Sikorski v. Link Elec. & Safety Control Co., 70187

• Decision Date: 27 January 1997
• Docket Number: No. 70187,70187
• Citation: 117 Ohio App.3d 822,691 N.E.2d 749
• Parties: SIKORSKI, Appellant, v. LINK ELECTRIC AND SAFETY CONTROL COMPANY, Appellee. * Eighth District, Cuyahoga County
• Court: Ohio Court of Appeals

Page 822

117 Ohio App.3d 822

691 N.E.2d 749

SIKORSKI, Appellant, v. LINK ELECTRIC AND SAFETY CONTROL COMPANY, Appellee. ^*

No. 70187.

Court of Appeals of Ohio,

Eighth District, Cuyahoga County.

Decided Jan. 27, 1997.

Michael J. Flament and Daniel J. Ryan, Cleveland, for appellant.

King & Ballow, and Douglas R. Pierce, Nashville, TN; Weston, Hurd, Fallon, Paisley & Howley, Timothy D. Johnson and William H. Baughman, Jr., Cleveland, for appellee.

PORTER, Presiding Judge.

Plaintiff-appellant Michael Sikorski appeals from an order of the trial court granting summary judgment in favor of defendant-appellee Link Electric and Safety Control Company on plaintiff's product liability claim that defendant's safety device failed to protect him from injuries, including loss of his right arm and the fingers of his left hand during operation of a metal stamping press. Plaintiff claims that disputed issues of fact precluded summary judgment. We disagree and affirm the judgment for the reasons stated below.

The eight-hundred-ton metal stamping press on which plaintiff was injured was manufactured by Danly Machine Company and originally sold in 1956 to General Motors Corporation ("GMC"), which used it to stamp out metal panels for automobiles at its Fisher Body Division. In 1988, Tool Producers, Inc., a manufacturer located in Middleburg Heights, Ohio, purchased the press from a used machinery dealer, and it was installed and retrofitted for operation at Tool Producers in 1989. When it arrived at Tool Producers, the press had been completely disassembled, and Tool Producers had to "rebuild" the press. In rebuilding the press, Tool Producers sought to make the press "like new." To achieve this result, Tool Producers replaced many components of the press, including the brakes.

The press was used to form sheet metal between a set of dies. During the press cycle, the upper die (attached to the press ram or slide) descends and strikes the metal placed on the lower die (attached to the press bed). The press therefore contains a "point of operation" where the upper die strikes the metal placed on the lower die of the press. Section 1910.211(d)(45), Title 29, C.F.R. Under both the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration Regulations ("OSHA") and the Ohio Administrative Code, Tool Producers was required to provide some means of safeguarding that point of operation. Section 1910.217, Title 29, C.F.R.; Ohio Adm.Code 4121:1-5-10.

During that installation process, Tool Producers elected to safeguard the press with a presence-sensing electronic device manufactured by Link and commonly known as a "Link Lite," which it purchased from Link's distributor, Pace Enterprises. A Link Lite creates a vertical electronic "sensing field" in front of the point of operation of a press that, when interrupted, sends a stop signal to the press, thereby stopping the operation of the press before something or someone can enter the point of operation. The sensing field and the presence sensing device are also referred to as a "light curtain" or a "light screen." A Link Lite consists of two components, a light source and a light receiver. On the press in question, the light source was located on the right side of the press, and the light receiver was located on the left. The light receiver is the controlling portion of the Link Lite. The light receiver consists of a set of electronic components contained in a locked metal box.

Tool Producers had used Link Lites for years, stocked them in inventory, and installed them on other machinery in its plant. Tool Producers understood the Link Lites to be "universal," and not specifically designed for any particular press. However, Tool Producers also knew that it would have to manufacture special brackets for installing Link Lites "because each and every application is totally different." Tool Producers knew of the requirements for installing the Link Lites because Link provided a manual with the Link Lites and because Tool Producers knew of the OSHA regulation relating to the installation of presence-sensing devices. Tool Producers did not seek from Link any additional information concerning installation of the Link Lites, since it had the information contained in the Link Lite manual. Although Tool Producers believed that it provided Link with a drawing of the press, Link did not design the installation of the Link Lites. Tool Producers fabricated in house the brackets to accommodate the Link Lites on the press.

