Opinion ID: 1260556
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Appeal of Able from Judgment in Favor of Plaintiffs

Text: The primary question involved in Able's appeal is whether the trial court erred in instructing the jury on the issue of plaintiffs' contributory negligence. Construction safety order 1652 (now 1646) prescribed certain requirements for rolling scaffolds. The scaffold did not meet these requirements in that the dimensions were not those prescribed in subdivision (a) and no bracing was provided. [3] The safety order also provided, however, that riding on moving scaffolds was prohibited except when the floor on which the scaffold was standing was free from holes, the scaffold itself met certain requirements not fulfilled here, and it was being moved by a man on the ground. Thus, if plaintiffs were deliberately moving the scaffold from above at the time of the accident they would also be in violation of the safety order. Able does not seriously contest the jury's finding that it was negligent but claims, rather, that plaintiffs violated the safety order by riding the scaffold, that this conduct was the proximate cause of the accident and constituted negligence per se, and that the trial court erroneously instructed the jury to the contrary. After giving general instructions on contributory negligence, the trial court read safety order 1652 to the jury and instructed them concerning Able's liability for a violation of that order. The court then read an instruction, given sua sponte, which Able assigns as error: Violation of a safety order by an employee, of itself, is not contributory negligence as a matter of law and the standard of care applicable to such an employee is that he must act as an ordinarily prudent man under the circumstances. Initially we consider the purport of this instruction. Able claims that the jury could have interpreted the instruction in two ways: first, the judge was advising that as a matter of law no violation of the safety order by plaintiffs could constitute contributory negligence, and, second, that plaintiffs' violation of the safety order could not constitute negligence per se. We do not understand the instruction to mean that plaintiffs' violation of the safety order could not as a matter of law constitute contributory negligence. Such a reading of the instruction would require us to emphasize the words as a matter of law out of all proportion to their importance in the context of the sentence, and to ignore, first, the phrase of itself, which was emphasized in the sentence; second, the admonition in the latter portion thereof that plaintiffs were required to act as ordinarily prudent men under the circumstances; and third, several other instructions on contributory negligence. When the sentence is viewed in toto we find no reasonable probability that the jury understood it to mean that under no circumstances could the violation of the safety order by plaintiffs constitute contributory negligence. The meaning of the instruction was, rather, that plaintiffs could not be deemed guilty of contributory negligence per se if they violated a safety order, for the standard of care to be applied to their conduct was that of an ordinarily prudent man. Under the circumstances of this case the instruction was correct, insofar as it advised that a violation of the safety order by plaintiffs could not constitute negligence per se, for there was no evidence that plaintiffs were aware of the contents of safety order 1652. (1) We hold here, without considering other possible factual contexts, that where there is no substantial evidence an employee was actually aware of a safety order directed to his conduct he may not be deemed negligent as a matter of law for his violation of the order. The vast majority of construction safety orders are directed to the conduct of the employer, but interspersed among them are incidental rules applicable to employees. The regulations consist of a substantial number of sections in title 8 of the California Administrative Code, and they are amended with some frequency. Numerous orders directed to employees go hand in hand with directions to the employer and the workman cannot know whether certain conduct is forbidden without prior knowledge that the employer has complied with the portion of the order applicable to him. For example, the very safety order involved here forbids a worker to ride on a scaffold unless it is being moved by another workman and the scaffold, as well as the floor upon which it rests, meets certain requirements. (2) It is the employer's responsibility to see that these precedent requirements are met. (See safety order 1652, fn. 3, ante. ) In fact, it is often debatable whether a particular safety order is designed for the conduct of the employer or the employee. (See, e.g., Lokey v. Pine Mountain Lbr. Co. (1962) 205 Cal. App.2d 522, 528 [23 Cal. Rptr. 293].) (3) To presume that a workman, perhaps new to his employment, would be acquainted with these numerous and complex regulations is to permit the employer to utilize the construction safety orders for exculpatory purposes not legislatively contemplated. ( Mason v. Case (1963) 220 Cal. App.2d 170, 181 [33 Cal. Rptr. 710].) (4) Safety orders are basically intended for the protection of employees; it is the employer who is primarily