Injured at Work in Houston?

Your health comes first. If the injury is an emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest ER. Houston is home to the Texas Medical Center, the largest medical complex in the world. Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center operates the Red Duke Trauma Institute, a Level I trauma center treating over 14,000 trauma patients per year — including many industrial and workplace injuries. Ben Taub Hospital (Harris Health System) is also a Level I trauma center.

If your employer has workers’ compensation insurance, you can see any doctor you choose for initial treatment. The insurance carrier may later ask you to see one of their approved providers, but you have the right to request a change if you disagree with the treating doctor’s recommendations. If your employer is a non-subscriber (no workers’ comp), you have full control over your medical care.

Tell the doctor exactly how the injury happened and that it occurred at work. Ask them to document everything: what happened, what hurts, what tests were performed, and what treatment is needed. If you delay treatment, the insurer will use the gap to argue the injury isn’t as serious as you claim — or that it wasn’t work-related at all.

Report the injury to your employer as soon as possible — ideally the same day. Texas law requires you to notify your employer within 30 days of a work-related injury for workers’ comp claims. But even a few days of delay gives the insurer ammunition to dispute your claim.

Do it in writing if you can — an email, a text message, or a written incident report. Keep a copy for yourself. Be specific: describe what happened, when, where on the job site, and what injuries you sustained. If there were witnesses, include their names.

Your employer is required to report the injury to their workers’ comp insurer (if they carry coverage) and to the Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) within 8 days. If they fail to do so, or if they discourage you from reporting, that’s a red flag — and potentially a violation of Texas law.

This is the single most important question in any Texas workplace injury case. Texas is the only state where private employers can legally opt out of workers’ compensation insurance under Tex. Lab. Code Title 5. Employers who opt out are called “non-subscribers.”

If your employer has workers’ comp, you’re in a no-fault system. You’re entitled to medical benefits and income benefits regardless of who caused the injury. But workers’ comp limits your recovery — it doesn’t cover pain and suffering, and income benefits are capped at 70% of your average weekly wage (up to a state maximum). In exchange, you generally cannot sue your employer directly.

If your employer is a non-subscriber, the equation flips. You can file a personal injury lawsuit directly against your employer, and the employer loses three critical defenses: contributory negligence (they can’t reduce your award by your own fault percentage), assumption of risk, and the fellow-employee doctrine. This means non-subscriber cases are often significantly more favorable for injured workers. You can verify your employer’s workers’ comp status through the Texas DWC employer search at tdi.texas.gov.

If your employer carries workers’ comp, your benefits include: all reasonable and necessary medical treatment related to the injury, temporary income benefits (TIBs) at 70% of the difference between your pre-injury wage and post-injury earning capacity (up to the state maximum), impairment income benefits (IIBs) if you have a permanent impairment rating, supplemental income benefits (SIBs) in some cases, and death benefits for surviving family members.

Workers’ comp does not cover pain and suffering, mental anguish, or full lost wages. If your injury was caused by a third party — a subcontractor, a product manufacturer, a property owner who isn’t your employer — you may have a separate personal injury claim that does include these damages. You can pursue a third-party claim even if you’re also receiving workers’ comp benefits.

If your employer is a non-subscriber, you can pursue a personal injury lawsuit seeking full compensation: medical expenses, full lost wages, pain and suffering, mental anguish, disfigurement, and reduced earning capacity. Non-subscriber lawsuits often settle for substantially more than workers’ comp claims because the employer has fewer defenses.

For workers’ compensation claims, you must file a claim with the Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) within 1 year of the date of injury. You must also notify your employer within 30 days. Missing either deadline can jeopardize your benefits.

For third-party personal injury claims (against someone other than your employer) or non-subscriber lawsuits, the statute of limitations is 2 years from the date of injury under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003.

If your injury involved a government entity — for example, if you were working on a government construction project or at a government facility — the notice deadline is just 6 months under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 101.101. Maritime workers injured on navigable waters may fall under federal Jones Act or Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA) jurisdiction, which has its own deadlines and rules — this is especially relevant in Houston given the Port of Houston’s massive operations.

After a workplace injury, you may be asked to sign various documents: incident reports, medical authorization forms, settlement agreements, or benefit election forms. Read everything carefully before signing.

Do not sign a workers’ comp settlement agreement without understanding what future benefits you’re giving up. Once you sign, it’s extremely difficult to reopen the case, even if your condition worsens. Do not sign a broad medical records release — the insurer may use it to search your history for pre-existing conditions they can use to deny your claim.

If your employer is a non-subscriber, they may offer their own injury benefit plan. These plans are not regulated the same way workers’ comp is, and they often include mandatory arbitration clauses and benefit caps that are much less favorable than what you could recover in a lawsuit. Get legal advice before accepting any benefits from a non-subscriber plan.

Houston’s economy is built on industries that carry above-average injury risk. The oil and gas sector — with major operations along the Houston Ship Channel, in Pasadena, Deer Park, Baytown, and Texas City — employs tens of thousands of workers in drilling, refining, and petrochemical processing. Explosions, chemical exposure, burns, and equipment failures are constant risks. The 2005 Texas City refinery explosion and the 2019 ITC chemical storage facility fire in Deer Park are reminders of how catastrophic these incidents can be.

Construction is Houston’s second-most dangerous industry. The metro area’s continuous growth means an enormous volume of residential, commercial, and infrastructure projects. Falls from height, struck-by incidents, electrocution, and trench collapses are the leading causes of construction fatalities, known as OSHA’s “Fatal Four.” Texas leads the nation in construction worker deaths.

The Port of Houston — the busiest port in the U.S. by total tonnage — creates additional risk categories. Dockworkers, longshoremen, and maritime workers may be covered under federal maritime law (the Jones Act or LHWCA) rather than state workers’ comp. If you were injured at a port facility, on a vessel, or on navigable waters, the legal framework is different and potentially more favorable.

Workplace injury cases in Texas are more complex than in any other state because of the workers’ comp opt-out system. Whether your employer is a subscriber or non-subscriber, whether a third party contributed to your injury, and whether federal maritime law applies are all questions that dramatically affect your legal options and potential recovery.

Most Houston workplace injury attorneys offer free consultations and work on contingency — you pay nothing unless they win. An experienced attorney can determine your employer’s workers’ comp status, identify all liable parties (your employer, subcontractors, equipment manufacturers, property owners), and pursue every avenue of compensation available to you.

If you were injured in oil and gas, petrochemical, construction, or maritime work, look for an attorney with specific experience in those industries. The regulations, safety standards, and liability theories are specialized, and an attorney who handles these cases regularly will know where to find evidence and how to build the strongest possible claim.