At a wellsite, the company directing an operation may be different from the company employing the injured worker. Equipment, supervision, maintenance, and transportation can involve still other companies. After a serious injury, understanding those relationships is part of understanding the event.
VB Attorneys represents people with catastrophic oilfield injuries and families facing wrongful death. For work in West Texas and the Permian Basin, including the Midland and Odessa area, we examine the actual job, the companies involved, and the evidence needed to establish responsibility.
This page addresses injuries during field operations. When the central event is a truck crash on the way to or from a site, the investigation also needs the vehicle and carrier evidence described in our oilfield trucking practice.
Reconstruct one operation at a time
A description such as rig accident leaves too much unanswered. Was the crew moving equipment, opening a line, handling a suspended load, or completing a maintenance task? What stage had the work reached? What changed immediately before the injury?
The operation determines which documents matter. A lifting incident may call for the lift plan and equipment information. An unexpected release of pressure may require an examination of the isolation procedure, pressure information, and sequence of work. A crush injury may turn on machinery movement, communication, and where people were directed to stand.
Those possibilities are starting questions. They should not be presented as findings before the evidence has been examined. A careful investigation identifies the explanation that fits the facts, including facts that do not fit the first theory.
Map responsibility across the companies
A service contract can help identify who was supposed to perform a task. It does not necessarily establish who directed the work in practice. Daily reports, work orders, communications, and testimony can show how the operation actually ran.
The inquiry should separate the employer, operator, contractors, and any equipment or maintenance providers relevant to the event. The presence of several companies does not make them all responsible. Each potential claim needs a legal duty and evidence connecting the company’s conduct to the injury.
Texas law may limit some claims against a property owner when a contractor is working on an improvement to real property. Chapter 95 addresses control and actual knowledge when its requirements are met. The analysis must account for that law rather than assume that ownership of the location establishes liability.
An injured employee may also have a claim against a separate company whose negligence caused the harm. Texas Labor Code Section 417.001 recognizes the possibility of a third-party claim alongside workers’ compensation benefits. Whether that situation exists depends on the parties and the evidence. VB Attorneys’ focus is the serious injury or wrongful death case against a legally responsible party.
Examine what the records were created to show
A safety checklist, daily drilling report, and maintenance ticket each serve a different purpose. One may record that a step was signed off; another may describe an equipment issue; a third may establish the timing of the work.
Read them together. A completed form does not necessarily settle whether the described precaution was taken. Conversely, an incomplete form does not automatically establish what caused an injury. Witnesses and physical evidence can confirm or challenge the paperwork.
Preserving the condition of relevant equipment may be important before a repair or later operation changes it. The appropriate inspection depends on the suspected failure and who controls the equipment. Families do not need to arrange their own access to a restricted wellsite.
The injury must be connected to the job
Oilfield work can demand climbing, lifting, equipment operation, and sustained attention in a hazardous environment. A medical release must be understood in relation to the actual assignment when evaluating future earning ability.
For a worker with spinal cord damage, an amputation, or serious burns, the case may require evidence of future treatment, assistance, equipment, and work limitations. The assessment should identify which needs are supported and which remain uncertain.
The family’s temporary efforts also deserve careful documentation. If a spouse has left work to provide care, record what help is required and how the arrangement affects the household. Specific evidence gives meaning to an otherwise abstract description of future losses.
Choosing a firm for a serious field injury
VB Attorneys’ oilfield injury practice draws on a broader practice involving industrial operations, commercial vehicles, and catastrophic injuries. That combination is useful when a field incident crosses those subjects.
Brian Beckcom and Vuk Vujasinovic are both Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. The firm’s case accounts identify the lawyer responsible for the work rather than treating every result as interchangeable.
When discussing your case, ask what must be learned before a sound assessment is possible. An answer that identifies the missing records and explains why they matter is more useful than an early dollar estimate unsupported by the facts.
Tell us what happened
Call (877) 724-7800 for a free first conversation about a serious West Texas or Permian Basin oilfield injury. Tell us the job, the companies you know were involved, and what your family is facing. We will give you a straight answer about whether we can help.