Schreffler v. Birdsboro Corp., 73-1338.

• Decision Date: 24 January 1974
• Docket Number: No. 73-1338.,73-1338.
• Citation: 490 F.2d 1148
• Parties: Chester S. SCHREFFLER, Appellant, v. BIRDSBORO CORP., Defendant-Appellee, v. BETHLEHEM STEEL CORPORATION.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

490 F.2d 1148 (1974)

Chester S. SCHREFFLER, Appellant, v. BIRDSBORO CORP., Defendant-Appellee, v. BETHLEHEM STEEL CORPORATION.

No. 73-1338.

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.

Argued October 29, 1973.

Decided January 24, 1974.

S. Robert Levant, Richter, Syken, Ross & Levan, Philadelphia, Pa., for appellant.

Theodore W. Flowers, Thomas Raeburn White, Jr., White & Williams, Philadelphia, Pa., for defendant-appellee.

Before HASTIE, ALDISERT and WEIS, Circuit Judges.

OPINION OF THE COURT

WEIS, Circuit Judge.

We are concerned in this case with the claim of error in the entry of a directed verdict for the defendant in a personal injury suit brought on the theory of defective design of industrial equipment. While the legal principles are not particularly complicated, the highly specialized nature of the machinery and manufacturing operations involved require a somewhat extended discussion of the factual background.

Appellant Chester S. Schreffler, an employee of Bethlehem Steel Corporation, was severely injured at its Steelton, Pennsylvania plant when a fellow employee caused a load of hot steel billets to be pushed against Mr. Schreffler, squeezing him against the side of the machine on which he was working. The accident occurred on March 13, 1965 as the appellant was fastening chains around a load of billets resting on a "transfer table" preparatory to having a crane lift them to a nearby railroad car.¹

In the course of his duties as a "cradleman," it was necessary for Schreffler to stand upon the "transfer table" which was located between the "straightener" (a component utilized to straighten some of the rolled steel products manufactured in the mill) and the "shear" (a machine used to cut steel). The steel exiting from the "straightener" would be carried forward by a set of rollers, then moved in a reverse direction by a second set of rollers into the "shear" mechanism.

The "table" consisted generally of rollers in two parallel series separated by a number of parallel steel rails roughly twenty feet long and spaced five feet apart, running perpendicular to the line of direction of the rollers and at the same level above ground. A "rope drag" or "rope transfer," consisting of multiple depressible dogs pulled by chains, slid the various steel products over the rails from one series of rollers to the other. In addition to its function of facilitating the change of direction of the material being manufactured, the area between the rollers where the rails were located was intended to act as a temporary storage area for material being processed.

When Schreffler stepped onto a wire grating platform located between two of the rails, there were already two stacks of billets lying side-by-side on the surface of the rails. He had put the chain around the first stack of billets and was continuing his work when the accident occurred.

The rope drag operator had started an additional billet over the table from the first set of rollers to add to the second "load" when his attention was distracted by another billet coming out of the straightener. He was concerned about being struck by this billet, forgot that the billet on the table was continuing its progress toward the plaintiff, and consequently did not stop the machine in time.

The table was one of a number of items of mill equipment which had been manufactured by the defendant Birdsboro and installed in 1959 by the third-party defendant, Bethlehem.

Birdsboro, at the request of Bethlehem, had originally submitted a proposal to manufacture and sell the equipment in 1957, but the plan for a new mill was not carried through to fruition at that time. Bethlehem later revived the project, and with minor variations of the original plans and specifications, Birdsboro furnished the equipment in 1958 and early 1959.

The specifics of the machinery had been agreed upon after consultation between Birdsboro and Bethlehem engineers and to a great extent represented a joint effort of the two companies. It was understood that not all of the existing equipment in the Bethlehem plant was to be replaced, nor was Birdsboro given carte blanche to set up a complete mill. Bethlehem determined what new machinery and equipment it wanted and undertook the work of installation with its own employees. For example, while Bethlehem at one time had thought that it would extend its "cooling bed" and asked for a quotation from Birdsboro, that part of the project was never carried through, and Birdsboro was not asked to manufacture that item.

