Work Injury Attorney in Houston, TX

Were you injured at work?

Charles J. Argento & Associates has represented injured workers in Houston since 1988, and one of the first questions he asks after a serious workplace injury is whether the employer actually carries Texas workers’ compensation insurance.

That answer can fundamentally change the case.

Texas is unusual because most private employers are not required to participate in the state workers’ compensation system. When an employer chooses not to carry workers’ compensation insurance, commonly called a non-subscriber, an injured employee may be able to sue the employer directly for negligence rather than being limited to workers’ compensation benefits.

Another company may also have contributed to the injury. Contractors, equipment manufacturers, property owners, trucking companies, and other third parties can potentially be held responsible even when the injured person’s employer carries workers’ compensation coverage.

Charles spent the early years of his career defending insurance companies before he began representing injured people. Today, he uses that experience to investigate workplace injuries, determine which companies may be responsible, and identify whether an injured worker has rights beyond a standard workers’ compensation claim.

If you were seriously injured while working in Houston or elsewhere in Texas, call Charles J. Argento & Associates at (713) 225-5050 or contact us online for a free consultation about the compensation you may be eligible for.

Does Your Houston Employer Have Workers’ Compensation Insurance?

Charles knows that injured workers frequently assume their employer must have workers’ compensation coverage. In Texas, that assumption can cause someone to misunderstand the legal options available after a serious injury.

According to the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI), 24% of Texas private-sector employers were non-subscribers in 2024. Approximately 13% of private-sector employees in Texas worked for employers that did not subscribe to the state workers’ compensation system.

That means non-subscriber cases are not an unusual exception affecting only a handful of Texas workers.

The distinction matters because workers’ compensation and a lawsuit against a non-subscriber operate very differently.

• Workers’ compensation provides defined benefits under the Texas system.
• A negligence lawsuit against a non-subscriber may allow an injured employee to seek the broader damages available in a personal injury case.

Before you assume you have only a workers’ compensation claim, Charles can determine whether your employer participates in the Texas workers’ compensation system and whether another company may share responsibility for what happened.

Why Can a Texas Non-Subscriber Lawsuit Be Different From Workers’ Compensation?

Charles’s insurance-defense background gives him particular insight into the importance of liability defenses. Texas law strips employers who choose not to participate in the workers’ compensation system of several significant defenses.

Under Section 406.033 of the Texas Labor Code, when an employee who is not covered by workers’ compensation insurance sues an employer for a work-related injury or death, the employer generally cannot defend the case by arguing that:

• The employee was contributorily negligent.
• The employee assumed the risk of injury or death.
• A fellow employee’s negligence caused the injury or death.

The injured worker still must establish negligence by the employer or by an agent or employee acting within the general scope of employment. However, removing those defenses can significantly change how the case is litigated.

Consider a worker injured by defective machinery after a supervisor failed to follow an important safety procedure. In an ordinary negligence case, a defendant might try to shift part of the responsibility to the injured person. A qualifying non-subscriber employer does not have the same ability to rely on contributory negligence as a defense.

Texas law still permits certain defenses, including circumstances involving an employee who intentionally caused the injury or was intoxicated.

Determining whether the employer was negligent therefore remains essential. Charles investigates the workplace, safety procedures, training, supervision, equipment, prior incidents, and other evidence to identify what led to the injury.

What Compensation Can Be Recovered in a Non-Subscriber Lawsuit?

After more than 37 years representing injured people, Charles understands why the difference between scheduled workers’ compensation benefits and personal injury damages can matter enormously to someone with a catastrophic injury.

Workers’ compensation generally provides authorized medical benefits and partial income replacement subject to the requirements and limitations of the Texas system. It does not operate like a personal injury lawsuit.

A successful non-subscriber negligence lawsuit may permit recovery for losses such as:

• Past and future medical expenses.
• Past and future lost wages.
• Loss of earning capacity.
• Physical pain.
• Mental anguish.
• Physical impairment.
• Scarring and disfigurement.

The damages depend on the particular injury and its effect on the worker.

