Midland-Odessa Industrial Accident Lawyers Fighting for Injured Workers

TL;DR (In short): Harper Law Firm represents workers injured in industrial accidents at refineries, gas processing plants, and manufacturing facilities throughout the Midland-Odessa region. While workers’ compensation provides basic benefits, many industrial accident victims have third-party claims against equipment manufacturers, contractors, and property owners that can provide full compensation including pain and suffering.

Industrial Operations in the Permian Basin

The Midland-Odessa region is home to extensive industrial operations supporting the Permian Basin’s oil and gas industry. Beyond drilling and well operations, the region hosts gas processing plants, refineries, pipeline facilities, compressor stations, and heavy manufacturing operations that convert raw hydrocarbons into marketable products.

These industrial facilities employ thousands of workers who face significant occupational hazards daily. From exposure to toxic chemicals to catastrophic equipment failures, industrial workers in the Permian Basin risk serious injuries every time they report for a shift.

Harper Law Firm provides aggressive representation for workers injured in industrial accidents throughout the Midland-Odessa area. We understand that workers’ compensation often provides inadequate compensation for serious injuries, and we work to identify third-party claims that can provide full recovery.

Major Industrial Employers

The Permian Basin’s industrial sector includes major employers operating processing plants, refineries, and manufacturing facilities. Saulsbury Industries, headquartered in Odessa, serves as one of the region’s largest private employers, providing heavy industrial construction services with nearly 4,000 employees nationwide and significant midstream oil and gas operations.

Other major industrial operations include gas processing facilities operated by midstream companies, pipeline construction and maintenance operations, compressor stations and pump facilities, fabrication and manufacturing plants, and chemical processing operations.

Industrial Hazards in Midland-Odessa

Industrial workers face numerous hazards including exposure to toxic and flammable substances, high-pressure systems and equipment, heavy machinery and material handling equipment, electrical hazards and arc flash risks, confined spaces with oxygen deficiency or toxic atmospheres, extreme temperatures and thermal hazards, and falls from elevated work areas.

Common Industrial Accidents in the Permian Basin

Explosions and Fires

Gas processing plants and other industrial facilities handle flammable hydrocarbons under pressure, creating significant explosion and fire risks. Equipment failures, process upsets, and human error can trigger catastrophic incidents that injure or kill multiple workers.

One notable incident involved an explosion at a gas processing plant near Big Spring that injured four workers. These incidents demonstrate the devastating potential when safety systems fail at industrial facilities.

Chemical Exposure

Industrial workers may be exposed to numerous hazardous chemicals including hydrogen sulfide, benzene, and other toxic substances common in oil and gas processing. Acute exposures can cause immediate injury or death, while chronic exposures may lead to long-term health effects including cancer and respiratory disease.

Hydrogen sulfide exposure has been particularly deadly in the Permian Basin, with multiple workers killed when gas detection monitors failed to warn of dangerous conditions.

Machinery and Equipment Accidents

Industrial facilities use heavy equipment including compressors, pumps, conveyors, and processing equipment. Workers suffer caught-between injuries, amputations, and crush injuries when proper lockout-tagout procedures are not followed or equipment malfunctions unexpectedly.

Confined Space Incidents

Tanks, vessels, and other confined spaces at industrial facilities present risks including oxygen deficiency, toxic atmospheres, and engulfment hazards. Rescue attempts by coworkers can result in multiple casualties when proper confined space procedures are not followed.

Falls from Heights

Industrial facilities include elevated work areas, platforms, and structures where workers perform maintenance and operations tasks. Falls from height remain a leading cause of industrial fatalities when proper fall protection is not provided or used.

Going Beyond Workers’ Compensation

Workers’ Comp Limitations

Texas workers’ compensation provides wage replacement and medical benefits regardless of fault. However, these benefits have significant limitations that leave seriously injured workers undercompensated. Workers’ comp typically pays only partial lost wages, approximately 70 percent of average weekly wage up to a state maximum, and does not compensate for pain and suffering or mental anguish.

