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Responsibility on a well site follows control, and it is rarely one company. An oil field location usually hosts an operator, a drilling contractor and several service companies at once. Who directed the work, who supplied the equipment, and who knew about the condition that hurt you decide who answers for it under Texas law. Schiffer Law Firm in Houston represents injured oil field workers and their families across Texas.
The step that cannot wait is identifying the crew and preserving the paper. Crews rotate and equipment moves off location within days, so the names of the people who saw what happened to you matter more here than almost anywhere else. The daily drilling report, the driller’s and tool pusher’s logs, the job safety analysis sign-in sheet and the equipment inspection records exist on the day of the injury. Call 713-521-0059. We will tell you what your case needs and get it started, beginning with written notice to whoever holds the records so they are kept.
Yes, but Chapter 95 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code governs that claim. Under Section 95.003, a property owner is not liable for injury to a contractor’s employee unless two things are true. The owner must have exercised or retained “some control over the manner in which the work is performed.” And the owner must have “had actual knowledge of the danger or condition” that caused the injury and failed to adequately warn. The right to order the work to start or stop, to inspect progress or to receive reports does not count.
The operator usually does not own the land, and the Supreme Court of Texas has held that it does not need to. In Endeavor Energy Resources, L.P. v. Cuevas, 593 S.W.3d 307 (Tex. 2019), the court held that a mineral lessee operating a well is a “property owner” under Chapter 95. The chapter applied to a negligent hiring claim brought by the family of a drilling contractor’s employee. If you were hurt on a well an operator controls, expect the operator to invoke Chapter 95.
Control is the usual battleground. In Energen Resources Corp. v. Wallace, 642 S.W.3d 502 (Tex. 2022), the court held that control means a contractual right to control the means, methods or details of the work. Actually exercising that control counts as well.
A company man on location who directs how your job is done can supply that proof. Safety recommendations the contractor was free to ignore cannot. We look for both in the contracts and in the crew’s account of who gave the orders.
Not by itself. If your employer carries workers’ compensation, Section 408.001(a) of the Texas Labor Code makes those benefits your exclusive remedy against your employer. Your claims against every other company on location are unaffected. In a death case, Section 408.001(b) also allows the surviving spouse and heirs to recover exemplary damages from the employer for gross negligence.
If your employer carries no workers’ compensation, you can sue it for negligence. Section 406.033(a) of the Labor Code then bars it from arguing that you were contributorily negligent, that you assumed the risk, or that a coworker caused the injury. Our page on non-subscriber work injury claims explains how that case works.
Because they often decide who pays for your injury. The operator, the drilling contractor and each service company sign master service agreements before the work begins. Those contracts usually contain indemnity and insurance provisions that shift responsibility for injury claims among the companies. They also state who has the right to control the work, which is the Chapter 95 question. We ask for every master service agreement on the location early, because the companies will be reading them from day one.
Against everyone except a non-subscribing employer, yes. Under Section 33.001 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, you cannot recover if your percentage of responsibility is greater than 50 percent. If your share is 50 percent or less, Section 33.012(a) reduces your damages by that percentage. Oil field defendants routinely argue that you were out of position or skipped a step. The job safety analysis, the crew’s testimony and the equipment records answer that argument.
Two years. Under Section 16.003(a) of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, a personal injury suit must be filed within two years of the injury. A wrongful death claim has two years from the death under Section 16.003(b). The crew that saw what happened to you will have scattered long before then.
Every statute and case linked above was read at its primary source. Texas statutes change every legislative session and case law is constantly changing.
This page is general information about Texas law. It is not legal advice about your situation, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Rig floor and well servicing injuries are severe by nature, and your medical care may continue for years. Crush injuries from pipe and tongs, falls from the derrick or a workover rig, burns from well control events, amputations and traumatic brain injury are common. Many of these cases are death cases. Our pages on crane and heavy equipment injuries and wrongful death claims in Texas cover those claims.
We identify every company on the location and obtain the master service agreements, and the first step is written notice to each of them to keep the drilling reports, logs and inspection records before they are gone. Then we build the control evidence that Chapter 95 requires against the operator and the negligence case against everyone else who contributed to your injury.
Schiffer Law Firm is a Houston personal injury firm with 50 plus years of combined experience representing injured people and families across Texas. We know how oil field cases are defended and which documents answer those defenses.
There is no charge to talk, and no attorney’s fee unless there is a recovery.
Written by Jacob Schiffer, Attorney, Schiffer Law Firm. State Bar of Texas No. 24105175.
Call 713-521-0059.
Yes, if you can prove both parts of Section 95.003 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. The Supreme Court of Texas held in Endeavor Energy Resources, L.P. v. Cuevas that a mineral lessee operating a well counts as a property owner under Chapter 95. You must show the operator controlled how the work was done and actually knew about the danger.
That can be the proof of control. In Energen Resources Corp. v. Wallace, the Supreme Court of Texas held that control means a contractual right to control the means, methods or details of the work, or actually exercising that control. A company man who tells the crew how to do the job, rather than only what to do, is evidence of actual control.
Usually yes, against the other companies on location. Section 408.001(a) of the Texas Labor Code limits your claim against your own employer to compensation benefits. It does not protect the operator, the other contractors or an equipment manufacturer. Those claims are ordinary negligence claims, subject to Chapter 95 where it applies.
The people. Crews rotate off location within days and the rig or the workover unit moves to the next job. The daily drilling report, the driller's and tool pusher's logs, the job safety analysis sign-in sheet and the equipment inspection records should be requested in writing right away.
Two years from the injury under Section 16.003(a) of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, or two years from the death for a wrongful death claim. Preservation letters should go out within days.