workers’ compensation claim, there is no need to determine or establish who was at fault in the accident. Even if you were primarily responsible for the accident that resulted in your injury, worker’s compensation will provide for medical expenses and missed wages due to lost time at work.

Insurers call these no-fault claims because they pay the claim regardless of fault in the accident. The advantage to the worker is that he or she receives money from their claims faster. An insurer won’t deny a claim simply because the worker may have been responsible for contributing to his or her own injury. There are drawbacks, though. There are limits to the amount of compensation most workers’ compensation policies pay. In many cases, your injury-related expenses may exceed what you are able to receive from workers’ compensation, or you may have been able to receive more if you were to pursue compensation through more traditional personal injury cases.

Employers in Texas may opt to forego purchasing workers’ compensation insurance. In these cases, the damages you can claim are greater, but you must prove fault in a claim in order to collect compensation. Even in such cases, you may not be able to collect the total amount of damages a labile party owes you if the business is small or does not have the resources to pay for an expensive claim.

What Is a Third-Party Liability Claim?

There two parties in an ordinary workers’ compensation claim: the employee and the employer. The workers’ compensation insurance steps in to cover the expenses for the employer. However, in some cases, there may be someone else responsible for the accident unrelated to the employer or employee. This is when a third-party claim may arise.

In a third-party liability claim, the injured employee may pursue compensation from the third party that was responsible for the accident and injury. For example, if you are driving for your job and suffer an injury in a car accident that a driver caused when he or she ran a red light, you qualify for workers’ compensation. You also may be able to seek compensation from the at-fault driver. Other examples include injuries someone suffers as a result of defective equipment, in which the manufacturer might be the third party, or an injury suffered on the premises of another business you were visiting for work.

Why Pursue a Third-Party Liability Claim?

Worker’s compensation insurance typically pays only economic damages. That is, the policy covers medical expenses, lost wages, and costs for rehabilitation to return to work, but no other compensation. If a third party was responsible for your injury, you may pursue compensation for pain and suffering, and even mental and emotional distress suffered as a result of the injury. You may pursue damages owing to disfigurement if you have sustained substantial scarring or other unsightly reminders of your injury.

Third-party liability claims require proof the third party was at fault in causing your injury. Even if you were partially responsible for causing the accident, you still may be able to claim compensation for your injuries.

Employees get injured on the job every day. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were nearly 3 million workplace-related illnesses and injuries reported in 2015, or a rate of 3 cases per 100,000 employees. Some jobs are naturally more hazardous than others, and the oil and gas industry is one of the nation’s most dangerous. The same report found that the rate of injury and illness among oil and gas workers was five times that of the general worker population, or 15 reported cases per 100,000. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 142 deaths in the oil industry in 2015, a 27% increase from the previous year.

What Are the Most Common Workplace Injuries?

Oil workers are prone to all manner of injury, due to the natural hazards of the job. But the most common types of injury are not what you might think. Here are the highlights:

1. Driving Is the Most Dangerous Job in the Oil Industry

Most oil workers are not killed in the field or on the rig itself, but on the highway. Over 300 oil and gas workers have been killed on the road in the past decade. One of them was Timothy Roth, who boarded a truck after a 17 hour shift with three coworkers to begin the long 4 hour commute home to West Virginia. Just ten minutes into their journey, the driver fell asleep, crashing the vehicle and killing Mr. Roth.

Stories like these are not uncommon, as workers are expected to pull long shifts hours away from their homes. Oil field employees are not subject to the regulations that keep truck drivers from working long shifts on the road, which pressures employees to make long commutes home after shifts that can be 20 hours or longer.

2. Machine-Related Injuries

Oil companies use heavy machinery and hazardous equipment, which leads to workplace injury. Derricks, heavy lifts, hoists, drillers, and loading and unloading materials can all cause trauma or crush injuries. Additionally, machines used in drilling are loud and can cause hearing loss or even loss of balance when they disturb the inner ear. Operators must wear appropriate protective gear, such as earplugs and gloves while operating equipment.

Unfortunately, combining the hazardous equipment with long shifts and worker fatigue can be a recipe for disaster. Workers can suffer crush injury, dismemberment, or even death from being caught in pumps and compressors. Oil companies have a duty to follow OSHA regulations to minimize the risk of these types of injuries by checking their equipment often and making sure employees have proper safety gear and breaks.

3. Illness From Chemical Exposure

Chemical exposure is common in the oil fields. The processes involved in drilling can release noxious chemicals into the work area. Most notably, oil refineries can release hydrofluoric acid, which can scar lungs and cause death by asphyxiation. It’s so noxious that it can permeate the skin and react with calcium deep within our bones.

Prolonged exposure to other chemicals in refineries and wells can lead to respiratory problems, brain injury, paralysis, leukemia, and other kinds of cancer.

In the short term, workers who are exposed to oil industry chemicals report headache, nausea, fatigues, eye irritation, and chemical burns. It’s essential to wear proper protection and respiratory masks when working both on the rig and in the refinery.

Oil workers can also be killed in fires and explosions, as oil is filled with highly combustible gasses. These accidents can happen with little warning, and are hard to prevent (though they are relatively rare). Employers must have a proper fire prevention plan in place, and take every precaution necessary to avoid a tragedy.