For workers with catastrophic injuries requiring lifetime care, workers’ compensation often falls far short of meeting their actual needs.

Third-Party Claims

Many industrial accident victims have claims against parties other than their employers. These third-party claims are not limited by workers’ compensation restrictions and can include all categories of damages.

Potential third-party defendants include equipment manufacturers if defective products contributed to the accident, contractors and subcontractors performing work at the facility, property owners who may bear premises liability, engineers and designers if facility design created hazards, maintenance providers who failed to properly service equipment, and chemical suppliers if product defects or inadequate warnings contributed to injuries.

Non-Subscriber Claims

Texas does not require employers to carry workers’ compensation insurance. Non-subscribing employers can be sued directly for negligence, and importantly, they cannot use traditional defenses such as contributory negligence. This can make it easier to recover full damages from non-subscriber employers.

OSHA and Industrial Safety Standards

Federal Safety Requirements

OSHA establishes comprehensive safety standards for industrial operations including process safety management requirements for facilities handling hazardous chemicals, hazard communication standards requiring proper labeling and training, lockout-tagout procedures for equipment maintenance, confined space entry requirements, personal protective equipment standards, and fall protection requirements for elevated work.

Violations of these standards provide strong evidence of negligence in civil lawsuits against responsible parties.

Process Safety Management

Industrial facilities handling highly hazardous chemicals must comply with OSHA’s Process Safety Management standard, which requires written operating procedures and training, pre-startup safety reviews, mechanical integrity programs, management of change procedures, incident investigation, and emergency planning and response.

When facilities fail to implement required process safety programs and accidents result, this failure supports claims for negligence and potentially punitive damages.

Injuries Common in Industrial Accidents

Industrial accidents often result in severe injuries due to the hazardous nature of the work environment. Common injuries include severe burns from fires, explosions, and chemical exposure, traumatic brain injuries from explosions and falling objects, spinal cord injuries from falls and struck-by accidents, amputations from machinery and caught-between accidents, respiratory injuries from toxic chemical exposure, hearing loss from explosions and loud equipment, and organ damage from chemical exposure and blunt force trauma.

These injuries frequently result in permanent disabilities that prevent workers from returning to industrial employment.

Harper Law Firm’s Approach

Comprehensive Investigation

Industrial accidents involve complex situations with multiple potential causes and liable parties. We investigate thoroughly, working with safety experts and engineers to establish what happened and who bears responsibility. Our investigation includes reviewing OSHA records and citations, analyzing equipment and process data, interviewing witnesses, consulting with industrial safety experts, and examining maintenance and inspection records.

Evidence Preservation

Industrial facilities may attempt to repair equipment, alter records, or otherwise conceal evidence after accidents. We act quickly to preserve physical evidence, obtain photographs and video, and secure equipment for inspection before it can be altered or destroyed.

Aggressive Litigation

We prepare every case for trial. This approach produces better settlements and ensures we are ready when cases require litigation against large industrial companies and their insurers.

Local Resources for Injured Workers

Industrial accident victims in the Midland-Odessa area require specialized medical care. Medical Center Hospital in Odessa provides Level II Trauma services and burn treatment. Midland Memorial Hospital offers additional emergency and specialty care. For severe burns, patients may require transfer to burn centers in Lubbock or other major cities.

Contact Midland-Odessa Industrial Accident Lawyers Today

If you have been injured in an industrial accident at a refinery, processing plant, or manufacturing facility in Midland, Odessa, or anywhere in the Permian Basin, Harper Law Firm will investigate all potentially liable parties and pursue maximum compensation for your injuries.

We understand the complex liability issues in industrial accident cases and will fight to ensure you receive the compensation you deserve. You pay no fees unless we recover compensation for your injuries.

Contact Harper Law Firm today – Midland-Odessa industrial accident lawyers fighting for injured workers.