Both OSHA and the Ohio Administrative Code require that all presence-sensing devices be positioned a minimum distance away from a point of operation. Section 1910.217(c)(3)(iii)(e), Title 29, C.F.R.; Ohio Adm.Code 4121:1-5-10(D)(3)(c)(v). This minimum distance is calculated by using an equation that includes the stopping time of the particular press and the governmentally mandated assumption that the human body could move into the point of operation at a speed of sixty-three inches per second. Id. Essentially, the distance the presence-sensing device is placed from the point of operation is determined by how quickly the press can stop or brake. The government mandates this minimum distance in order to prevent a presence-sensing device from being positioned so close to the point of operation that a person could interrupt the sensing field and move into the point of operation before the press has time to stop. Therefore, the slower the stopping or braking time of the press, the further the presence-sensing device must be set away from the pinch point (or point of operation) so that the operator of the press cannot "beat the press" by getting through the light curtain and into the point of operation before the press can stop. To assist its customers in complying with governmentally mandated minimum distance, Link provides a simple chart that shows precalculated minimum distances for positioning the Link Lite.

Because a presence-sensing device must be positioned a specific minimum distance away from the point of operation, in some circumstances the sensing field could be far enough from the point of operation that there would be room for an operator to stand between the sensing field and the point of operation. Under those circumstances, an operator would not benefit from the intended protection of the presence-sensing device. Therefore, the instructions provided with the Link Lite provide that in such a situation, "a physical obstruction to prevent the operator(s) from standing inside the Link Lite sensing field should be used. Alternatively, a secondary Link Lite, mounted horizontally and extending outward from the machine may be used to prevent the machine from cycling when someone is inside the primary sensing field."

In the process of retrofitting and installing the press, Tool Producers installed one Link Lite vertically at chest height ("primary sensing field" or "upper Link Lite") in front of the point of operation. The space between the press and the primary sensing field was large enough to allow a person to stand between the two without interrupting the primary sensing field. Tool Producers, however, also installed a second Link Lite about thigh high ("secondary sensing field" or "lower Link Lite") between the sensing field of the upper Link Lite and the point of operation. Although Tool Producers mounted the lower Link Lite vertically instead of horizontally, this in no way affected the operation of the sensing field or the safety function of the lower Link Lite: the vertical installation meant simply that the plane of the secondary sensing field created by the lower Link Lite was vertical rather than horizontal. Moreover, with this vertical installation, the space between the primary sensing field and the pinch point was narrow enough that plaintiff's expert, Richard Harkness, concluded that it was not physically possible for plaintiff to be between the primary sensing field and the point of operation without interrupting the secondary sensing field. In fact, at the time of the accident, plaintiff's body was interrupting the secondary sensing field. Therefore, in this case, the vertical installation of the lower Link Lite protected plaintiff as much as a horizontal installation.

In the summer of 1991, the plaintiff, Mike Sikorski, was nineteen years old and was home for the summer from George Washington University. He responded to an ad in the newspaper for a position with Cencor Temporary Services, a temporary help agency. He worked a couple of job assignments for Cencor customers and then was sent to Tool Producers. He reported in early July and was there approximately two weeks before his accident. Sikorski never received any training at Cencor and had not previously operated presses. During the two weeks, Sikorski worked a couple of different jobs, and on the morning of July 12, 1991, was assigned for the first time to work on the Danly press that stamped out door panels for GMC vans. He was assigned to that position by Keith Reynolds, the supervisor of press operations at Tool Producers, who instructed Sikorski and four other individuals how the job was to be run.

The press was set up with two sets of dies, so that with each cycle of the press two stampings were done. The two sets of dies were set up beside each other. Plaintiff and one other member of the crew were each assigned a particular set of dies. Plaintiff was assigned the second or left set of dies. Sam Carmicle was assigned the first or right set of dies. The five-man crew's mode of operation was as follows: after the press would cycle, plaintiff would remove the piece of metal formed on his set of dies and hand it to a person behind him. Plaintiff would then receive from Carmicle another piece of metal that plaintiff would place in the second set of dies. Carmicle would place another piece of metal in the first set of dies. Plaintiff and Carmicle would then step away from the press by moving...