Jarrell v. Fort Worth Steel & Mfg. Co.
| Decision Date | 24 January 1984 |
| Docket Number | No. 44067,44067 |
| Citation | 666 S.W.2d 828 |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
| Parties | James F. JARRELL and Annis Gayle Jarrell, Plaintiffs-Respondents, v. FORT WORTH STEEL & MANUFACTURING CO., Defendant-Appellant. |
Fritz G. Faerber, Lucas & Murphy, P.C., St. Louis, for defendant-appellant.
James P. Holloran, St. Louis, for plaintiffs-respondents.
James and Annis Gayle Jarrell, husband and wife, instituted this action for money damages against Fort Worth Steel and Machinery Company and R.J. McCullough, in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis to recover for injuries sustained by Mr. Jarrell when his right arm was caught in an ice conveyor manufactured by Fort Worth, purchased by his employer, Swift & Company, and installed in the latter's poultry processing plant at Dexter, Missouri. Judgment was entered on a jury verdict of $1,500,000.00 in favor of Mr. Jarrell and The plaintiffs based their cause of action against Fort Worth (hereinafter "Fort Worth" or "defendant") on a strict liability theory in tort for a defective product, and the cause was submitted to the jury on the strict liability theory. MAI 25.04.
$100,000.00 in favor of Mrs. Jarrell for her loss of consortium. Fort Worth filed a timely notice of appeal. 1
The conveyor system in this case was manufactured by Fort Worth in 1968, sold to Swift & Company and installed in its poultry processing plant in Dexter, Missouri. This ice conveyor carried ice from the ice crusher machine in Swift's poultry plant to various work stations throughout the plant. These work stations were located in several different rooms in the plant. The ice was accessible through overhead discharge points.
The conveyor's auger screw was encased in a galvanized housing. It was powered by a ten-horsepower electrical motor mounted on the top of the assembly. The screw itself consisted of a nine-inch diameter spiral flighting welded into a two-inch diameter hollow shaft. This screw apparatus was attached to a drive shaft by means of two bolts often described at trial as shear pins. Plaintiff, who was chief of maintenance at the Swift plant in Dexter, testified that when the ice conveyor broke down it was frequently a result of the conveyor pins shearing. There was testimony that these shear pins were designed to be the weakest point in the system so that in the event of an overload the pins would shear before the motor burned out or the gear box stripped.
The conveyor system had two 8"' X 10"' access doors, one at the top of the vertical unit and the other at the bottom. The bottom access door, approximately 20 inches off the floor, was referred to as an "inspection" door or clean-out door in case the unit became jammed.
The electricity for the ice conveyor's ten-horsepower engine could be shut off and padlocked out at the main power disconnect switch in the engine room of the plant. In addition, three start-stop switches located along a horizontal section of the ice conveyor controlled its operation. Once the main power disconnect switch was in the "off" position, none of the start-stop buttons could activate the conveyor. To start the ice conveyor after it had been shut off at the main switch, it was necessary to turn on the main power disconnect switch by moving the lever to the "up" or "on" position and to push "on" any one of the three start-stop switches (one of which was located near the accident site). Even if the main power disconnect switch was not shut off, if one depressed one of these start-stop switches, and held the button in the depressed or stopped position, one could not start the system from either of the two remaining switches. The plaintiff testified that when a stop button was depressed, this would lock out the machine's circuit so no electricity could pass through the system. Because the conveyor system carried ice through several rooms of the Dexter plant, a person in one room working along the conveyor could not see a person in another room working near the same conveyor because vision was obstructed by intervening walls.
The ice conveyor assembly when delivered to Swift was accompanied by instructions and was match-marked at defendant's factory to aid the assembly process. Testimony was that if the conveyor as sold was put together following these instructions, the only thing remaining to be done to operate the equipment was to hook up a ten-horsepower engine to the system. By custom in the screw conveyor industry, manufacturers do not provide electrical components with their conveyor packages.
