Your employer carries workers' comp
Comp benefits from your employer, plus a lawsuit against any other company that caused your injury
Labor Code § 408.001 and § 417.001 Oilfield accidents and injuries
No fee unless I win
Houston Oilfield Accident Attorney
If you were hurt on a Texas oilfield, or someone in your family was killed on one, you can often sue the companies responsible, not just collect whatever workers' comp pays. Texas lets most private employers opt out of workers' compensation, and an oilfield site usually has several companies working on it at once. Both facts matter to your case, and I explain them below.
I'm Jeff Todd, a Houston personal injury attorney. I take oilfield injury cases from across Texas, and I'll tell you straight whether yours can be won.
No fee unless I win. A live person answers the phone 24/7.
Your options
Can I sue if I was injured on an oilfield in Texas?
Often, yes. The answer depends on two things: whether your employer carries workers' compensation insurance, and whether a company other than your employer had a hand in your injury.
Texas does not require most private employers to carry workers' comp. Under Texas Labor Code § 406.002, coverage is elective. An employer that chooses not to carry it is called a non-subscriber.
24%
of Texas employers were non-subscribers in 2024
13%
of Texas employees worked for one
In 2024, 24% of Texas employers were non-subscribers, and 13% of Texas employees worked for one, according to the Texas Department of Insurance.
Your situation, and what you can pursue
Your employer is a non-subscriber
A negligence lawsuit directly against your employer, plus claims against any other company at fault
Labor Code § 406.033A family member was killed and the employer carries comp
Comp death benefits, third-party claims, and exemplary damages against the employer if the death was caused by its gross negligence or an intentional act
Labor Code § 408.001(b) Non-subscriber employers
What happens when your employer is a non-subscriber?
You can sue your employer for negligence, and Texas law takes away its best defenses. Under Labor Code § 406.033(a), a non-subscriber employer may not argue that:
the employee was guilty of contributory negligence
The company cannot blame you for your own injury.
the employee assumed the risk of injury or death
It cannot say you knew the job was dangerous.
the injury or death was caused by the negligence of a fellow employee
It cannot point the finger at the coworker next to you.
You still have to prove the employer, or someone acting for it, was negligent (§ 406.033(d)). Short training, a rushed job, a known hazard nobody fixed, a crew sent out without the right gear: those are the facts a non-subscriber case is built on.
If your employer offers you benefits under its own injury plan, read every page before you sign anything, and talk to me first.
Call (832) 243-4953 Liability
Who can be held responsible for an oilfield injury?
On most well sites, several companies work side by side, and any of them can be liable for the part they got wrong.
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Federal fatality data shows how spread out the responsibility is: roughly three fourths of oil and gas extraction workers killed on the job from 2014 to 2019 worked for contractors rather than operators, according to the CDC and NIOSH.
Depending on how you were hurt, the defendants can include:
- The operator or lease holder that controls the site and sets the pace of the work
- The drilling contractor or well servicing company running the rig
- Other subcontractors on site, such as wireline, fracking, cementing, or trucking crews
- The company that owns or maintains the equipment that failed
- The manufacturer of a defective tool, valve, hose, or piece of machinery (product liability)
- The driver and trucking company in a crash on the way to or from a site, or on a lease road (truck accidents)
If your employer carries workers' comp, Labor Code § 417.001 lets you collect comp benefits and still sue every other company at fault. The comp carrier gets paid back out of the recovery up to what it spent on you. Anything above that is yours. I handle that reimbursement as part of the case.
Cases I take
Oilfield accidents I handle
I take cases involving death and serious injury on drilling sites, well servicing jobs, pipelines, and the roads that connect them. The CDC's oil and gas fatality data for 2014 to 2019 found that vehicle incidents caused 26.8% of deaths, contact injuries (struck-by, caught-between, and crushing) 21.7%, explosions 14.5%, and fires 12.8%. Those are the cases that come through my door.
Well blowouts, explosions, and fires
Uncontrolled pressure, ignited gas, flash fires during fracking or flowback
Equipment and machinery failure
Snapped lines, failed valves and hoses, pipe handling and tong injuries, missing guards
Falls from rigs and derricks
Derrick and monkey board falls, catwalk and platform falls, missing fall protection
Struck-by and caught-between
Swinging loads, pipe, moving trucks and forklifts, pinch points
Oilfield truck crashes
Crew transport, water and sand haulers, lease road and highway collisions
Toxic exposure
Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), chemical burns, silica dust from frac sand
Trench and excavation collapse
Pipeline and utility trenching without shoring
Fatigue and understaffing
Long hitches, driving home after a shift, crews stretched thin
If a family member was killed in one of these, see my page on wrongful death claims in Houston. Injuries at refineries, plants, and construction sites fall under my workplace accident and construction accident pages.