Someone with a herniated disc who eventually returns to the same job may have very different losses from a worker who suffers a traumatic brain injury, crush injury, amputation, severe burns, or spinal cord injury and can never return to the same occupation.

Charles evaluates those differences rather than treating workplace injuries as interchangeable claims.

Can Someone Other Than My Employer Be Responsible for My Work Injury?

Charles has handled serious injury cases long enough to know that a workplace may contain employees and equipment belonging to several different companies. That is especially common in Houston construction, industrial, oil and gas, transportation, maritime, and refinery work.

A third-party workplace injury claim may arise when someone other than the injured worker’s employer contributed to the injury.

Potential defendants can include:

• General contractors.
• Subcontractors.
• Equipment manufacturers.
• Machinery manufacturers.
• Property owners.
• Maintenance companies.
• Trucking companies.
• Delivery companies.
• Equipment rental companies.
• Outside vendors.

Suppose a construction worker is injured because a subcontractor operating heavy equipment disregards site safety procedures. The worker may have a workers’ compensation claim through the employer while also having a negligence claim against the subcontractor.

Similarly, a worker injured when industrial machinery fails may have a potential product liability claim against the manufacturer or another company responsible for the equipment.

These third-party claims matter because workers’ compensation coverage does not necessarily prevent an injured employee from pursuing a separate claim against a negligent company that is not the employer.

Can I Have Both Workers’ Compensation and a Third-Party Claim?

Charles frequently looks beyond the immediate employer when evaluating a serious workplace injury because more than one legal system can potentially apply to the same event.

An employee whose employer carries workers’ compensation insurance may receive workers’ compensation benefits while pursuing a separate personal injury lawsuit against a negligent third party. The two claims are distinct, although they can interact.

For example, the workers’ compensation carrier may have subrogation rights to recover funds from a responsible third party. That means the relationship between the claims should be evaluated carefully when considering a settlement.

The important point is that receiving workers’ compensation benefits does not necessarily answer the question of whether someone else can also be held liable.

Charles investigates all potentially responsible parties rather than stopping once an employer’s insurance coverage has been identified.

How Common Are Serious Workplace Injuries in Texas?

Charles has spent decades representing people whose careers and lives were changed by injuries that happened during an ordinary workday. Statewide data demonstrates how frequently Texas workers continue to face those risks.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported approximately 172,800 recordable workplace injuries and illnesses in Texas private industry during 2024. Of those, approximately 102,600 involved days away from work, job restriction, or transfer.

Fatal workplace incidents remain a serious concern as well. BLS reported 557 fatal occupational injuries in Texas during 2024.

Transportation incidents accounted for 242 of those deaths. Another 91 involved contact incidents, 77 involved falls, slips, or trips, and 62 involved exposure to harmful substances or environments.

For Charles, those numbers represent more than workplace safety statistics. Each serious injury can mean surgery, rehabilitation, lost income, uncertainty about returning to work, and significant changes for the worker’s family.

Houston’s Industrial Economy Creates Distinct Workplace Risks

Charles has practiced in Houston for his entire career, and the types of work performed throughout the region create workplace injury issues that are particularly important here.

The Houston Ship Channel and surrounding industrial corridor include refineries, chemical plants, terminals, warehouses, transportation operations, and other facilities. Across the Houston area, workers also perform jobs at oilfield service yards, construction sites, manufacturing facilities, trucking operations, and businesses that support offshore energy production.

Serious workplace incidents in these environments can involve:

• Fires and explosions.
• Crane and forklift incidents.
• Falling objects.
• Industrial machinery.
• Electrocutions.
• Toxic exposure.
• Commercial vehicle crashes.
• Scaffolding failures.
• Heavy equipment.
• Crush injuries.
• Falls from elevated surfaces.
• Defective tools or equipment.

A worker traveling along Interstate 10 (I-10) to an industrial job east of Downtown may face very different hazards from a construction worker near Interstate 45 (I-45) or an employee working around the Houston Ship Channel.