The Swift Company hired an independent electrician to install the motor, controls, and electrical wiring on the ice conveyor. Evidence at trial revealed that this independent
electrician chose the particular wiring and start-stop switches used, and that he received no advice from defendant Fort Worth as to any of the electrical hookups required nor recommendations for switches or interlocks to be used at the access doors. Wiring and bolts excluded, all mechanical components and drive units of the conveyor were manufactured by the defendant. There was testimony that at the time of the accident the system was in the same condition as when originally assembled, and that it had been put together in compliance with the drawings and instructions from the defendant.
On July 16, 1975, Mr. Jarrell was head of maintenance at Swift's Dexter plant. He was 36 years of age and an experienced machinist. Late that morning he received a call that the ice conveyor had broken down. He had serviced this ice conveyor over a period of two years while he worked for Swift. At this time he was preparing to transfer from the Dexter plant to a Swift plant in Georgia, and on this particular morning was accompanied by R.J. McCullough, the second defendant, who was to be his replacement in the Dexter maintenance department.
Both men went through the plant engine room where the main power switch for the ice conveyor was located and shut it off. The maintenance policy at the Dexter plant was that prior to servicing any electrically powered machinery, Swift personnel were to "lock out" the power to the machinery by throwing the main power disconnect lever to the down or "off" position, and to secure the lever in this position with a padlock.
Although Mr. Jarrell had been supplied a padlock for this purpose, on this occasion he failed to use the padlock because when he threw the main power switch he learned his padlock was not on his tool belt.
On occasion the Swift maintenance men, if they did not have their padlocks with them, would place a tag on the switch reading "do not touch," after shutting off the power to the ice conveyor at the main disconnect. Mr. Jarrell did not on this occasion put such a tag on the switch. His reason for not doing so was that he did not "trust" their use. He testified that he believed the only safe procedures were to padlock out the power at the main switch or to lock out the current at one of the remote start-stop switches; and that from past experience he knew that if the main power switch was not padlocked out, someone might turn on the main power disconnect after someone else had pulled the switch off and had tagged the switch with a "do not touch" tag.
After leaving the engine room, both men went to the vertical section of the ice conveyor where Mr. Jarrell assumed the cause of the breakdown might be. Prior to commencing work on the conveyor, Mr. Jarrell pushed in the start switch to see if the main power was still shut off. Satisfied that it was, Mr. Jarrell pushed the stop button, removed the horizontal cover and examined the shear pins. After determining that the shear pins at that location were "all right," he proceeded to inspect the shear pins in the conveyor's vertical section. According to Mr. Jarrell, these shear pins were higher than the lower access door, and to ascertain whether they were damaged it was necessary for maintenance personnel to place their arm inside the auger housing at this point and "feel" if the shear pins were damaged.
Before he placed his arm in the conveyor, Mr. Jarrell explained to Mr. McCullough what he was about to do and instructed him to depress the stop button on the remote switch to lock out the power, so that it would not be possible to activate the machine.
As Mr. Jarrell was on his knees, facing away from Mr. McCullough, he could not actually see Mr. McCullough depress the stop button. He did, however, ask Mr. McCullough to lock out the switch and Mr. McCullough responded in the affirmative. Mr. Jarrell placed his right arm through the access door and while reaching upwards to examine the shear pins the ice conveyor was activated by someone. As a result, Mr. Jarrell lost his right arm.
At the time Mr. Jarrell sustained his injuries he was earning approximately $18,000.00 per year. His evidence was that his loss of wages came to $101,578.00 at time of trial. Expert testimony placed the present value of his loss of future wages between $326,483.00 and $687,343.00.
From the evidence, the jury could reasonably have found that the inspection door on the conveyor at the accident site was so located that a maintenance man could not see the lower shear pins without exposing himself to danger. The jury was required to find that the manufacturer should have reasonably anticipated that maintenance people, such as Mr. Jarrell, would insert their arms through the access door to service the conveyor. The thrust of the Jarrells' case was that a designer of a system of this kind--an ice conveyor--has the duty to take into account certain features essential to the safe operation of the conveyor, regardless of who supplies or installs the electrical hardware. It is clear that the jury was of the same opinion.
On appeal, Fort Worth, presents seven Points...
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