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Fourth Heat Treatment Workshop
Pest Control:Liabilities and Risk Management
August 5, 2003by
Michael T. Olexa
Food and Resource Economics Department
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This is a Teaching Lecture Based on Hypotheticals and Actual Case Law and is Not an Offering of Legal Advice or Opinion.
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The Playing Field
Increase in Lawsuits
Increase in Regulations
Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt. --
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Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt. --
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Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt. -- Increase in Lawsuits
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Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt. -- Increase in Lawsuits
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On bread pudding:
“Product will be hot after heating”.
Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt. -- Increase in Lawsuits
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On clothes iron:
“Do not iron clothes on body”.
Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt. -- Increase in Lawsuits
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On a sleep aid:
“Warning...may cause drowsiness”.
Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt. -- Increase in Lawsuits
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On a chainsaw:
“Do not attempt to stop chain with your hands or genitals”.
Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt. -- Increase in Lawsuits
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Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt.--
Branches of government
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Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt.--
Fourth Branch of Government
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Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt.-- Administrative Agencies
Pythagorean theorem: 24 words
The Ten Commandments: 179 words
The Gettysburg Address: 286 words
The Declaration of Independence: 1,300 words
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Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt.-- Administrative Agencies
U.S. Government regulations on the sale of cabbage:26,911 words
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Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt.--
Risk Management
Liability Awareness
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Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt.--
EDUCATION
Training
TrainingTraining
TrainingTraining
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Outline:
I. Risk Management
Assessment
Communication
Take Action
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Outline:II. Risk Management
Case Study One:Negligence/Workplace Fatality
Case Study Two:Pest Control/Independent Contractors
Case Study Three:Employer/Employee-Vicarious Liability
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Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt.--
AAssessmentssessment
CCommunicationommunication
TTake Actionake Action
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Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt.-- Risk Management/Assessment
I. Risk Management
A. AssessmentHazard Identification Established by law and experience
Example:
Law-Pesticide label
Experience-Safe application
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Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt.-- Risk Management/Assessment
Hazard Characterization Consider potential hazards in
different situations
Example:
Fumigation versus Heat Treatment
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Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt.-- Risk Management/Communication
B. CommunicationImportant during risk assessment and taking action phase
Example:Providing Information
Education Training,
Training, Training
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C. Take ActionObjective: Reduce risk to the lowest practical or achievable level
Example:
Once risk is identified, follow through with recommended procedures to handle the risk.
If recommended alternatives exist, select the best alternative.
Implement, and
Keep informed, evaluate, and review.
Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt.-- Risk Management/ Take Action
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Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt.--
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Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt.--
StructuredStructured
CommonCommon
SenseSense
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Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt.--
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Liability Exposure
Cost of doing business.
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Fumigation or Heat Treatment
Both carry inherent liability risks.
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Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt. --
NegligenceNegligence
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Negligence
Omitting to do something that a reasonable person would do under “ like circumstances” or the doing of something which a reasonable person would not do.
Point: Foreseeability
Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt. -- Legal Basics/Negligence
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Negligence
Elements of:Duty
Breach of duty
Causation
Damages or injury
Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt. -- Legal Basics/Negligence
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Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt. -- Legal Basics/Negligence
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Case Study One - Negligence/Workplace Fatality
Summary of Facts:Victim, a 55 year old male, died of suffocation after
becoming engulfed in soybean hulls in a storage bin. Deceased and his co-workers attempted to unload a bin’s compartment containing 18.6 tons of soybean hulls by opening the side gate under the compartment hopper and pounding on the hopper sides to dislodge the hulls. The effort failed to dislodge the hulls. Victim entered the bin to dislodge bridged material with a metal rod. Grain began to flow. When victim failed to join co-workers at lunch, the co-workers decided to look for the victim.
Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt. -- Legal Basics/Negligence
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Case Study One - Negligence/Workplace Fatality
Results: Defendant employer liable.
Legal Cause: Negligence
Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt. -- Legal Basics/Negligence
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Case Study One - Negligence/Workplace Fatality
Negligence
Duty
Breach of Duty
Caused
Victim’s death
Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt. -- Legal Basics/Negligence
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Case Study One - Negligence/Workplace Fatality
Rationale
Duty
To protect employees from injury.
Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt. -- Legal Basics/Negligence
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Case Study One - Negligence/Workplace Fatality
RationaleBreach of duty
FAILED to develop, implement and enforce a written safety program.
FAILED to ensure that workers entering storage areas wear safety belts or harnesses equipped and properly fastened life lines.
FAILED to ensure that safety signs were posted to warn of workplace hazards
Caused
Victim’s death
Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt. -- Legal Basics/Negligence
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Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt. -- Legal Basics/Negligence
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Case Study Two - Pest Control/Independent Contractors
Summary of Facts:
Defendant, owner of milling complex, hired a fumigator to treat the complex. Shortly after the fumigation, several students visiting the complex became ill. The students sued the owner. Defendant owner argues protection from liability because injury caused by hired independent contractor.
Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt. -- Legal Basics/Negligence
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Results: Defendant owner liable
Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt. -- Legal Basics/Negligence
Case Study Two - Pest Control/Independent Contractor
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Rationale: Nondelegation Rule
In general, a party is not liable for the negligent act of an independent contractor
Exception generally recognized:
When party employs a contractor to carry on an inherently dangerous activity, that party cannot insulate themselves from liability.
Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt. -- Legal Basics/Negligence
Case Study Two - Pest Control/Independent Contractor
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FumigationDefendant-Milling Complex Owner
Fumigator/Independent Contractor
Plaintiff-Injured Parties
Heat TreatmentDefendant-Milling Complex Owner
Heat Applicator/Independent Contractor
Plaintiff-Injured Parties
Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt. -- Legal Basics/Negligence
Case Study Two - Pest Control/Independent Contractor
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Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt. -- Legal Basics
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Case Study Three - Employer/Employee
Summary of Facts:At 8:30am in August of 1996, plaintiff placed her pet
snakes on the outdoor deck of her house. All snakes were healthy when placed on the deck. At noon, the defendant’s employee arrived and sprayed the home and a portion of the deck. When the plaintiff arrived home, all the reptiles were dead. The pesticide used was toxic to reptiles. Plaintiff sued. Defendant employer found vicariously liable for the actions of its employee.
Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt. -- Employer/Employee--Vicarious Liability
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Case Study Three - Employer/Employee Vicarious Liability: Defined
Employer is held liable to a third party for the civil wrong of the employee for no other reason than the fact that their exists a job relationship between the employer and employee and that the employee was acting within the scope of that relationship when she committed the civil wrong.
Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt. -- Employer/Employee--Vicarious Liability
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Case Study Three - Employer/Employee
A Form of Strict Liability
Employer may be sued for injuries caused by the employee to a third party even though the employer was totally innocent of personal fault in the third party’s injuries.
Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt. -- Employer/Employee--Vicarious Liability
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Case Study Three - Employer/Employee Justification
Employer has some control over the employee’s conductEmployer started the activity from which the civil wrong happenedEmployer selected the employeeVicarious liability comes with the privilege of employing someone
$ Employer likely to have more money than employee
Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt. -- Employer/Employee--Vicarious Liability
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Case Study Three - Employer/Employee
Pest Control: Liabilities & Risk Mgmt. -- Employer/Employee--Vicarious Liability
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Conclusion
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