A refinery accident or explosion can happen in an instant, turning lives upside down, leaving workers catastrophically injured and their families grieving. As victims begin to try to pick up the pieces, one burning question always arises: Who can be held legally responsible?
Determining who is at fault for a refinery accident isn’t exactly straightforward. In fact, it’s been our experience that there are usually multiple parties responsible, from your own employer and the facility owner to contractors and even equipment manufacturers.
But identifying all liable parties isn’t just about assigning blame— it’s critical to ensure you’ll have access to the resources to care for yourself and your family for the rest of your lives.
Your Employer
If your employer carries workers’ compensation insurance, you are typically limited to those benefits, which cover medical expenses and a portion of lost wages for a specific amount of time without requiring you to prove fault. The tradeoff is that you can’t sue your employer for negligence, even if lax safety protocols contributed to the explosion.
Texas is the only state in the nation that doesn’t require employers to carry workers’ comp. However, if your employer is among the many who don’t subscribe, you have the right under state law to sue them for negligence and recover the full range of damages, including many not covered by workers’ comp, such as pain and suffering, lost earning capacity, and, in some cases, punitive damages.
Because Texas’s comparative negligence law doesn’t apply when workers’ comp isn’t available, you don’t have to prove your employer was entirely at fault—even 1% liability can be enough, Your employer also won’t be able to use common defenses against you, like claiming you were partly to blame or assumed the risk of injury.
The Refinery Owner
Even if your direct employer is a contractor or subcontractor, the refinery owner may be liable if unsafe conditions contributed to the explosion. Owners have a duty to maintain safe facilities and to enforce compliance with federal regulations and industry safety standards.
When they cut corners to speed up production or ignore known hazards—failing to maintain pressure-relief systems, leaving corroded piping in service, or mismanaging chemical inventories—they can be sued for negligence. Even if they weren’t your direct employer, owners can be targeted in a third-party lawsuit if their mismanagement caused or contributed to your injuries, whether or not you’re receiving workers’ comp.
Contractors and Subcontractors
Refineries are busy work sites where many third-party contractors perform everything from welding and equipment cleaning to electrical maintenance. A single mistake—welding near volatile fumes, failing to purge chemical lines, or neglecting to secure a valve—by one of these contractors or subcontractors can trigger a disaster.
If a contractor or subcontractor’s actions led to or contributed to your injuries, they can be sued as third parties.
Equipment Manufacturers and Designers
Equipment manufacturers and designers can be held liable under product liability law if their machinery or equipment fails during normal use and causes an explosion, fire or some other accident that injures nearby workers.
While these cases are complex and typically require engineering analysis and expert testimony to prove liability, holding manufacturers and designers accountable for their faulty equipment often drives significant safety improvements across the industry.
Chemical Suppliers
Chemical suppliers can be liable if they provide mislabeled, contaminated, or unstable substances that lead to an accident or explosion. For example, if a supplier delivers a chemical with a higher flammability than indicated on its safety data sheet, and that misrepresentation contributes to an explosion, they can be named as a defendant in a third-party lawsuit.
Suppliers are also responsible for providing adequate warnings and safety instructions for handling hazardous substances. Failure to do so can expose them to liability when workers are injured by chemical reactions or explosions that could have been prevented with proper information.
Maintenance and Inspection Companies
Many refineries rely on outside maintenance or inspection companies to ensure that both the premises and on-site equipment meet safety standards. When those companies fail to detect corrosion, leaks, or other hazards—or when they sign off on unsafe conditions—they may share liability for any resulting injuries.
How Our Refinery Accident Lawyers Can Help
In the aftermath of a refinery accident or explosion, many workers and their families don’t realize that the companies responsible for their injuries and losses already have a team of lawyers working to accomplish one goal: denying responsibility and paying the victims of their negligence as little as possible.
If you’re going to recover compensation beyond what little you might be owed from workers’ comp, you need to act just as quickly to preserve evidence and safeguard your rights.
Our Undefeated Refinery Explosion lawyers have successfully represented thousands of workers in Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico and across the United States, recovering Billions and consistently winning record-breaking verdicts and settlements on their behalf, including:
- #1 Largest Burn Injury Settlement in History
- $100 Million settlement for workers injured in a refinery explosion
- $75 Million Settlement for workers injured in refinery explosion
- $85 Million Settlement for injured refinery contractors
Because of our unprecedented success, we have the resources, knowledge, and experience to identify all of the parties responsible for our client’s injuries, locate, preserve, and obtain the evidence that proves who is at fault, and successfully take on the responsible companies, their insurers, and their legal teams, both in and out of the courtroom.
We never accept a settlement unless it fully compensates our clients and their families for their injuries and losses. We begin preparing every case for trial on day one, so that if our opponents refuse to negotiate in good faith, we’ll be ready for court, where all of our lawyers remain undefeated.
Contact the Undefeated Houston Refinery Explosion Lawyers from Zehl & Associates Injury & Accident Lawyers for Help Today, Call 1-888-603-3636
If you or a loved one were seriously injured, catastrophically burned, or tragically killed while working at a refinery, you don’t have to go it alone. Our Undefeated Refinery Explosion Lawyers will commit all of their knowledge, skills, and resources to holding every responsible party accountable and securing the maximum compensation possible for all of your injuries and losses.
For more information, please contact our Undefeated refinery explosion attorneys in Houston, Texas, at Zehl & Associates Injury & Accident Lawyers to schedule a free consultation today.
We proudly serve Harris County, Midland County, and throughout the state of Texas. We are located in Houston and Midland and throughout the state of Texas:
Zehl & Associates Injury & Accident Lawyers – Houston
2700 Post Oak Blvd #1000, Houston, TX 77056
(888) 603-3636
Open 24 hours
Zehl & Associates Injury & Accident Lawyers – Midland
306 W Wall St Suite 701, Midland, TX 79701
(432) 220-0000
Open 24 hours