Injury Caused by Lifting a Heavy Beam Not Covered by Labor Law 240(1), Despite the Fact the Beam Was Resting on an Elevated Scaffold
The Second Department determined that plaintiff’s injury was not related to the type of hazard covered by Labor Law 240(1). Plaintiff injured his back when he lifted a beam which was resting on an elevated scaffold. The court explained:
“[T]he extraordinary protections of Labor Law § 240(1) extend only to a narrow class of special hazards, and do not encompass any and all perils that may be connected in some tangential way with the effects of gravity'” … . Rather, the statute was designed to prevent accidents in which a protective device, ” proved inadequate to shield the injured worker from harm directly flowing from the application of the force of gravity to an object or person'” … .
Contrary to the plaintiff’s contention, the Supreme Court properly granted that branch of [the defendant’s] motion which was for summary judgment dismissing the cause of action alleging a violation of Labor Law § 240(1). * * * … [T]he plaintiff failed to raise a triable issue of fact as to whether his injury arose from an elevation-related risk contemplated by the statute, rather than from the usual and ordinary dangers of the construction site … . The fact that the plaintiff was injured while lifting a heavy object does not give rise to liability pursuant to Labor Law § 240(1) … . Cardenas v BBM Constr. Corp., 2015 NY Slip Op 08142, 2nd Dept 11-12-15