 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Hoffman v. Union Electric Co.11/22/2005
nformation enabling emergency personnel to approach downed power lines before standard safeguards have been implemented.
Of course, in order for a plaintiff to make a submissible case of negligence, a plaintiff must establish that there was a duty and that the breach of that duty was the proximate cause of his injury. Martin v. City of Washington, 848 S.W.2d 487, 493 (Mo. banc 1993). "Whether a duty exists is purely a question of law." Lopez v. Three Rivers Electric Cooperative, Inc., 26 S.W.3d 151, 155 (Mo. banc 2000). "The judicial determination of the existence of duty rest on sound public policy." Hoover's Dairy, Inc. v. Mid-America Dairymen, Inc., 700 S.W.2d 426, 431 (Mo. banc 1985). In considering whether a duty exists in a particular case, a court must weigh the foreseeability of the injury, the likelihood of the injury, the magnitude of the burden of guarding against it and the consequences of placing that burden on defendant. Gunnett v. Girardier Bldg. and Realty Co., 70 S.W.3d 632, 639 (Mo. App. 2002); Benoit v. Missouri Highway and Transp. Com'n, 33 S.W.3d 663, 668 (Mo. App. 2000).
At the outset, it must be made clear that appellants do not criticize UE's computerized system for de-energizing the power lines, nor its operation in this instance; nor do they criticize the timeliness with which UE personnel arrived at the scene and removed the power line. Instead, they seek to impose a duty on UE to inform rescue workers that the risk of harm was very low should they, themselves, come in contact with the power line, with the expectation that the rescue workers would act to save the victim despite the risk.
This argument, however, disregards the fact that the risk of harm, though greatly reduced, was still so significant that UE, as noted, directed its employees to avoid contact with downed power lines unless the lines have been "isolated and grounded." These are procedures that require specialized tools and training, as well as adequate time for implementation. In fact, these same or similar safety procedures are required under government and industry standards. For instance, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations mandate that employees must treat power lines that have been de-energized, but not "locked out or tagged," as "energized parts." 29 CFR 1910.333(b)(1). OSHA regulations also prohibit employees from working on exposed de-energized parts before a qualified worker has used "test equipment . . . to verify that the circuit elements and equipment parts are de-energized," 29 CFR 1910.333(b)(2)(iv)(B); or from working near de-energized overhead lines before they have been grounded or otherwise secured, 29 CFR 1910.333(c)(3). In much the same way, section 420-D of the National Electrical Safety Code states: "Employees shall consider electric supply equipment and lines to be energized unless they are positively known to be de-energized." Even appellants' expert testified that UE's standards are consistent with industry practice and that the standards are in place because it is possible for a power line to become re-energized.
According to the uncontradicted evidence, a line may re-energize because of an equipment malfunction, or a lightning strike, or a "crossing line" down the road that falls on a previously de-energized line, or even because of a customer's back-up generator that has come on line in response to a power outage and "backfeeds" through the downed line. As UE's regional dispatcher put it, there was one instance in which a line had been re-energized and "just burned a couple of guys and one of them happened to be a good friend of mine, so I know that it happens."
The possibility that a line will re-energize, t
Page 1 2 3 4 Missouri Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|