Chapman v. Reliance Equipment Co.

PILES, J.

This appeal is from a judgment after a defense verdict in a personal injury case. Plaintiff was a structural iron worker who was injured when a bundle of roofing sheets on which he was standing dropped from the roof joists to the floor. Defendant owned and operated the crane by which the bundle was lifted onto the joists.

Plaintiff was engaged in constructing a roof which was supported by steel girders which were spaced approximately 40 feet apart. Between the girders and at right angles to them were 40-foot steel joists, spaced at 5-foot intervals. The ends of the joists rested upon plates which were attached to the girders. Plaintiff and his fellow workers placed these joists in position and tack-welded each end. Later other persons were to complete the welding. The joists were to be covered with corrugated metal sheets, each approximately 10 feet long and 28 inches wide. These sheets were delivered to the job site in bundles. Prior to the accident plaintiff had been engaged in setting joists in place. At the time of the accident he was working with defendant’s crane operator in landing a bundle of sheets on the joists.

Defendant’s crane had a boom made of 6-inch pipe approximately 33 feet long. The joists were about 20 or 22 feet

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above the ground. In order to lift the bundle to the desired location, the operator raised the boom between the joists so that it projected under one joist and over another. A line from the end of the boom was dropped to the ground and fastened to a sling which supported the bundle as it was raised between the joists. The objective was to land the bundle across the ends of the joists so that the weight would be partly on the girder and partly on the joists. The bundle weighed 3,000 to 4,000 pounds, according to plaintiff, and 700 pounds according to his foreman’s testimony. The load was lifted above the level of the joists without incident. Plaintiff, who was then standing on the girder, turned the bundle 90 degrees so that it would come down across the joists, and by hand signals he directed the defendant’s crane operator to lower the load into position. The joists on which the load was landed had not yet been spot welded, and hence were held in position only by their own weight. Plaintiff said it was common practice to land sheeting on the joists before they had been welded or bolted down, though the crane operator testified he would not have landed that big a load if he had known the joists had not been welded. As the load came down, plaintiff stepped on top of the bundle to release the sling. The operator released the tension on the cable so that it could be unhooked from the sling. The bundle and two joists fell to the ground and plaintiff rode the bundle down. Plaintiff testified that immediately before the accident the bundle had been landed so that it rested across three joists, not more than 6 inches out from the girder. The crane operator said the bundle landed across two joists only, and that the joists collapsed under the weight. Plaintiff’s witnesses said that when the load was released the boom moved upward, striking one of the joists. The crane operator said the boom did not move at that time and never struck a joist.