Opinion ID: 1404333
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Special Hazard Exception

Text: We have previously recognized exceptions to the going and coming rule. Johns established a special errand exception. 422 P.2d at 860 (employer request that employee drive his own car to an alternative work site, with pay and gas provided, constitutes a special errand exception to the going and coming rule). M-K Rivers v. Schleifman, 599 P.2d 132 (Alaska 1979), recognized a remote site exception to the going and coming rule. See also AS 23.30.265(2). Many jurisdictions have a special hazard exception to the going and coming rule. See 1 A. Larson, supra, at § 15.13. We have not previously ruled on whether a special hazard exception applies in Alaska. According to Professor Larson, the special hazard exception is the majority rule. See 1 A. Larson, supra, at § 15.13. This exception to the going and coming rule has been applied when the off-premises point at which the injury occurred lies on the only route, or at least on the normal route, which employees must traverse to reach the plant, and that therefore the special hazards of that route become the hazards of the employment. Id. § 15.13, at 4-22. [2] See, e.g., Littlefield v. Pillsbury Co., 6 Ohio St.3d 389, 453 N.E.2d 570 (1983); General Ins. Co. of America v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Bd., 16 Cal.3d 595, 128 Cal. Rptr. 417, 546 P.2d 1361 (1976). A purpose of Alaska's workers' compensation law is to provide injured workers with a simple and speedy remedy to compensate them for work related injuries. Fairbanks North Star Borough v. Rogers and Babler, 747 P.2d 528, 531 (Alaska 1987). We believe that adoption of the special hazard exception to the going and coming rule will facilitate that purpose. Accordingly, we hold that an injury to an employee caused by a special hazard located on the employee's normal or usual route to work is compensable under the Act, if it meets the elements of the exception outlined below. [3]