If you or a loved one is at your work and a piece of equipment fails resulting in injury or death, there are a few questions that lie between the accident and who is liable for the accident. It is important to note before questions are asked, the scene of the accident as well as the equipment that failed should be photographed and the event documented by both the employer and the employee or their agents. This will help in any future litigation and will ensure that the conditions, on the day of the accident are known, which can become quite relevant in some cases.
The first question to be asked in the quest to assign fault is “Was the injured party an employee or an independent contractor?” According to a Texas Statute, there is no liability for the work of a independent contractor or their employees unless (1) they retain some control over the manner in which the work is performed, or (2) there was actual knowledge of the danger or condition causing injury, death or damage and the employer failed to warn them.[1] If an independent contractor is using their own equipment and that fails, they will have to look at the product itself for defect, either in manufacturing or in design. Their only other option is to look at the maintenance of that equipment and make sure that if that was hired out, it was done properly.
The next question to ask is whether the accident happened in the scope of the employee’s employment. There are quite a few other factors that rely on this answer. Whether an employer had a duty to warn of dangers is one of those reliance factors. Liability cannot be imposed if no duty exists. An employer has a general duty to use ordinary care to provide a safe work place for its employees.[2] An employer also has a duty to warn an employee of the hazards of employment and provide needed safety equipment or assistance.[3] At the same time of the aforementioned duties, there is no duty owed to employees to warn of hazards that are commonly known, already appreciated, or unnecessary to the job’s safe performance.[4]
The employer has the duty to keep their equipment inspected, maintained, and safe to use. They also have a duty to warn their employees of the dangers that are known to them. If any of those things weren’t done, there could be a possibility of liability and you should contact an attorney to talk about your options.
If there was no negligence on the employer’s part either because there was no duty or there was no breach of a duty, the manufacturer is the next place to look. There are often defects in manufacturing of equipment meaning it deviated in its construction or quality from the intended design in a way that made it dangerous.[5] These types of cases are easier to prove than a design defect case. In a design defect case, the injured party has to show a reasonable alternative design.[6] The word “reasonable” takes on a legal meaning and that is best defined by an attorney on a case-by-case basis.
In summary, the answer to the question of who is liable for equipment failure in the work place, as set forth above, is there are many different answers to this question. Liability could fall on the employee if his or her negligence is found by a jury to be more than 50% of the cause of the accident. The employer could be found to be liable if there is found to be a duty that was breached. Finally, the manufacturer or dealer of the equipment could be found liable if there was a defect either in the manufacturing process or the design of the product.
Written by:
Lyndsey Mott
Approved by Francisco Guerra IV
Watts Guerra LLP
4 Dominion Drive, Bldg 3, Suite 100
San Antonio, Texas 78257
Phone (210) 447-0500
© Watts Guerra LLP 2015
[1] Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. § 95.003 (West).
[2] Zissa v. Euton’s Harley Davidson, No. 13-11-00585-CV, 2012 WL 6955494, at *1 (Tex. App. Dec. 13, 2012).
[3] Brookshire Grocery Co. v. Goss, 262 S.W.3d 793 (Tex. 2008).
[4] Kroger Co. v. Elwood, 197 S.W.3d 793, 794 (Tex. 2006).
[5] Casey v. Toyota Motor Eng’g & Mfg. N. Am., Inc., 770 F.3d 322, 325 (5th Cir. 2014).
[6] Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. § 82.005 (West)