Although Bethlehem was to install the machinery, the contract did provide that Birdsboro was to have an erector on the scene to furnish technical advice. However, he was given no authority over anyone at Bethlehem. When the work was completed in March of 1959, the Birdsboro representative left the premises.

The installation of the transfer table, which measured 90 feet by 30 feet and had a gross weight of approximately 500,000 pounds, was a substantial undertaking and required the excavation of a foundation so that the table could be properly positioned. As originally designed, the spaces between the rails of the transfer table were left open, thus leaving a gap between the rails through which objects could fall to the floor several feet below. However, at the time of installation, Bethlehem placed solid steel plates between four of the sets of the rails, at a depth of 16 to 18 inches below their top surfaces.

The record does not disclose what use of these solid steel plates was contemplated at the time of their installation, but it is known that during the period between the time production of billets began in December, 1960 and the accident in 1965, the solid steel plates were utilized as walk-ways or platforms by the "cradlemen" who worked on the transfer table to unload billets.

The testimony was somewhat imprecise, but it seems that about a year or two after installation of the table, Bethlehem placed sheets of open steel grating in three or four of the remaining open spaces between the rails in a position similar to that of the solid steel plates. This was done in order to prevent falling accidents by the cradlemen working on the table. No evidence indicates any knowledge on the part of Birdsboro that this additional modification had been performed.

The machinery which Birdsboro had furnished is part of a "merchant mill" which produces such specialty steel items as rails, cutting edges, tractor shoes, guard rails, curb facing, and other products in addition to "billets" and "rounds" (rounded equivalents of billets).

Before the renovation, the mill had produced billets which were about 2 inches by 2 inches in cross section. But it was not until December of 1960, about a year and a half after delivery of the Birdsboro equipment, that Bethlehem began to manufacture billets using the new machinery.

Though it was not necessary for billets to be put through the "straightener," the practice was to adjust this device in such a fashion that the billets could pass through it, a procedure called "dummying." After being taken from the rollers by the rope drag, the billets were lifted to a railroad car by a crane hooking onto the chains fastened around the loads by the cradlemen.

Although there were billet discharge points at prior locations in the line of production,² they had not been utilized because experience had shown that the billets did not cool sufficiently in the old cooling beds. The new equipment, being more efficient, produced more billets in any given period of time than the old mill. Consequently the old cooling beds were not able to cope with the increased capacity of the new equipment. Therefore when the billets, not yet sufficiently cooled, were dropped into the cradles, warpage and bending occurred. To correct this problem, Bethlehem then began to take billets from the production line at the transfer table. Only billets were unloaded from this point, other products being taken from the line elsewhere.

In 1962 a safety analysis was prepared by Bethlehem experts recommending that steel "safety stops" be used on the transfer table at appropriate times to assure that the billets, moving from the first set of rollers, would not be moved all the way over to the other edge of the table where the cradlemen were working. These devices would prevent movement of a billet against a man if he remained in the area between the safety stop and the edge of the table. However, the company never adopted this safety measure, and it seems clear that if it had done so, the plaintiff would not have been injured.³

The record does not show that Birdsboro was ever informed of the use of the transfer table as an unloading point, nor was it told about the recommendation of the Bethlehem safety experts, nor indeed was there any evidence that the defendant knew that workmen would be on the table while hot steel products were being moved across it.

Bethlehem did not produce billets in the mill every day but usually did so only once or twice a month.

The plaintiff based his suit on theories of both strict liability under Section 402A of the Restatement of Torts⁴ and common law negligence. He contends that Birdsboro knew or should have known that Bethlehem would produce billets and that the only place they could be removed from the production line without bending was at the transfer table. He argues, therefore, that...