Opinion ID: 2973040
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Working conditions at the Worldport

Text: To reach the restroom and break area, Lee had to cross over the Siemens conveyor. Other Delta employees also agreed that crossing the conveyor was the only convenient way to leave the site or to use the restroom. The conveyor was two to three feet off the ground and had two four-inch wide parallel belts. Its total width was approximately three feet, and the conveyor had a light- -2- No. 04-6481 Lee v. UPS, Inc. colored belt and a white frame. When operating, the conveyor ran at a speed of approximately 5 meters, or 16.4 feet, per second. Lee, UPS, and Siemens all agree that someone had stacked loose pieces of wood near the conveyor to create a makeshift stairway to facilitate crossing over the conveyor, although the parties dispute who was responsible for the structure. Workers in the area often used this makeshift stairway. Lee and other Delta employees working at the Worldport facility also agreed that conditions in the facility made it difficult to determine whether the conveyors were moving. Donnie Smith, a Delta foreman, was asked about this point in his deposition: Q: Could you tell when those conveyors were on by looking at the belts? A: No, you could not see the belt moving. It was a clear white belt, the lights was [sic] bad, you could not see that belt moving. Q: Could you hear it? A: No, because there was [sic] conveyors above the grading that were running, and you couldn’t—there was so much noise in that area you couldn’t really tell what was running and what wasn’t. Lee and Smith both testified that poor lighting in the area contributed to the difficulty. In addition, there were no controls available for the employees to turn the conveyors off in an emergency.