Louisiana LNG Plant Injury Lawyer
An LNG facility injury in Louisiana rarely stays a simple workplace accident. The person hurt is often employed by a contractor or subcontractor rather than the plant owner, the site may be run by a joint venture, and several companies may share responsibility for the scaffold, the crane, the pipe spool, or the cryogenic line that failed. Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC is a workers’ compensation firm that represents injured workers across Louisiana and Mississippi, and a Louisiana LNG plant injury lawyer at the firm starts by sorting out who employed you, who controlled the work, and which claims that opens up.
Liquefied natural gas work is built on extremes: temperatures far below freezing in the process lines, enormous pressures, heavy lifts, hot work, and confined spaces, all on sites staffed by thousands of craft workers during construction and by smaller operating crews afterward. The injuries that follow tend to be serious: cold burns and thermal burns, crush and fall injuries, fractures, shoulder and spine damage from rigging and pipefitting, and inhalation injuries. Workers hurt on these sites need medical care approved quickly and wage benefits that start on time, and they are often up against insurers who know exactly which arguments tend to slow a claim down.
Why Choose Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe for an LNG Plant Injury Claim
Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe PLLC represents injured workers throughout Louisiana, including Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, New Orleans, Shreveport, and the communities of South Louisiana where industrial and energy work is concentrated, as well as across Mississippi. The firm has recovered more than $100 million in settlements for clients, works on a no recovery, no fee basis, advances the costs of the case, offers free consultations, answers its phones 24 hours a day, and serves Spanish-speaking clients in their own language.
Rob Lunsford, Founding Partner, has spent his entire legal career representing injured workers. Partners Brad Baskin and Jennifer Priebe have been recognized by Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, and The National Trial Lawyers, and the firm was ranked by Best Law Firms for Workers’ Compensation Law, Claimants, in Jackson. Andrew Rueff has successfully tried dozens of jury and bench trials to verdict, which matters when a third-party claim against a negligent contractor is in play. Keaton Belk and Erin Heimlicher round out the attorney team.
The results that bear most directly on industrial injuries include a $221,000 settlement for a land-based oil rig worker with severe burns, a $600,000 settlement for a construction worker with a complex back injury, a $685,000 settlement for a surgical tech with a lower back injury, and a $385,000 settlement for a project manager injured when he was struck in his work vehicle. Client reviews consistently describe attorneys who listen, communicate, and stand up to the insurance company at every step.
Injuries and Claim Types That Come Out of LNG Facility Work
- Burns and thermal injuries: Hot work, flash fires, and contact with extremely cold or superheated process equipment can cause severe burns requiring grafting and long recovery. The firm has recovered settlements for oil rig workers with serious burns to the lower extremities, and the same approach applies to plant and terminal sites.
- Back, neck, and spine injuries: Lifting, rigging, awkward positions in pipe racks, and falls produce lumbar and cervical disc herniations. Insurers frequently blame degenerative disc disease, and answering that argument with medical evidence is central to these claims.
- Shoulder and knee injuries: Pipefitters, ironworkers, and riggers tear rotator cuffs, labrums, ACLs, and menisci. Employers sometimes call these old sports injuries rather than work injuries.
- Fractures and crush injuries: Dropped loads, equipment failures, and falls from elevation can cause fractures of the feet, ankles, hips, and other bones that need specialist surgical repair and extended time away from work.
- Inhalation and exposure injuries: Gas releases, confined-space atmospheres, and chemical exposures can cause lung and neurological harm, and occupational illness claims raise their own notice and causation questions.
- Vehicle and site-transport accidents: Large sites involve heavy traffic, shuttle runs, and trucks hauling modules and materials. A worker hurt by a negligent driver may have both a comp claim and a separate injury claim.
- Fatal injuries: When a worker dies on a plant site, dependents may be entitled to death benefits under comp, and a wrongful death claim may exist against a negligent third party.
What to Do After Getting Hurt at an LNG Site
Report the injury to your employer right away, and in writing if you can. Louisiana law bars a compensation proceeding unless the employer receives notice within 30 days of the injury, and a formal claim generally must be filed within one year of the accident. If compensation payments have been made, that deadline can extend to three years from the last payment, but do not rely on that exception. On a multi-contractor site, report to your own employer and your supervisor, and ask that an incident report be created. Keep a copy or take a photo of anything you sign.
Get medical care and tell every provider that the injury happened at work, describing the mechanism of injury accurately. Gaps in treatment and vague histories are what insurers use later to argue the injury was not work related. Save names of coworkers who saw the incident, the equipment involved, the contractor on the badge you wore, and any photos or messages about the conditions that led to it.
If the insurer denies a treatment request, the clock is short. A dispute over utilization review is started by filing LWC Form 1009 within 15 calendar days of written notice of the denial, and the medical director then has 30 calendar days to decide. If you disagree with that decision, you have 45 days from the date it was issued to file Form 1008. These deadlines run from specific events, so waiting to see what happens can forfeit your rights.
Claims that cannot be resolved go before a workers’ compensation judge in the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration, which operates district courts in Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Houma, Covington, Harahan, New Orleans, Alexandria, Monroe, and Shreveport. You choose among the parish where you were hurt, the parish where you lived at the time, or the parish of the employer’s principal place of business. A final judgment can be appealed to the appropriate Louisiana court of appeal, generally within 30 days when the appeal suspends the judgment and within 60 days when it does not, and the Louisiana Supreme Court can then be asked to review through a writ application within 30 days of notice of the judgment.
