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Poe v. Atlas-Soundelier/American Trading & Production Corp.3/2/1999
Appeal by plaintiff from summary judgment entered 19 February 1998 by Judge B. Craig Ellis in Scotland County Superior Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 28 January 1999.
Plaintiff Anthony Poe was one of approximately 100 temporary employees supplied to defendant Atlas-Soundelier/American Trading & Production Corporation (Atlas-Soundelier) by defendant Mega Force Temporary Services, Inc. (Mega Force), in August of 1993. On 6 August 1993, plaintiff was operating a mechanical die press at Atlas-Soundelier's Laurinburg plant when his left hand was crushed in the press. On 31 July 1996, plaintiff instituted an action in Cumberland County (later removed to Scotland County) against Mega Force; Atlas-Soundelier; E. G. Heller's Son, Inc., the manufacturer of the die press; Snyder Corporation, which supervised the installation of the die press; Randall Feagin, d/b/a Randy's Electrical Service (Feagin), who did electrical work involved with the installation of the die press; and Richard Britt, plaintiff's supervisor at Atlas-Soundelier. E. G. Heller's Son, Inc., is no longer a party to this lawsuit. Plaintiff has settled with Mega Force. Summary judgment in favor of all the remaining defendants was entered on 18 February 1998, and plaintiff appealed, contending there were "genuine issue of material fact supporting numerous triable issues." We disagree, and affirm the judgment of the trial court.
In the spring of 1993, defendant Atlas-Soundelier moved a number of machines from its Fresno, California, plant to its Laurinburg plant. The Heller-Sutherland mechanical power press (the press) involved in this accident was among those relocated. A trucking company disassembled, transported, and reassembled the press in Laurinburg. Atlas-Soundelier contracted with Snyder Corporation to hook up the electrical, air, and hydraulic systems as they had been in the Fresno plant. Snyder then contracted with Feagin to perform the actual hookup. While in use in Fresno, the press was operated either by a foot pedal or by hand buttons. Either the foot pedal or hand buttons could be utilized by merely plugging the device into an existing socket in the press. When the foot pedal was engaged or the hand buttons pressed by the operator, the press would perform a metal-stamping operation. As a safety measure, a light curtain was installed and positioned between the press operator and the areas where the metal blanks are stamped. The light curtain is made up of numerous vertical photoelectric cells which emit a steady light beam across the area between the operator and the press. If the light beam is interrupted by any object, the press stops immediately and remains stopped until the object is removed from the beam of light. There was only nine and one-half inches of space between the light curtain and the area where the metal blanks were stamped out. After defendants Snyder and Feagin installed the hand controls and light curtain, the press was tested and was working properly. Thereafter, Atlas-Soundelier began using the foot control with the press rather than the hand controls because it increased operator efficiency. Atlas-Soundelier also installed a hand-held toggle switch and changed the use of the press from a one-step to a two-step operation. As modified by Atlas-Soundelier, the press operator was to feed a metal blank into the die on the left side using the toggle switch. The operator was then to activate the press by use of the foot switch. In order to prevent injury, the foot switch was enclosed in a metal box so that it could not be activated accidentally. The operator's foot had to be inserted into the metal box to depress the foot switch. After the press performed the first stamping operation, the worker was to m
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