our law: COLUMN
Be Careful of
Dangerous Traps
By Mark Haney,
Partner, Puls Haney Kaiser PLLC
A friend and I recently tried a case to verdict involving
a man who fell through a skylight, 35 feet to a concrete
floor. Although he survived, he suffered profound injuries. His back and right leg were shattered. The leg had
to be amputated below the knee. He required a fivelevel back fusion. He broke his arm, ribs, and punctured
a lung. He is lucky to have survived. His life will never
be the same.
At trial the company’s CEO was indifferent to the
known risks of their skylight product. He was aware
of at least eight fall-through deaths and admitted that
there may have been several more. When he was asked
specifically about a fall-through of one of his company’s
skylights that he actually witnessed, he had no sympathy for the injured man and accused the man of causing
his injuries. The CEO called the man who fell “stupid”
for having caused the fall. When asked why not make
the product of sufficient strength to support the human
loads, the CEO said that they chose “sales over safety.”
He actually said that he chose not to change his product, because injuries and deaths only happened to
one tenth of one percent of the people exposed to his
product. The jury awarded $34.8 million in damages.
(Steven Landers v. Wasco Products, 48th District Court,
Tarrant County, Texas)
Skylights should be viewed as a dangerous trap. They
should be guarded or screened to protect people from
falling. Among the most vulnerable are firemen, EMS
first responders, and law enforcement who must go up
on roofs during all weather conditions, when visibility of the skylight could be obscured. Last year in the
Northeast, due to high snow falls, they saw a spike in
non-work related fall-through deaths from people up on
their rooftops shoveling snow and inadvertently stepping on a skylight obscured by snow.
Great things are going on in Parker County. Hope
you stay safe and well to enjoy the area’s wonderful
quality of life.
PA R K E R C O U N T Y T O D AY
If you have skylights at your home, barn or other
properties, or if you must go up on a commercial
roof that has skylights, be very careful and stay a safe
distance from the skylights. Consider guarding or
screening skylights that are on your property. Wear fall
protection if it is available to you. Please join me in
warning others of the dangers associated with skylights.
JUNE 2016
Hopefully such a fall never happens to you or anyone
you know or love. During the course of the case, we
learned a lot. The skylight industry has historically
manufactured an 1/8 inch thick, domed acrylic skylight.
These skylights have been the industry standard for
years. There are millions of them installed on commercial and residential roof tops all around the country,
including in your neighborhood. These skylights are not
of sufficient strength to support the weight of a human
being. Anyone who accidently steps or falls onto one
will likely fall through. According to OSHA reports,
there are approximately 48 fall-through death cases
year-on-year. This is considered to be underreported,
and does not take into account deaths at homes, barns
or other locations outside of the workplace. It is estimated that annual deaths alone from falls through skylights
are in the hundreds and does not include falls through
skylights resulting in serious injuries. I remain hopeful
that this verdict sends a message to the skylight industry
to change their practices. Lives matter more than profits.
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