Workers’ Comp and Third-Party Claims on Multi-Employer Sites
Workers’ compensation is the starting point, and it covers reasonable and necessary medical treatment, wage replacement while you cannot work, supplemental earnings benefits if you return at reduced pay, and additional benefits for permanent disability, catastrophic injury, or death. Supplemental earnings benefits are paid at two-thirds of the difference between your pre-injury wages and what you earn or are able to earn, when you cannot earn 90 percent of your prior wages, and they can continue until you return to pre-injury earnings, are released to full duty, or reach the 520-week maximum, with temporary total disability weeks counting toward that total. Weekly rates are capped, and the cap is set by the date of the accident.
LNG work often adds a second path. If a company other than your employer caused the accident, such as an equipment owner, a different contractor, a negligent driver, or a manufacturer of defective gear, you may have a personal injury claim in addition to comp. Those tort claims allow damages comp does not, but they carry their own deadlines and fault rules. For injuries on or after July 1, 2024, Louisiana’s general injury filing period is two years from the day the injury is sustained. For causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, a claimant found 51 percent or more at fault recovers nothing, and lesser fault reduces the award proportionally. Wrongful death claims run one year from the death or two years from the injury, whichever is longer. Coordinating the comp claim and the injury claim so they do not undercut each other is part of the work.
Frequently Asked Questions About LNG Plant Injuries in Louisiana
Am I covered by workers’ compensation if I work for a contractor rather than the plant owner?
Generally yes. Louisiana requires nearly every employer to carry coverage, and your own employer’s policy is the usual source of benefits even when you are working on someone else’s site.
How soon do I have to report an LNG plant injury?
Notice to your employer is required within 30 days of the injury. Report immediately in practice, because delay invites arguments that the accident did not happen as described.
How long do I have to file a claim?
A formal claim generally must be filed within one year of the accident. If compensation payments have been made, the deadline may extend to three years from the last payment.
What if the insurer refuses my doctor’s recommended treatment?
That triggers the utilization review process. Form 1009 must be filed within 15 calendar days of written notice of the denial, so contact a lawyer immediately.
Can I choose my own doctor?
The rules on choice of physician have specific requirements, and the way you select and change doctors can affect your claim. Talk to an attorney before switching providers or accepting a referral from the insurer.
Can I sue the plant owner or another contractor?
Possibly. Comp is generally the exclusive remedy against your own employer, but a separate negligence claim may exist against other companies whose conduct or equipment caused the injury. Which entities qualify depends on the contractual relationships on the site.
What if I was partly at fault for the accident?
Fault does not defeat a workers’ compensation claim. In a third-party injury suit, however, a claimant who is 51 percent or more at fault recovers nothing for causes of action arising on or after January 1, 2026, and lesser fault reduces the award.
Will my claim be denied because I had a prior back or shoulder problem?
Not automatically. If the job caused, worsened, or accelerated the condition, you may still be entitled to benefits. Insurers raise this argument often, and strong medical evidence is the answer.
Can I be fired or pushed off the site for reporting an injury?
Louisiana protects workers from retaliation for filing a comp claim. If you were let go or disciplined after reporting, tell your attorney so the circumstances can be reviewed.
How long does a Louisiana comp dispute take?
It depends on whether the insurer is paying, whether treatment is approved, and whether the case needs a hearing before a workers’ compensation judge. Disputes over medical care move through fixed deadlines, while settlements generally follow once your medical picture is stable.
What does it cost to hire the firm?
Nothing up front. Consultations are free, the firm advances case costs, and it is paid only if it recovers benefits or a settlement. Attorney fees in comp cases are limited and approved under state law.
My family member died in an LNG plant accident. What claims exist?
Dependents may qualify for death benefits under workers’ compensation, and a wrongful death claim may be available against a third party. The wrongful death period is one year from the death or two years from the injury, whichever is longer.
Serving LNG Plant Injury Clients Across South Louisiana and the State
LNG construction and operations are concentrated along the Gulf Coast, and the firm represents injured workers in Lake Charles and Calcasieu Parish, Cameron Parish, Sulphur, Westlake, and the surrounding southwest Louisiana communities, as well as in Lafayette, Acadiana, Houma, and Terrebonne Parish. Workers also travel to these sites from across the region, so the firm serves clients in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes, the River Parishes, the Northshore, and the Florida Parishes, along with Shreveport, Monroe, Alexandria, and north Louisiana.
Many LNG craft workers live in Mississippi and commute or travel for turnaround and construction jobs, and the firm also represents workers throughout Mississippi, including Jackson, Madison, Hattiesburg, Southaven, the Gulf Coast, the Delta, and north Mississippi. Whatever your home parish or county, we can discuss where your claim belongs.
Talk With a Louisiana LNG Plant Injury Attorney Today
If you were hurt at an LNG facility, the deadlines are already running and the insurer is already building its file. A Louisiana LNG plant injury attorney at Lunsford, Baskin & Priebe can review what happened, explain the benefits and any third-party claims available to you, and take over the dealings with your employer and its insurer. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, consultations are free, and you pay no fee unless we recover benefits for you. Call us to talk through your situation.
