Working on an oil field or an oil rig can be extremely dangerous, whether you’re a seasoned professional or a novice. Oil fields use large, heavy machines and often rely on complicated tools or vehicles throughout the day. Working with this type of equipment can be risky, at best, and deadly in the right circumstances. If you, or someone you love, were injured while working at an oil field or rig, make sure you know what to do next to restore your health and protect your rights.

Immediately after suffering an injury, follow these key steps:

1. Evaluate Your Injuries

Before you do anything else, take a quick look at your injuries and consider how serious they are. If you need immediate medical attention, call for help and ask someone to call you an ambulance, immediately. If your injuries are less serious, do what you can to address them yourself, perhaps with a nearby first aid kit, and inform your coworkers. If you were injured, you want to make sure whatever harmed you cannot injure anyone else.

Once you’ve responded to your injuries, you should seek further medical attention by visiting a doctor. However, this can take place after you inform your employer.

2. Inform Your Employer

Your supervisor should know about your injury as soon as possible. If, for example, you were injured by a faulty machine, the supervisor would be able to stop that machine and prevent other workers from being similarly harmed. Also, your employer will be able to fill out the appropriate paperwork regarding your injury, reporting the circumstances of the accident, and other important details. Having an accurate account of what happened could help your claim later on.

In the event that you were severely injured and need to leave immediately, ask someone nearby to inform your superior. Once you are stable and treated, you should then call your employer to let them know what happened.

3. Gather Evidence

If you are in any state to do so, you should gather evidence to help support the validity of your injury claim later on. Whether you end up working with insurance companies, workers’ compensation, or the court, you will want to have as much evidence as possible to make your case easier. Gather witness statements, the names of those involved, and take pictures of the scene.

If you have photos, it will be significantly easier to demonstrate the cause of your accident and the extent of your injuries. However, your wellbeing should always come first. If you were seriously harmed, you might ask a co-worker or someone you trust to take photos of the scene on your behalf.

4. Contact an Attorney

After a harmful accident, you need to discuss your situation with an experienced legal professional as soon as possible. A knowledgeable attorney will be able to tell you exactly what you can expect to do next and will help with any time-sensitive paperwork, like filing a claim. In order to ensure your rights are protected to the fullest extent, you need to speak with a lawyer about your oil field accident, immediately.

Were you injured in an oil field accident? Contact Zambrano Law Firm today to discuss your oil field injury case with our South Texas attorneys.