What Makes the Gulf Coast & Offshore Different
From the Houston Ship Channel through Beaumont and Port Arthur down to Corpus Christi, the Gulf Coast concentrates the largest refining and petrochemical complex in the Western Hemisphere, plus the export terminals, marine transport and offshore support that feed it. There is still onshore production here — salt dome and legacy Frio and Wilcox fields — but the injury caseload is dominated by process facilities and by marine work.
The critical distinction on this coast is legal rather than geographic. A worker injured inside a refinery fenceline is governed by ordinary Texas negligence law. A worker injured on a vessel, a liftboat, or a fixed platform on the outer continental shelf may be covered by the Jones Act, the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, or the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act — each with different deadlines, different damages, and different courts. Getting that classification right at the outset determines what the case is worth.
Communities we serve here: Houston, Baytown, Pasadena, Texas City, Beaumont, Port Arthur, Orange, Freeport, Corpus Christi, Galveston.
Corridors where these crashes happen: I-10, I-45, I-37, SH-146, SH-225, SH-73, US-181
Nearest office: Houston. Our Houston office is on the Ship Channel's doorstep. We travel to clients across the region — at home, in the hospital, or wherever is easiest — at no charge and with no obligation.
Written and reviewed by Lindsey McKay, Owner & Trial Attorney, McKay Law PLLC · Last reviewed August 12, 2026
How People Get Hurt in the Gulf Coast & Offshore
Turnaround and shutdown work
The highest-risk period at any refinery. Thousands of contractors arrive at once, units are opened, and schedule pressure is intense. Line-breaking, energy isolation failures and confined-space entries account for a large share of catastrophic turnaround injuries.
Explosions, fires and chemical releases
Process upsets, relief system failures and vapor cloud events. These incidents generate CSB investigations, OSHA process safety citations and internal root-cause reports that are often more candid than anything produced in litigation.
Offshore and marine operations
Crew boat and liftboat transfers, personnel basket operations, deck injuries, and platform work in the Gulf. Whether the worker qualifies as a Jones Act seaman turns on their connection to a vessel in navigation, and it is fact-intensive.
Dock, terminal and loading operations
Longshore work, tank barge loading, hose handling and vapor exposure at export terminals. LHWCA coverage applies to many of these workers, with its own notice deadlines that are far shorter than Texas's.
NIOSH recorded 74 deaths — 15.7% of all U.S. oil and gas extraction worker deaths in the Western Gulf basin between 2014 and 2019 — plus 4.3% of all U.S. oilfield deaths offshore. Nationally, roughly three quarters of those killed were contractors rather than operator employees.
Maritime law changes the deadlines — sometimes drastically
A Texas land-based personal injury claim carries a two-year statute of limitations. A Jones Act seaman generally has three years. A worker under the Longshore Act must give written notice of injury to the employer within 30 days and file a claim within one year. Death on the High Seas Act claims apply beyond three nautical miles from shore and limit recovery in ways that surprise families. A claim that is timely under one framework can be dead under another.
That is why the first question in any Gulf Coast case is not what happened but what the worker was. Job title does not settle it. A roustabout who spends most of his time on a liftboat may be a seaman. A welder who works from a barge may be covered by the Longshore Act. We resolve that classification before anything else, because every subsequent decision follows from it.
Texas allows two years to file, but equipment is repaired, tour sheets are discarded and electronic logs are overwritten in weeks. Preservation letters have to go out before that happens.Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003
Gulf Coast & Offshore Counties We Serve
Harris, Jefferson, Brazoria, Galveston, Chambers, Orange, Nueces, San Patricio, Matagorda, Calhoun, Liberty, Victoria.
Gulf Coast & Offshore Questions, Answered
How do I know whether I'm a Jones Act seaman?
It depends on whether your work contributed to the function of a vessel in navigation and whether your connection to that vessel was substantial in both duration and nature. Courts look at roughly a 30% rule of thumb for time spent aboard, but it is not mechanical. Your employer's characterization of your job is not binding and is frequently wrong — sometimes deliberately.
I was hurt during a refinery turnaround as a contract worker. Who is responsible?
Commonly the plant owner, the general contractor managing the turnaround, and any other contractor whose work created the hazard. The plant owner's liability turns largely on how much control it retained over safety. Turnaround work packages, permits to work, and job safety analyses document that control in detail.
What is the deadline for a Longshore Act claim?
Written notice of injury to your employer within 30 days, and a formal claim within one year of the injury (or within one year of the last voluntary payment of compensation). These deadlines are much shorter than Texas's two-year rule, and missing the notice requirement can be fatal to the claim.
The company gave me paperwork to sign right after the accident. Should I?
Not before someone reviews it. Post-incident paperwork at refineries and on marine jobs frequently includes recorded-statement consents, medical authorizations far broader than necessary, or documents that characterize your employment status in a way that limits your remedies. There is no obligation to sign anything immediately.
Where This Information Comes From
Every statute, regulation and figure on this page links to its primary source — Texas Statutes, the eCFR, or federal data published by NIOSH, BLS and the Department of Labor.
- Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003 — Texas Statutes
- Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, 33 U.S.C. § 901 — U.S. Dept. of Labor
- Jones Act and LHWCA coverage FAQ — U.S. Dept. of Labor
- 33 U.S.C. ch. 18 (Longshore Act) — U.S. House, Office of Law Revision Counsel
- Fatalities in Oil and Gas Extraction Database, United States, 2014–2019 — CDC / NIOSH, MMWR Surveillance Summaries 72(8)
- About the NIOSH FOG database — CDC / NIOSH
- Major oil and gas formations — Railroad Commission of Texas
- Injuries, illnesses, and fatalities — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics