The Washington Companies Determined to be Causing Employer in Accident
The ongoing case involves ETON of North Las Vegas, NV and one of the Washington Companies facilities based in Rochester, WA. The Federal lawsuit is about an unfortunate accident involving Komatsu equipment loaded by a Washington Companies employee and then transported by ETON. Due to the Komatsu equipment being loaded incorrectly, the Komatsu equipment struck a major interstate bridge in the State of Washington causing damage to the bridge. The rebuilding of the bridge caused a major disruption to people in the area who had relied on the bridge for decades to get from one side of the interstate to the other.
During the deposition of expert witness Mr. Stranne, Washington Companies attorney, Mr. Steve Stocker of Stocker Smith Luciani & Staub of Spokane, WA, repeatedly asked about the duties of the controlling work site employer Washington Companies and the duties of the carrier ETON. Mr. Stranne outlined the following scene in an effort to clarify the respective exposure for culpability within the OSHA realm of work place safety and jurisdictional control to better help Washington Companies attorney Mr. Stocker understand who was at fault based on OSHA statues.
The scene that Mr. Stranne outlined was had the ETON driver been sent to a hospital with injuries as a result of the bridge strike, the accident would have been deemed a workplace injury. The injures and the hospitalization of the driver would have triggered a State of Washington OSHA investigation into what caused the accident that put the driver in the hospital. Mr. Stranne, as the OSHA expert, explained that in his opinion the Washington Companies would have been cited as the "causing party" of the accidental bridge strike.
Mr. Stranne's informed conclusions were based on fact that the Komatsu equipment was loaded at a Washington Companies controlled work site and a Washington Companies employee performed the loading of said equipment. The reason for his opinion finding fault against Washington Companies was three-fold according to Mr. Stranne. First, the loading of the equipment went against the manufactures recommendations, which Washington Companies has a duty to follow. Second, it was against the industry standard, and third, it varied from Washington Companies customary manner in which this type of Komatsu equipment was loaded. Mr. Stranne explained Washington Companies had an OSHA mandated duty to follow all three methods in the loading of the Komatsu equipment on the flatbed trailer, which the Washington Companies employee failed to do. In that Washington Companies deviated from these three standards, OSHA would have determined Washington Companies to be the root cause of the accident.
Mr. Stranne declined to speculate about what the parties' duties might have been according to other federal or state agencies but testified about what he saw as the causing factors from his expertise with OSHA and determined the loader loading the Komatsu equipment loaded it wrong. Washington Companies loader, Mr. Tyler Piles violated the manufacture loading steps, the industry standards on how the equipment should be loaded, and Washington Companies own customary manner of loading this type of equipment. As an employee of Washington Companies, this would make Washington Companies the "causing employer" of the bridge strike.
Modern Machinery a part of a large consortium of privately held companies collectively known as the Washington Companies, owned by billionaire Dennis R. Washington. Modern Machinery sells and rents high quality heavy equipment and provides product support to the construction, mining, and forestry industries. The Modern Machinery terminal in Rochester, WA is a home to a large staging area for a variety of Komatsu product brought from overseas awaiting shipment to other Komatsu dealers.
ETON is a Las Vegas-based premier transportation company serving the Western United States with equipment, professional drivers and superior on-time service.
Komatsu America Corp. is a U.S. subsidiary of Komatsu Ltd., (OTCMKTS: KMTUY) the world's second largest manufacturer and supplier of earth-moving equipment, consisting of construction, mining and compact construction equipment.
CONTACT:
Mitchell Truman, ETON.me
http://www.ETON.me, +(702) 348 6370
Environmental Transportation of Nevada, LLC
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