Texas Industrial Accident Claims: What Injured Workers Need to Know About Compensation

Work injuries on industrial sites in Texas may involve large equipment and complex work settings that can lead to serious injuries to workers. While most industrial sites place a strong emphasis on safety, many accidents still occur due to someone else’s negligence. A local work injury lawyer can help Texas industrial accident victims seek compensation for their injuries.

Whether you work in Houston, Beaumont, Corpus Christi, Midland, or Odessa, the Texas industrial accident lawyers at Carabin Shaw can help you with your workers’ compensation claim and potential industrial accident lawsuit. We have decades of experience, and we are confident in our expertise. That is why you pay nothing unless we win your case. Contact us online for more information or call for a free case review.

Workers’ compensation insurance is a safety net for many workers who wouldn’t have access to affordable medical care after a work injury without it. However, industrial injury claims handled through workers’ compensation insurance companies only provide the following benefits:

• Income: Temporary, impairment, supplemental, or lifetime income benefits based on an employee’s average weekly wage (AWW).
• Medical: Limited medical benefits for reasonable and necessary care for injuries that are work-related.
• Death and burial: Funeral expenses and death benefits to a spouse and dependents.

A Texas work injury attorney cannot sue an employer who subscribes to workers’ compensation insurance except in cases of death caused by gross negligence. Therefore, an injured worker may not be able to receive compensation for other damages such as pain and suffering or emotional anguish. This is known as the exclusive remedy rule.

In an industrial accident lawsuit, the law allows for broader compensation after a work injury. Compensable damages in a personal injury claim include:

• Medical expenses
• Loss of income
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Loss of consortium
• Disability
• Inconvenience

In some cases, a plaintiff may also recover punitive damages for gross negligence. This is not available in a workers’ compensation claim. In many cases, your lawyer can only file a civil lawsuit if an employer does not subscribe to workers’ compensation insurance.

Gross negligence is extreme recklessness, and when a worker dies from it, workers’ compensation insurance may not protect an employer from litigation. Examples of gross negligence in an industrial setting might be ignoring safety measures or refusing to provide required safety gear. In some cases, a deceased victim’s grieving family members can file a wrongful death lawsuit, survival suit, and workers’ compensation claim to collect damages they and their loved one suffered.

Unfortunately, some cases prevent a lawyer from helping an employee hold an employer accountable for workplace negligence through a lawsuit. On industrial work sites, however, there may be a third party whose negligence is to blame for your injuries. Examples of third parties on industrial work sites that your industrial accident attorney in Texas may investigate include:

• Vendors
• Equipment maintenance companies
• Transportation companies
• Hazardous material producers
• Contractors and subcontractors
• Suppliers

Typically, workers’ compensation does not cover third parties, and they may be liable in personal injury claims. Your attorney can file a third-party claim and a workers’ compensation claim on your behalf at the same time. However, workers’ compensation insurance will seek reimbursement for benefits already paid to the injured worker.

Workplace injuries occur in every Texas industry, and when workers’ compensation doesn’t offer fair compensation, it is best to hire an attorney to pursue full and fair compensation. At Carabin Shaw, we understand workers’ compensation laws, and we know when it is time to file a lawsuit.

Read our law firm’s client reviews to find out more about our success stories. Then call toll-free at 1-800-862-1260 or contact us online to speak with our English- and Spanish-speaking staff members, available 24/7 to answer your call.

For more information:

• Texas Department of Insurance
• Texas Statutes 408
• Texas Statutes 41