Opinion ID: 1282598
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Suit and Summary Judgment.

Text: Karen Parrish, special administrator of Eldon Parrish's estate, filed suit against OPPD and Hawkins, alleging that they were negligent in failing to exercise reasonable care to assure a safe workplace and that they were liable for Northwest's negligence in the project. OPPD and Hawkins moved for summary judgment. Several depositions, affidavits, photographs, and documents were submitted relative to the requested summary judgment. Depositions included that of Darryl Charlson, Northwest's supervisor on the project, who testified that there was no concern at all that men would be working high above the nearest solid level. Although Charlson said that safety was emphasized, he did not recall giving any instruction to Northwest's employees regarding the proper method of tying off safety lines. Charlson did not know whether Eldon Parrish tied off his safety line before the fatal fall. Charles Schultz, a specialist in inspecting construction sites to help contractors provide a safe workplace, testified: Hawkins being in complete charge of the construction work should have seen that the subcontractor that they hired provide a safe and proper workplace for their workers. Specifically, Schultz stated that, since Northwest was under the direct control of Hawkins in the project, Hawkins had a duty to inspect the work site daily to assure that there was a safe workplace for the workers that were employed on that job site. Also, Hawkins had the duty to supervise Northwest's work and was negligent in failing to ascertain that steel workers were working without a safety net at a height more than two stories or 30 feet above the last planking or floor area beneath Parrish's location. Schultz also testified that, if Hawkins had properly supervised Northwest's work, Hawkins would have learned that, contrary to regulation under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, steel erection was being performed in an unsafe setting without a safety net or proper floor or decking at the site where Parrish was working. According to Schultz, Hawkins failed to supervise or inspect Northwest's work in progress and, consequently, violated the Occupational Safety and Health Act by failing to require proper protection against a steel worker's falling from the framework within OPPD's structure. Finally, Schultz testified that Hawkins was negligent when it failed to warn Eldon Parrish about the unsafe conditions at the location of Parrish's work. Gary Tackett, a construction engineer, testified that because of their [OPPD's and Hawkins'] failures, Parrish fell to his death. And by their failures, I mean their failures to have an ongoing safety program and a written hazard analysis, or as Hawkins calls it, a safety phase plan, made on how the work is to be performed. Had that been done, I don't believe the accident would have ever happened. Tackett also testified that Hawkins, as the general contractor, had the primary duty to see that Northwest's work on the project was being done in a safe manner and that Northwest had the responsibility to comply with Hawkins' safety program, although it appeared that Hawkins had no safety program for the OPPD project. Tackett, referring to the presence of OPPD's on-site representatives, concluded that OPPD had the obligation anytime [it] sees an unsafe condition to correct it, no matter what the chain of command is. Moreover, OPPD failed to correct a dangerous situation or bring it to Hawkins' attention, notwithstanding that OPPD had the responsibility to have Hawkins correct those [safety] deficiencies, and they didn't. Both Schultz and Tackett testified that Eldon Parrish probably would not have been killed if safety netting or a temporary floor were used in conjunction with the steel framework inside OPPD's building. Also, Schultz and Tackett testified that, under the circumstances existing at the time of Eldon Parrish's fall from the angel wing, a safety line was inadequate protection because there was no suitable place where the safety line might be tied off. After receiving all the foregoing evidence, the court granted summary judgment to OPPD and Hawkins.