Oil rigs. They can be a rewarding place to earn some money, but also somewhere people can get hurt.
In 2021, about 20 people that worked in the oil and gas production industry died on the job. If you or a loved one has had an injury on an oil rig, you may want to look into hiring a Texas oil rig injury lawyer.
What is an oil rig injury lawyer? What are the leading causes of oil rig injuries?
Well, this is your oil rig injury lawyer guide for the lead oil rig injury causes.
Negligence
One of the main reasons why you can get hurt on the job is if your oil rig has active negligence going on. Negligence may not be intentional, but it is a great lack of awareness of the proper protocols.
Negligence can mean not doing the proper maintenance for equipment that you work with, not maintaining proper cleaning standards, and putting unqualified people in a compromised position. If the negligence is extreme enough, it can even qualify as gross negligence.
If you are not careful when it comes to dealing with negligence, it can cause deathly incidents in an oil rig. You are working with sensitive and even dangerous materials at times. Make sure everyone is doing the job that they are supposed to be doing.
Inexperience
Some may argue that this can fall under negligence. An oil rig can be a tough environment for new blood to come in. There is likely already a system in place and in an environment like this, one thing cannot afford to get messed up.
Typically, this is why new people on oil rigs start with simple jobs like having to keep the surrounding area clean or prepare meals for the crew. However, everyone that sticks around long enough moves on to a more difficult task eventually.
That means that someone may try to work with equipment that they have never used before. Or, it could mean dealing with chemicals that they are not typically exposed to.
Either way, inexperience tends to cause an increased chance of errors on the job. Make sure the people that are working in these areas are properly trained.
Fires and Explosions
As discussed above, people working on an oil rig are working with dangerous chemicals and dangerous materials. Sometimes, this can lead to fires and explosions out on a rig.
One of the most famous examples of this was the Deepwater Horizon explosion back in 2010. As a result of this, 11 workers on that oil rig died.
Even worse, it causes extreme environmental damage to the surrounding area. As a result of this, the main culprit behind this explosion, BP, was ordered to pay about $14 billion in environmental damage.
Since this took place, it has arguably made people more aware of how sensitive an oil rig environment can be. Fires and explosions are unfortunately a risk out there that can cause harm to everything around them in this circumstance.
Dangerous Chemicals
On oil rigs, there are going to be toxic chemicals that you are likely going to have to work around. Because of this, you need to make sure that you are taking the proper precautions if you are going to work around these chemicals.
You may have to go as far as wearing a gas mask when you are in a certain area or by certain materials. It could just be taking safety precautions to avoid certain actions that can lead to exposure to those chemicals.
Also, you need to make sure that you are aware of when you are exposed to these chemicals. This is because in some situations, having that warning time can be the difference between life, death, or a long-term condition.
Make sure that you are staying aware of what chemicals you can potentially get exposed to.
Outdated Equipment
With all of the equipment and materials that go into an oil rig, an important part of this is making sure that all of the equipment that you are using is up to date.
Make sure you are aware of how long the lifespan of each piece of equipment is. After that, make sure you know what the signs are of a piece of equipment that is at the end of its life.
What this does for you, it allows you to prepare for when you think you are going to need to replace that piece of equipment. It can also give you early warning signs that the time to replace it may come sooner than expected for you.
Being on top of this can prevent an incident from happening because a piece of equipment goes bad. For example, if you suspect that a crane is about to go bad, you do not want it lifting two tons of material around an oil rig.
These types of situations are just asking for a major incident to happen.
Hire a Texas Oil Rig Injury Lawyer
These are just a few of the reasons why injuries on an oil rig happen. If you or a loved one got hurt because of one of the reasons above, you need to get in touch with a Texas oil rig injury lawyer.
What can they do for you? They can provide you with the legal counsel you need and get the compensation that you deserve for your injury on the job.
Are you ready to get started? Message us with your case today.