Those differences affect the investigation. Industrial cases may require examination of safety procedures, training records, maintenance history, contractor relationships, equipment specifications, and federal or state safety requirements.

What Evidence Can Help Prove a Workplace Injury Lawsuit?

Charles’s years defending insurance companies taught him that evidence gathered immediately after an injury can shape how a claim is evaluated months or years later. Workplace conditions can change quickly, particularly after a serious incident.

Companies may repair machinery, clean an area, move equipment, or revise procedures. Video can be overwritten, and employees who witnessed the incident may leave the company.

Depending on the circumstances, Charles may investigate evidence such as:

• Incident reports.
• Photographs and video.
• Surveillance footage.
• Witness statements.
• Equipment maintenance records.
• Training records.
• Safety policies.
• Employment records.
• Contractor agreements.
• Inspection records.
• Medical records.
• Electronic equipment data.
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration(OSHA) records or citations.

Complex cases may also require expert witnesses. Engineers, workplace safety professionals, medical experts, vocational specialists, economists, and accident reconstruction professionals can help address different aspects of how an injury occurred and what it will mean for the worker’s future.

Does an OSHA Violation Automatically Prove My Case?

Charles knows that workers sometimes hear that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is investigating an incident and assume that an OSHA citation will automatically establish liability.

The relationship is more complicated.

OSHA establishes and enforces federal workplace safety requirements for covered employers. After a serious incident, an OSHA investigation may produce inspection records, citations, photographs, witness information, or findings that can become relevant to understanding what occurred.

A citation does not automatically determine the outcome of a personal injury lawsuit, however. The legal elements of the worker’s claim still have to be established.

Conversely, the absence of an OSHA citation does not necessarily mean there is no viable injury claim. Negligence and third-party liability depend on the specific facts and applicable law.

Charles considers OSHA information as one potential piece of the larger investigation.

What If I Was Injured Offshore or While Working Around the Houston Ship Channel?

Charles’s Houston practice has exposed him to the complex legal questions that can arise when workers are injured offshore, aboard vessels, at terminals, or in other maritime environments.

These cases should not automatically be treated as ordinary Texas workers’ compensation claims.

Depending on where the injury happened and the nature of the employee’s work, federal maritime laws may apply. A qualifying seaman injured through employer negligence may have rights under the Jones Act.

Other maritime employees may potentially fall under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (LHWCA). Determining which law applies requires examining the worker’s duties, employment relationship, location of the injury, and connection to maritime activity.

Third-party liability may also be relevant. A vessel owner, contractor, equipment manufacturer, or another company may have contributed to the incident.

Because applying the wrong legal framework can affect a worker’s rights, Charles evaluates offshore and maritime injuries individually rather than assuming every workplace injury belongs in the Texas workers’ compensation system.

What If My Employer Does Carry Workers’ Compensation in Texas?

Charles recognizes that many Houston workers are employed by companies that do subscribe to the Texas workers’ compensation system. For those employees, the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) administers the claim process.

Workers’ compensation can provide benefits without requiring the employee to prove that the employer caused the injury through negligence.

Depending on eligibility and the circumstances, benefits may include medical care and different forms of income or death benefits.

Reporting and Filing a Work Injury Claim

An injured employee generally should notify the employer of a work-related injury promptly. Texas workers’ compensation law generally requires notice within 30 days.

The employee may also need to file a claim with the DWC. Different deadlines may apply, so waiting to determine which paperwork is required can jeopardize benefits.

Medical and Income Benefits

Workers’ compensation may pay for reasonable and necessary medical treatment related to a compensable injury.

An employee who cannot earn their pre-injury wages may also qualify for income benefits. Temporary Income Benefits (TIBs), for example, generally provide partial wage replacement when eligibility requirements are met.

Other benefits may become relevant depending on the worker’s Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI), impairment, disability, or death.

Disputes and Denied Claims

A carrier may dispute whether an injury occurred at work, whether treatment is necessary, whether a condition is related to the incident, or whether the employee qualifies for particular benefits.

