Opinion ID: 165419
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Assumption of Safety Duties

Text: 25 Plaintiff also argues on appeal that Mid-State should have been held liable because it assumed a duty of safety with respect to Plaintiff. To be liable under this theory, the owner must warrant to the independent contractor, either contractually or as evidenced by its actions, that it has affirmatively assumed duties of safety. Dow v. La. Land & Exploration Co., 77 F.3d 342, 345 (10th Cir.1996) (applying Wyoming law). Neither retaining the right to inspect and approve the independent contractor's work nor requiring that the independent contractor observe a set of safety rules and practices is sufficient to impose liability. Jones, 718 P.2d at 896. See also Franks, 96 P.3d at 491 (merely conducting safety briefings or stopping work due to safety concerns does not amount to assumption of affirmative duties for safety). 26 We reject Plaintiff's contention that Mid-State assumed the requisite duties with respect to jobsite safety. No contractual provision created such a duty. Neither did any conduct by Welfl. Plaintiff suggests that Welfl took on the role of spotter as Johnson began to fill the trench. But he points to no evidence that Welfl communicated to Ayrcom's employees that he was acting as a spotter. Welfl's instruction to Plaintiff to attach scare tape to a pipe in the trench was not even an implicit assumption of a duty to protect Plaintiff as he performed the task. That task did not obviously increase the risk to Plaintiff because Ayrcom employees typically remained in the trench during backfilling and all three workers were already in the trench when Welfl gave the instruction. (Plaintiff's brief notes testimony that Ayrcom's practice was not to have anyone in the trench during backfilling, but he fails to argue that the district court's contrary finding was clearly erroneous.)