responsible for complying with their provisions and it is he who has the greater opportunity and ability to obtain compliance by others. ( Alber v. Owens (1967) 66 Cal.2d 790, 796-797 [59 Cal. Rptr. 117, 427 P.2d 781].) These legislative aims would be subverted if an employee were deemed to have constructive knowledge of the contents of the safety orders directed to his conduct. (5) In the absence of such a presumption, which we decline to invoke, it must follow that an employee's violation of a safety order, without more, cannot constitute negligence per se. Able contends, however, that although plaintiffs were not aware of safety order 1652 they were instructed by Smith, the owner of Aaron, that they were not to ride on the scaffold, and that this instruction was the equivalent of plaintiffs' actual knowledge of the contents of the safety order. No authority is cited for the proposition that violation by an employee of a mere work rule of the employer would constitute negligence per se, but we need not discuss this question since the record discloses no substantial evidence from which the jury could have concluded that plaintiffs were warned by Smith that they were forbidden to ride on the scaffold. Plaintiffs argue, citing several cases, that construction safety orders do not set forth a standard of care applicable to employees and that whether a workman's conduct constitutes contributory negligence must be judged by common law standards. Able, on the other hand, claims that the violation of a safety order by an employee constitutes negligence per se when the order is directed toward the employee's own conduct. We need not resolve this dispute between the parties, for even if the proposition relied upon by Able is correct, it cannot be applied to the circumstances presented here, since the evidence does not establish that plaintiffs had actual knowledge of the safety order they are charged with violating. The second portion of the challenged instruction told the jury that the standard of care to be applied to plaintiffs' conduct was that of an ordinarily prudent man. As we shall discuss in greater detail infra the evidence, although in conflict, was sufficient to support the jury's implied finding that plaintiffs were not guilty of contributory negligence under the common law standard. Able finally contends in its appeal from the judgment in favor of plaintiffs that the trial court erred in refusing to give two instructions offered on the subject of breach of warranty. As we have seen, plaintiffs' complaints contained two causes of action based upon breach of warranty. The second cause of action alleged that defendants impliedly warranted that the scaffold was reasonably fit for the purpose for which it was to be used, and the third alleged an express warranty to the same effect. The trial court instructed that a breach of warranty may be established without proof of negligence on the part of the defendant and that, where the renter at the time of renting has reason to know of any particular purpose for which the goods are required and the rentee is relying on the renter's skill or judgment to select or furnish suitable goods, there is an implied warranty that the goods shall be fit for such purpose. The court refused to give two instructions proffered by Able. The first would have informed the jury that any warranty was based on the assumption the goods would be used in a reasonable manner appropriate to the purpose for which they were intended and that if plaintiffs' injuries resulted solely from improper use they cannot recover damages for breach of warranty. (BAJI (5th ed. 1969) No. 9.71.) Able insists that the proffered instruction states a correct proposition of law and that the court's refusal to give it was prejudicial because there was evidence that plaintiffs were riding the scaffold by propelling it from above and that the use of the scaffold in this manner was unsafe. (6) However, the instruction would have told the jury that plaintiffs could not recover on a warranty theory if their injuries resulted solely from the improper use of the scaffold. Even if it were assumed that plaintiffs were improperly riding on the scaffold at the time of the accident, the fact that the scaffold was not properly constructed and/or that there was a hole in the floor of the building 12 inches deep were at least contributing causes of the accident. [4] Thus, even if the jury had concluded that plaintiffs propelled the scaffold from above in violation of the safety order, it could not have found that this conduct was the sole cause of the accident, and, therefore, the refusal to give an instruction to that effect was not erroneous. (7) The second instruction on the warranty issue refused by the trial court would have advised the jury that one who seeks recovery for breach of warranty may not recover damages for injuries occurring after he obtained knowledge of the defect or condition which he claims constituted a breach of warranty, unless a person of ordinary prudence would have used the product despite knowledge of such defect or condition. This instruction was properly refused by the trial court since there was no evidence of substance in the record that plaintiffs were aware of any defect in the scaffold or knew that it did not meet the requirements of safety order 1652.