Oil Refinery Injuries
Oil Refinery Accidents happen. If you’ve been hurt while working at a refinery, it’s important to understand your rights and the compensation that is due to you. The fact that so many refinery accidents are preventable means that the plant managers and owners can be held responsible for the harm they have caused you and your fellow workers. The right refinery accident attorney can help fight for the compensation and legal remedies that you deserve.
Injuries From Oil Refinery Accidents?
Everyone who works at an oil refinery or production plant understands how hazardous their workplace can be. At the same time, no one ever really expects that they’ll be the ones dealing with refinery injuries following a serious accident. Unfortunately, such oil refinery accidents can occur due to a multitude of causes, from aging equipment and poorly-trained workers to poor maintenance standards and a lack of effective safety policies. Indeed, one of the biggest tragedies of many oil refinery accidents is that they could have been prevented through proper plant management.
The Most Common Refinery Injuries Following Refinery Accidents
When working at a refinery, you are in close contact with flammable and toxic petroleum products and chemicals on a daily basis. Proper safety measures can help protect the workers at such refineries, but improper procedures can open up refinery workers to a huge range of serious injuries. This can include burn injuries, disfigurement, and even wrongful death following an explosion or fire. Too much exposure to the toxic chemical present in such plants can also cause serious long-term damage, ranging from lung damage to neurological harm to severe and potentially fatal illnesses including leukemia and other cancers. Moreover, as with many other types of factories and plants, injury risks such as malfunctioning equipment, falling debris, and fall risks can lead to spinal cord injuries, loss of limbs, head trauma, and many other life-changing injuries.
In all cases, the potential life-long consequences of such refinery injuries can be grave and impact your ability to work, get around and enjoy life. In far too many cases, wrongful deaths stemming from such workplace refinery accidents can deprive families of spouses, parents, children and other loved ones.
The Importance of Proper Representation in Refinery Accident Lawsuits
The proper medical treatment for many oil refinery injuries is not quick or inexpensive. Treatment for third-degree burns can be lengthy and difficult, and the rehabilitation required following a spinal cord injury or loss of a limb is an ongoing process. If you’ve been injured for any reason while working at a refinery, you may be entitled to a wide range of damages.
This can include:
- Medical expenses (including current and future costs associated with your injury)
- Lost income due to your inability to work; mental anguish and emotional trauma
- Pain and suffering
If someone you love and rely on has been killed in a refinery accident by another party’s negligence, a wrongful death suit can help provide a stable future and a degree of comfort.
However, prevailing in a refinery accident lawsuit depends on a number of factors. Your refinery accident attorney should have deep and long experience working with cases involving refineries and petroleum plants to ensure they understand the technical nuances of such cases. The investigative and analytic process can be long, and having a lawyer on your side who has a proven track record of achieving seizable recoveries for refinery accident victims can increase your chances of getting the compensation that you deserve. At the Cesar Ornelas Injury Law Firm, we have the experienced attorneys required to protect your rights as a refinery accident victim.