First steps
What should I do after an oilfield accident?
Get medical care
Get medical care right away, even if you think you can work through it. Crush injuries, burns, and H2S exposure get worse before they get better.
Report it in writing
Report the injury to your supervisor and make sure it is written down. Ask for a copy.
Photograph everything
Take photos of the equipment, the site, and your injuries if you can do it safely. Rigs get moved and repaired fast.
Write down names
Write down the names of every company on site and every person who saw what happened. If an OSHA inspector comes out, note that too: OSHA's citations and report become evidence in your case.
Get the crash report
If the accident involved a vehicle, request your Texas crash report.
Don't give a statement or sign
Do not give a recorded statement to any insurance adjuster or company investigator, and do not sign a release or benefit plan paperwork, until you talk to a lawyer.
2 years
How long do I have to file an oilfield injury lawsuit in Texas?
Two years, in most cases. Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003 gives you two years from the date of the injury to file a personal injury suit. For a wrongful death claim, the two years generally run from the date of death. Evidence on a well site disappears far sooner than that, so call early.
3 years
What if I was hurt on an offshore rig?
Different rules apply. If you worked on a vessel, or on an offshore rig that counts as one, your claim against your employer usually falls under the Jones Act, a federal law for seamen, and the deadline is generally three years rather than two. I handle maritime injury cases. There is more on Jones Act claims on my Galveston personal injury page.
Damages
What can I recover after an oilfield injury?
Texas law lets you recover the losses the injury caused. What any one case is worth depends on its facts. No attorney can promise you a number, and I won't.
If you were injured
In an oilfield case those usually include:
- Medical bills, past and future
- Lost wages while you are out of work
- Lost earning capacity if you cannot go back to the same job
- Pain and suffering, physical impairment, and disfigurement
If a worker was killed
When a worker is killed, the family's claim covers funeral costs and the support and companionship they lost, and, against an employer whose gross negligence caused the death, the exemplary damages described above.
Why it matters
Why these cases are worth taking seriously
Oilfield cases are some of the strongest cases I see. Texas is the country's top oil and gas producing state, and the CDC reports that oilfield worker deaths are concentrated here. The companies involved usually carry large liability policies, and the men and women who get hurt usually earn good money, so lost wages and lost earning capacity add up fast. These are not cases to settle cheap.
I spent the early part of my career on the insurance side, including high-volume workers' compensation litigation. I know how the carriers and the contractors' insurers evaluate an injured worker's claim and which facts they attack first. When you hire me, you get me: I personally handle the consultation, the strategy, and the negotiation, and defendants know I will try a case when the offer is not fair.
About 25years of legal experience
About 4.9star client rating across review platforms
Freeconsultation, by phone or in person by appointment
EN / ESEnglish and Spanish
What does an oilfield accident lawyer cost?
Nothing up front, and no fee unless I win. My fee is 33% of the recovery if your case settles before suit, 40% if a lawsuit is filed, and 45% on appeal. I explain how that works in my article on what a personal injury lawyer costs in Houston.
33%Settles before suit
40%Lawsuit filed
45%On appeal
31.5%Permian Basin share
Do you take oilfield cases outside Houston?
Yes. My office is at 12929 Gulf Freeway, Suite 301, Houston, TX 77034, and I take oilfield injury cases from across Texas, including the Permian Basin, the Eagle Ford, and the Gulf Coast. The Permian Basin alone accounted for 31.5% of U.S. oil and gas extraction worker deaths from 2014 to 2019, according to the CDC and NIOSH. Houston is where many of the operators, contractors, and insurers behind those sites do business. More on how I work with clients around the state is on my Texas personal injury page.
Permian BasinEagle FordGulf Coast
Free case review 
Talk to me about your oilfield injury
Call me and I'll tell you whether your employer's comp status helps or hurts you, who else may be responsible, and what it would take to prove it. The call is free and you'll talk to me, not a screener. Trust Jeff.
Jeff Todd, Personal Injury Attorney
12929 Gulf Freeway, Suite 301, Houston, TX 77034
General information about Texas oilfield injury claims, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. See the full disclaimer.
Practice areas
More cases I handle
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Slip & Fall Injuries 
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Premises Liability 
Cattle & Livestock Accidents Distracted Driver Accidents 
Dog Bites & Animal Attacks 
Gun & Shooting Accidents 
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Construction Accidents 
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Health Care Worker Claims 
Product Liability