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Brady v. Ralph M. Parsons Co.5/2/1990
ty under MOSHA to provide a safe place of employment. In holding that the owner of the premises had no duty under MOSHA, we stated:
" e are a Court purposed to decide cases on the facts presented rather than proclaim in black letter the applicability of law for all purposes. . . . It will suffice that under the facts of this case the Maryland Act is clearly limited, placing the duty on the 'employer' for the benefit of 'his employees."'
Murphy, 53 Md. App. at 644, 455 A.2d 69.
We acknowledged, however, the "assumed duty exception" in Murphy, although it was not factually relevant
there. (See Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. v. Thompson, 57 Md. App. 642, 651, 471 A.2d 768 (1984), noting that Murphy implicitly acknowledges the hazardous condition/control of the work area exception, discussed in n. 5.) This exception is relevant here since Parsons assumed the responsibility for safety on the construction site. Moreover, although we have not expressly adopted the "assumed duty exception," Maryland appellate courts have utilized the policy behind it as a basis for imposing liability: that is, where a duty of due care has been assumed by contract or conduct, a worker not in privity is protected.
This policy was examined in Krieger v. J.E. Greiner Co., 282 Md. 50, 382 A.2d 1069 (1978), where the Court of Appeals addressed the law relative to contracts of engineers and their liability to an employee injured on the job . In Krieger, a construction worker employed by a subcontractor of the general contractor was injured while working on the Harbor Bridge construction project. The subcontractor and general contractor were immune under worker's compensation laws. The owner of the project, the State of Maryland, was not immune under the worker's compensation laws, but was entitled to sovereign immunity. Krieger, therefore, filed suit against the project engineers who had been hired by the State to perform engineering services. Krieger alleged that the engineers owed a duty of care to him by reason of their contracts with the State. Krieger further alleged that the engineers had assumed a duty to stop work whenever they observed improper construction practices because they had done so on prior occasions. The Court stated that, in order for the engineers to be liable to an injured worker, it was necessary to find a breach of a duty by the engineer to the worker. The Court added that such duty must arise either from a contractual provision placing that responsibility on the engineer or that the engineer had assumed responsibility for safety. Krieger, 282 Md. at 69, 382 A.2d 1069.
Also, in Cutlip v. Lucky Stores, Inc., 22 Md. App. 673, 325 A.2d 432, cert. denied, 273 Md. 719 (1974), an architectural
firm contracted with Lucky Stores to design and supervise the construction of a department store. Cutlip, while employed by a structural subcontractor on the project, was killed on the job when a portion of the building collapsed. As in Krieger, both Cutlip's employer and the general contractor were immune under workers' compensation law. Cutlip's representatives filed a wrongful death action against Lucky Stores and the architect. We held that the supervisory authority assumed by the architect under his contract to the County subjected him to a duty which covered the deceased. Cutlip, 22 Md. App. at 694, 325 A.2d 432. Hence, under Maryland law, supervising and consulting engineers and architects
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