Maison Law represents workers hurt in oil rig and oil field accidents in Oildale and across Kern County. Our personal injury lawyers help accident victims demand the support they need from employers so they can make a full recovery. We also help families recover financially after a tragic fatal oil field accident. Please contact us after an accident for a free, no-obligation consultation to find out what your accident case is worth.
Do I Need a Lawyer After an Oil Rig Accident?
If you suffer a serious injury, like a burn, a bone fracture, or a head injury, in an oil field accident, it’s important to be aware of your legal rights. Your employer’s insurance or workers’ comp may only want to pay for a night in the emergency room when your injuries will require physical therapy and perhaps additional surgeries in the years ahead.
Your Oildale Oil Field Accident Lawyer fully investigates your workplace accident and collects powerful evidence to back your case. Then your lawyer holds every at-fault party, including corporations and equipment manufacturers fully accountable. Your Maison Law representative helps you and your family earn the most in compensation possible to rebuild your lives.
Oil Field Workplace Injury Dangers
Oil field employees work in dangerous conditions. Some risk comes with the job, but that doesn’t mean workers should bear the burden when they get hurt. Employers like Chevron are legally obligated to keep work environments as safe as possible, but they often fail in this duty. This leaves them liable when they don’t maintain equipment to safe standards and keep safety gear up to date.
This carelessness and sometimes recklessness in regard to worker safety can lead to devastating and debilitating accidents. In the worst cases, accidents can threaten lives.
Oildale is named for the oil fields in the surrounding area, including the Kern River Oil Field. Hundreds of workers still clock in each day at these sites to put in a hard day’s work. They risk major injuries with each hour they spend around oil rigs.
These are just a few of the most serious injuries that oil field employees chance every day:
- Burns caused by explosions and exposure to harsh chemicals.
- Repetitive stress syndrome. The stress of workers repeating the same motion over and over to injure muscles, nerves, and tendons.
- Bone fractures and sprains from working around heavy machinery and vehicles.
- Slip-and-fall injuries that can send someone off a rig, through a railing, or down a set of poorly maintained stairs.
- Head and brain injuries. Skull fractures and brain damage like Traumatic Brain Injuries.
- Back injuries including vertebrae damage and injuries to the spinal cord.
- Eye damage.
- Hearing loss.
- Respiratory damage from inhaling chemicals and smoke.
- Fracking injuries and exposure to toxic substances.
These factors and more all point to a negligent employer’s actions. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean an oil company will automatically accept blame and provide injured workers with the money to get the best health care available.
They’ll be looking for ways to blame a victim’s clumsiness so they can avoid having to pay out what’s fair. If it looks like the company will be held liable, their corporate lawyers will work to downplay how back the victim’s injuries are, even using their own doctors to discount what happened. Your lawyer is your defense against this shady treatment and works to secure every benefit you are entitled to for as long as you can’t work.
Who Is Responsible If I Am Hurt While Working on an Oil Field?
Injured oil rig workers should demand support for things well beyond medical bills. Victims must consider who will support their families while they are out of work, and in some cases, may never work again.
In an oil rig collapse or a fire accident, there actually may be several parties that could be held accountable for victims’ physical and financial hardships. It’s critical that every party be identified so that victims can draw from as many liability insurance policies as possible. This gives them the best chance of earning enough in support to pay for all medical expenses and to support their families for as long as necessary.
A Maison Law attorney would investigate these parties and others after an accident:
- Oil corporations like Chevron.
- Property Owners who lease the land to oil companies.
- Equipment and Oil Rig manufacturers.
- Negligent contractors hired by your company
Can I File a Personal Injury Claim If I’ve Received Workers’ Comp Benefits?
Yes. Filing for workers’ compensation doesn’t mean you’ve given up your right to seek support through a personal injury claim.
Workers’ compensation is helpful when workers are down with an injury. Workers don’t have to prove who was at fault for the injury to receive benefits. However, injured victims should know that workers’ comp only replaces of percentage of their wages while they are out of work. It also runs out eventually.
Workers’ comp also won’t compensate you for the pain you experience and the emotional trauma you endured in the accident and during a difficult recovery.
These are all reasons you’d file a personal injury claim or a lawsuit against your employer, a property owner, or an equipment manufacturer. You’d be asking for financial help to cover every hardship you’d faced after an injury. Your lawyer helps you collect the evidence needed to keep an employer from avoiding the blame for what happened.
What Type of Compensation Should I Demand After an Oil Rig Accident?
Your lawyer will demand money, not just to pay your current bills, but also enough to cover any potential health problems that may flare up in the years ahead. This precaution is critical for workers who may heal and go back to work and then suffer back pain or find that a broken didn’t heal correctly.
Workers may have to stop working again, but victims won’t be able to go back to employers to ask for more money for a previous injury after they’ve signed off on a settlement agreement. Your Maison Law attorney would make sure this didn’t happen to you. That support must be enough to support you for as long as necessary and for the rest of your life if necessary.
Your lawyer seeks full compensation for every hardship you’ve faced and will face. Your lawyer also demands money for certain damages you may not have thought could be included on a settlement check:
- Medical expenses
- Lost income and benefits
- Property damage
- Physical and emotional trauma
- Reduced quality of life
- Loss of companionship
- Travel costs as patients must make doctor’s appointments while on crutches and unable to drive
- Punitive damages, if the responsible company demonstrated excessive negligence and put employees at clear risk
Frequently Asked Questions
What if I’m not a U.S. citizen and I’m hurt while working for an oil company?
You may file a personal injury claim against an oil company no matter what your immigration status is. California’s labor laws protect everyone. There are also laws that protect victims if their employers try to retaliate.
Can my family receive benefits if a loved one is killed in an Oil Rig accident?
Yes. Families must file wrongful death claims against negligent companies. A California wrongful death lawyer can help families seek money to pay funeral costs and leftover medical bills. They should also receive support for the future when the deceased can no longer provide guidance and financial support.
How long do I have to file a personal injury claim after an accident in an Oil Field?
You have up to two years after your injury to file a claim. But don’t wait. Taking action immediately makes it easier to collect fresh evidence and track down witnesses so you have the evidence you need to hold an employer accountable.
Contact an Oildale Oil Field Accident Lawyer
At Maison Law, we understand the challenges you face as a worker in California, especially in a demanding job like oil drilling and extraction. Your daily work not only supports your family but also contributes to your employer’s business and the nation’s wellbeing. The potential dangers you risk in these environments should never be your burden to face alone if you become injured.
If you experience an unfortunate serious incident at work, Maison Law is here to help you earn the money you need to heal and return to work. Our committed team of lawyers has the dedication and resources to hold major companies and corporations fully accountable when their negligence endangers their employees. If you’ve been injured at work, don’t wait to contact us today for a free consultation.
There’s no obligation, but if you feel we can help you earn more from your employer, you won’t need any upfront money to hire us. We don’t get paid unless we win your case for your family. Then, our fee comes out of the settlement money an insurance company must pay you.
