Admitting Lock-Out, Tag-Out Procedure Would Have Prevented Incident Dooms Failure To Warn Claims
Under Delaware law, a manufacturer or distributor’s duty to warn “extends only to those who can reasonably be assumed are ignorant of the danger.” Following a maintenance mechanic’s injury at a Delaware plastics manufacturing facility sustained when a pump exploded while he was attempting to change out an embossing roll on a pump assembly, the mechanic alleged a failure to warn claim against multiple defendants involved in the distribution chain for the equipment. The Superior Court of Delaware dismissed the claim, finding that the mechanic was admittedly aware of the dangerous propensity at issue (specifically, the fact that the equipment did not have a pressure-relief valve, which the mechanic knew from investigating a prior incident). The mechanic had received training on the lock-out, tag-out procedure required for this piece of equipment and had performed that procedure many times, but did not perform a lock-out, tag-out procedure on the day of his injury. He admitted in deposition that if he had performed the procedure, the injury would not have happened. As a result, the court granted summary judgment to the defendants.