The Texas workers’ compensation system provides administrative procedures for resolving disputes.

Before treating a DWC claim as the only available path, however, Charles examines whether the employer is truly a subscriber and whether a third party may also be legally responsible.

What Types of Workplace Injuries Can Lead to a Lawsuit?

Charles has represented people with injuries ranging from fractures that required surgery to catastrophic conditions that permanently ended their ability to work.

Workplace injuries can include:

• Traumatic brain injuries.
• Spinal cord injuries.
• Herniated discs.
• Crush injuries.
• Amputations.
• Severe burns.
• Broken bones.
• Electrocution injuries.
• Toxic exposure injuries.
• Internal organ damage.
• Hearing or vision loss.
• Repetitive stress injuries.
• Paralysis.

The nature of the injury matters, but Charles also looks at what it means for the worker’s future.

Someone who performed physically demanding refinery, construction, maritime, or oilfield work may be unable to return to the same occupation even after reaching Maximum Medical Improvement. In a lawsuit in which lost earning capacity is recoverable, the effect on that person’s future employment can be a significant component of damages.

What Should I Do After a Serious Work Injury?

Charles has seen workplace injury cases become more difficult when important evidence disappears or an injured worker signs documents without understanding their significance.

Medical care should come first. The injury should also be reported in accordance with applicable workplace and legal requirements.

When possible, preserve information about:

• Where the incident happened.
• What equipment was involved.
• Who witnessed it.
• Which companies were working at the location.
• Who supervised the work.
• Photographs or videos taken after the incident.
• Documents provided by the employer or insurance company.

Be cautious about signing releases, waivers, settlement documents, or other paperwork related to the injury before understanding which rights may be affected.

This is particularly important in a Texas non-subscriber case. State law restricts when and how an employee may waive certain claims against a non-subscriber employer after an injury.

Why Choose Charles J. Argento After a Houston Work Injury?

Charles J. Argento & Associates has practiced law since 1988 after earning his Juris Doctor from South Texas College of Law in Houston. His career gives injured workers something that cannot be learned simply by reading an insurance policy or statute: experience seeing serious injury claims from both sides.

Before representing injured people, Charles defended insurance companies. He learned how insurers investigate claims, evaluate liability, scrutinize medical treatment, assess damages, and decide when to fight rather than pay.

He now applies that knowledge to the people pursuing compensation.

Charles personally reviews his clients’ cases, develops strategy, negotiates with insurers, and litigates when necessary. His professional recognition includes Texas Super Lawyers, an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell maintained for 22 consecutive years, and a 10/10 Avvo rating.

For a workplace injury case, his investigation begins with questions that can determine the entire legal strategy:

• Did the employer carry workers’ compensation insurance?
• Who controlled the worksite?
• Did another contractor contribute to the injury?
• Was defective equipment involved?
• Does maritime law apply?
• What evidence exists, and what will this injury mean for the worker’s future?

The answers reveal whether the case belongs in the workers’ compensation system, a non-subscriber lawsuit, a third-party personal injury claim, a maritime claim, or potentially more than one of those paths.

Find Out What Kind of Houston Work Injury Case You Have

After a serious workplace injury, knowing that you were hurt on the job is only the beginning. In Texas, the identity of your employer, its insurance status, the companies working around you, the equipment involved, and even the location and nature of your work can determine what compensation you are entitled to pursue.

Do not assume workers’ compensation is your only option simply because the injury happened at work.

Charles J. Argento & Associates can determine whether your employer is a Texas workers’ compensation subscriber or non-subscriber, investigate potential third-party liability, and identify the legal path that applies to your circumstances.

Call (713) 225-5050 or contact us online for a free consultation about your Houston workplace injury. There are no attorney’s fees unless Charles obtains a recovery for you.

Related Links:

• Southeast Texas Water Tower Accident Kills One Worker, Injures Another—Is the Crane to Blame?
• What is the “High Injury Network” in Houston, Texas?
• Who Can Be Held Liable for Your Texas Work Injury?