Disasters at oil rigs and oil refineries are extremely rare. In most oil rig accidents and oil refinery explosions, workers bear the brunt of workplace injuries. However, explosions that occur in or near towns or cities can also injure nearby residents and passers-by. Because these accidents are rare, there is no little research or evidence on the average payout for these incidents.
Your specific settlement should reflect your tangible and intangible damages from an oil refinery explosion, including all current and future lost wages, medical expenses, and pain and suffering. Plaintiffs with the most severe injuries may get the largest settlements. We may also use evidence of gross negligence to secure a better settlement so the defendant avoids punitive damages.
For a free case assessment from our oil refinery injury lawyers, call The Queenan Law Firm at (817) 476-1797.
What Damages Should You Get for an Oil Refinery Accident Injury?
After an injury, you are usually entitled to claim three major areas of damages: medical expenses, lost wages, and non-economic damages. Any settlement you accept should fully cover these damages. If it does not, the settlement may be far too low. With the death of a loved one, these settlements can be as high as millions of dollars. Talk to an attorney about your case and what it might be worth.
Medical Expenses
First, you should be able to recover the cost of any medical expenses you paid because of the accident. This includes damages incurred to date and damages from future treatments, procedures, or surgeries.
Lost Wages
Second, you should be entitled to recover any lost wages you faced if you missed work because of your injuries or if you can never return to work because of the injuries.
Non-Economic Damages
Third, you should be able to claim damages for your pain and suffering in a lawsuit. Bad burns, falling injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and other common oil refinery explosion injuries can affect a victim’s quality of life indefinitely and increase their non-economic damages.
What Damages Can You Get for a Fatal Oil Refinery Explosion?
If your spouse, parent, or child died in a refinery accident, you might be entitled to additional damages.
Medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering are all things your loved one would have been able to claim had they survived the accident, and you can claim these on their behalf.
In addition, you can claim damages that you suffered because of their death. That means recovering the costs of funeral and burial expenses, lost inheritances, lost companionship, lost counsel, and other harms.
What Factors Affect Settlements for Oil Refinery Accidents?
Lots of factors affect oil refinery accident settlements, from the severity of the victim’s injury to the behavior of the defendant, and we can consider them all when estimating your fair recovery.
Injury Severity
These damages often depend heavily on the specifics of your injuries. Severe burns are incredibly difficult to treat and require prolonged, painful medical care, resulting in high medical expenses and pain and suffering damages. Some injuries, like spinal cord injuries and head trauma, may make it difficult to return to work and could mean you need replacement wages on an ongoing basis.
Gross Negligence
If the defendant’s gross negligence caused the oil refinery accident, getting punitive damages may be possible. Although punitive damages are awarded only at the end of a trial, the threat of them could convince the defendant to offer a larger out-of-court settlement.
Incurred Damages
Knowing your total damages lets you identify bad settlement offers from good ones. Current and future medical expenses, lost wages, physical pain, and mental suffering are all recoverable and based on your unique situation and losses.
How Do You Get a Good Oil Refinery Accident Settlement in Texas?
Our attorneys can help you get a good settlement for an oil refinery accident when we handle your case in Texas.
Report the Accident
If you are injured while working in an oil refinery or as you are passing by during an explosion or other accident, you should report the incident. You can tell your employer what happened so they know. You can even call the police and other emergency personnel for help after a bad fall, a fire, an explosion, or another accident.
Get Medical Treatment
You should also get medical treatment expeditiously. Burns, amputation, displaced fractures, head injuries, spinal injuries, and others are very common among oil refinery workers injured on the job. They are also some of the most serious injuries one could sustain. Getting evaluated and diagnosed with particular injuries helps prove why and how they occurred.
Learn Recovery Options
Workers’ Compensation is not your only option for recovery if you are injured as an oil refinery worker due to your employer’s gross negligence or intentional misconduct. Filing a lawsuit against your employer will most likely yield a larger settlement that covers all lost wages and non-economic damages, not just all medical expenses.
Know Your Losses
You can only recognize a good settlement offer when you know how much compensation you need. To know the true value of your case, you must carefully monitor your damages. Our attorneys can handle this, so you do not lose count of your losses and think you deserve less than you actually do.
Should You Accept a Settlement for an Oil Refinery Accident?
If you or someone in your family faced injuries in a refinery accident, it is important to talk to an attorney about your case, especially if you are considering accepting a settlement. It is difficult to know what your case might be worth without talking to an experienced personal injury attorney.
If you accept a settlement, even if it is worth less than what your case should be worth, you may not be able to claim additional damages by taking your case to court.
Since a settlement usually ends your case, you should always speak with a Dallas work injury lawyer before accepting anything for your claim.
Should You Go to Court for an Oil Refinery Accident?
In court, you may be entitled to full damages for your claim. During settlement negotiations, the at-fault party might reduce its offer to save money and avoid the cost of a trial. If an insurance company covers the damages, it may not cover all categories of damages, especially pain and suffering. To get these damages covered, you may need to avoid settlement and press your case in court.
In court, you could also be entitled to additional damages to punish the at-fault parties. Many refinery accidents are caused by serious negligence, OSHA violations, and violations of other state and federal regulations. When these violations occur, federal agencies may fine the refinery for its errors.
Courts may make them pay additional “punitive damages” to the victims. This punishes serious or repeat negligence, deters future wrongful conduct, and helps injured parties by paying them additional damages.
FAQs About Oil Refinery Accident Settlements
Is There an Average Settlement Amount for Oil Refinery Accidents?
Because injuries from oil refinery accidents range so widely in severity, there is no single average settlement amount. Your recovery is based directly on your damages, not anyone else’s.
Can You Always File an Oil Refinery Lawsuit and Get a Settlement?
If you are injured while working on an oil refinery, injuries due to your employer’s gross negligence or intentional conduct are eligible for a lawsuit and not only addressed with Workers’ Compensation claims.
Does Texas Cap Damages in Oil Refinery Accident Settlements?
Texas does not cap compensatory damages from oil refinery accidents, so a settlement could compensate you for all your losses, no matter how significant. Texas caps punitive damages, but, again, these damages cannot be recovered through a settlement.
How Long Does it Take to Negotiate a Good Oil Refinery Accident Settlement?
How long it takes to negotiate a good settlement on your behalf after an oil refinery accident depends on the defendant’s desire to settle and resolve the case out of trial, as well as the strength of our case and the evidence we have of gross negligence or misconduct.
Is a Lump Sum or Structured Settlement Better?
Lump-sum settlements are not necessarily better than structured settlements, but they do ensure the full amount is paid at once, which some victims may prefer to periodic payments.
Call Our Dallas Oil Refinery Injury Attorneys for Help Now
For a free case review from our Arlington, TX personal injury lawyers, call The Queenan Law Firm at (817) 476-1797 now.