Jose Galvan v. Husqvarna Construction Products and Pirtano Construction
Jose Galvan v. Husqvarna Construction Products and Pirtano Construction
Type: Products liability
Practice Area: Product Liability
Location: Lake County, Illinois
Result: $1,800,000 settled prior to trial and waiver of workers compensation lien
Strellis & Field, Chartered settles the first reported case against Husqvarna Construction Products for the defective design of the Target Pro 65III Walk Behind Concrete Saw.
On June 3, 2003, Jose Galvan, a 46 year old Chicago Construction laborer was injured while working as a bottom man assisting in the placement of a new sewer line in Lake County, Illinois. At that time a co-worker was operating the Target Pro 65III Walk Behind Concrete Saw with a 36 inch diamond blade. Suddenly, the diamond blade disengaged from the saw and became an extremely dangerous sharp projectile. Jose Galvan was struck in his non dominant left arm causing a severe laceration of his arm below his elbow slicing his ulnar nerve. Jose underwent two surgeries to repair his ulnar nerve eventually regaining function in his left hand, however suffering permanent loss of strength and clawing.
The Target saw involved in this case was alleged to have several design flaws. First, the saw’s arbor shaft assembly (flange, pin and bolt) was unsafe by failing to have the adequate strength and integrity and/or symmetry to minimize vibration during operation under conditions that would normally be associated with its use. In simple terms, the saw failed to evenly distribute the forces during its operation causing the risk of wobbling and eventually arbor shaft breakage that places workers and others at risk of a blade projectile. Second, the saw failed to have a clutch mechanism so that the walk behind saw could be moved without the blade being engaged and rotating at a high rate of speed. The saw involved in this case weighed nearly 1200 lbs. Just like a self propelled lawnmower or a snow blower, the driving of the wheels could be engaged while the saw was on. However, whenever the saw was powered on, if a blade was fastened on the machine, the diamond blade of the saw would rotate at a high rate of speed. A saw operator could not engage the wheels to move the saw without having the saw blade rotate. This of course exposed the workers to risks associated with a spinning blade.
Third, addressing the same issue of the risk of the spinning blade, the subject saw did not have a limit switch so that the power to the saw would be cut off when the saw blade guard was not fully locked down.
Husqvarna is a worldwide manufacturer of concrete walk behind construction saws. This is believed to be the first case recorded where Husqvarna settled a claim for personal injuries resulting from the defective design allegations noted above. In order to prove the allegations that the saw was defectively designed, Strellis & Field retained Joseph Kaminsky, PhD. Joseph Kaminsky is an engineer practicing out of Silicon Valley, Ca. Dr. Kaminsky used a state-of-the-art computer stress analysis to show the defects with the arbor / shaft assembly system used in the Target saw.
In addition to the $850,000 recovered from Husqvarna, the plaintiff recovered $850,000 from the general contractor on the jobsite. In the state of Illinois, construction sites are governed by OSHA. The U.S. Department of Labor has jurisdiction to cite employers for violations of OSHA regulations in place for workers safety. Here the general contractor on the jobsite violated several provisions of OSHA that resulted in the injuries described above. Strellis & Field recovered an additional $100,000 and a waiver of the workers compensation lien from the plaintiff’s employer.
Jose was unable to return to work as a laborer but has returned to the workforce.