Severe burns mean years of surgery — and a claim built for the long term.
Offshore burns come from fire, explosion, hot work, steam, electricity, and chemicals. A severe burn means skin grafts, repeated surgery, scarring, and a recovery measured in years.
Can I recover for a severe burn offshore?
Severe burns mean years of surgery, so a burn claim has to be built for the long term. If you were a seaman or maritime worker, the claim can rest on Jones Act negligence, unseaworthiness, and maintenance and cure.
Key takeaways
- If you were a seaman or maritime worker, a severe burn can support a Jones Act, unseaworthiness, and maintenance-and-cure claim.
- The Jones Act needs only a very light showing of employer fault; unseaworthiness needs none.
- Maintenance and cure is owed regardless of fault while you recover.
- Recovery is measured by category (medical, lost earning capacity, pain, future care), not a fixed amount.
- Deadlines are limited and evidence fades, so early advice matters.
Thermal, flash, chemical, and electrical burns.
Burn injuries offshore include thermal and flash burns from fire and explosion, scalds from steam and hot fluids, electrical burns, and chemical burns from acids and caustics. Deep, full-thickness burns require skin grafts and reconstructive surgery, carry a serious infection risk, and leave lasting scarring, contractures, and disfigurement.
Severe burns are among the most painful injuries there are, and the treatment and its costs continue for years after the event.
How offshore workers suffer it.
Burns result from explosions and fires, hot work and process upsets, electrical contact, and chemical and acid exposure. A serious burn often accompanies a blast or release that points to a process-safety failure.
What the claim is worth.
Severe-burn claims center on a life-care plan — the years of surgery, the scar and wound management, and the permanent disfigurement and impairment that follow.
Past and future medical bills, surgery, rehabilitation, and a life-care plan for ongoing needs.
Wages lost and the future earning capacity an offshore career represented — often the largest part of a serious claim.
Physical pain, mental anguish, disfigurement, and permanent impairment or disability.
If you are a seaman, maintenance and cure covers daily living and medical costs until maximum medical improvement — regardless of fault.
A burn keeps costing for years after the fire is out — which is what a burn claim has to capture.
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Text (713) 489-2297We build the case around the full cost of the injury.
Doyle Dennis Avery tries catastrophic offshore-injury cases to verdict — including the $7.86 million result in Gillies v. Valaris. The firm builds these cases by documenting the full lifetime cost of the injury — the future surgeries, the care, and the lost career — and proving who is responsible.
If you or a family member is facing a serious injury after an offshore accident, an early and thorough investigation protects both the evidence and the value of the claim.
What the other side will argue — and how it’s met.
Burn cases combine a liability fight over the source of the burn with a long, expensive damages picture. The defense attacks both. The proof secures the source and the future cost.
Defective and poorly maintained equipment hides behind “operator error” constantly. The answer is the maintenance record, the prior complaints, and a marine-safety expert who can show the equipment never should have been in service.
What the company knew, and when, is provable — in emails, texts, and inspection logs. In one matter the operators were told the equipment was defective, passed word that it was “fixed,” and sent the worker out anyway.
The Jones Act uses pure comparative negligence, so a worker’s own fault reduces a recovery but never bars it — and in practice the hazard is usually the company’s, not the worker’s. In one case the firm tried, a jury found the injured worker zero percent at fault.
A worker does not need to prove unseaworthiness to win. Employer negligence under the Jones Act stands on its own — a jury can find the company negligent even where it does not find the vessel unseaworthy.
A burn has a source that can be traced.
Thermal, chemical, electrical, and flash burns offshore each trace to a specific failure — a process release, a hot surface left unguarded, a live circuit, an arc flash, a steam line. The firm identifies the source and the safeguard that should have prevented contact, working with origin-and-cause and marine-safety experts. Because burns mean staged surgeries, grafts, scarring, and lifelong care, the damages model has to capture future medical and lost earning capacity, while maintenance and cure covers treatment regardless of fault during recovery.
Behind every serious burn offshore is a heat, chemical, or electrical source that a working safeguard should have kept away from skin.
What to protect while it still exists.
The source of the burn and the scope of the future care both need to be locked down early.
Identify and document what burned you — the equipment, line, circuit, or chemical — and the guarding or lockout that failed. It is often repaired or removed within days.
Tell a supervisor and make sure a written incident report is created. Federal law also requires the vessel to file a Coast Guard marine-casualty report (Form CG‑2692) for a serious injury; a missing report is itself evidence of a safety failure.
See a doctor promptly and describe exactly how the injury happened to every provider. Gaps and vague histories are the first thing the defense exploits; an honest, contemporaneous record is the backbone of the case.
You are not required to give the company’s insurer a recorded statement, and early “I’m okay” remarks get used against you. Assume you may be watched. Get advice before signing anything.
Frequently asked questions about offshore a severe burn claims
Can I recover for a severe burn suffered offshore?
Usually, yes, if you were a seaman or maritime worker. A Jones Act seaman can recover from the employer for negligence, bring an unseaworthiness claim against the vessel owner, and receive maintenance and cure. What you can recover depends on the severity of the injury, the fault involved, and your lost earning capacity.
What can I recover for a severe burn offshore?
Recovery is measured in categories rather than a fixed amount: past and future medical care, lost wages and lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, disfigurement and the cost of years of reconstructive surgery, and maintenance and cure while you recover. The total depends on the specific facts, so no honest lawyer can promise a number up front.
Do I have to prove my employer was at fault?
Not entirely. Under the Jones Act you need only show the employer's negligence played some part, however slight, in causing the injury, which is a very worker-friendly standard. An unseaworthiness claim requires no negligence at all, only that the vessel or its equipment was not reasonably fit. Maintenance and cure is owed regardless of fault.
What is maintenance and cure?
Maintenance and cure is a no-fault maritime benefit owed to an injured seaman: maintenance covers daily living expenses and cure covers medical care, until you reach maximum medical improvement, regardless of who was at fault.
Why are burn claims built for the long term?
Because severe burns often require years of reconstructive surgery, skin grafts, and rehabilitation, and can leave permanent scarring and disability. The claim has to account for that future course of treatment, not just the initial injury.
How long do I have to file an offshore injury claim?
Generally three years for Jones Act and general maritime claims, but some deadlines are shorter and vary by the type of claim and your status. Because evidence also disappears quickly, confirm your deadline with a lawyer promptly.
What should you do after a severe burn offshore?
Get medical care and make sure the injury is reported in writing. Preserve evidence early, including incident reports, photos, equipment, and witness names, and do not give a recorded statement or sign anything before talking to a lawyer.
What happens when you text us
Tell us what happened — in your own words, as much or as little as you want.
We review it free. You learn whether maritime law protects you and what your options actually are.
You decide. Nothing is filed, and no one contacts your employer, unless you choose to move forward.
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Reach out even if…
- You think the accident was partly your fault — under the Jones Act, your own fault reduces a recovery but does not bar it.
- You already gave a statement or signed something — a release signed under pressure can be challenged.
- You still work for the company — talking to a lawyer is confidential, and retaliation for pursuing a claim can itself be actionable.
- You’re not sure your case is “big enough” — that’s exactly what a free review is for.
Hurt offshore? Find out what your claim is really worth.
A serious offshore injury can mean a lifetime of medical care and lost earning power. Doyle Dennis Avery LLP builds the full picture of what an injury costs and pursues every responsible party. A case review costs nothing, there is no obligation, and your employer will not know you contacted us.
This page is general information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. The law that applies to an offshore injury — the Jones Act, the LHWCA and \u00a7 905(b), OCSLA, the general maritime law, DOHSA, or another body of law — the available damages, and the parties responsible depend on the specific facts. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome. Doyle Dennis Avery LLP · Houston, Texas. This is attorney advertising.
