Get billboard insurance and make sure your billboards are up to code.  In April 2016 a New York Court of Appeals found that a property owner was liable for injuries a worker sustained while adding extensions to a billboard.  You can read an analysis of the case in Insurance Journal.  Here’s the background.

• New York Scaffold law holds that property owners and contractors are liable for most gravity related injuries to construction workers.

• Joseph Saint was installing a billboard extension on a 59 foot billboard on property owned by Syracuse Supply.  The board had lower and upper catwalks.  All the catwalks had safety cables but only the lower catwalk had a safety rail.

• Saint was on the lower rear catwalk when other crew members called for assistance because they were having difficulty due to the day’s wind conditions. He went to the upper catwalk to assist them, and in order to get around one of the crew members, he detached his lanyard from the catwalk’s safety cable. Before he was able to reattach the lanyard, a strong wind gust caused the vinyl to strike plaintiff in the chest, knocking him ten feet below onto the lower rear catwalk, where he landed with his back on an I-beam, and sustained shoulder and back injuries.

• Saint sued Syracuse Supply alleging violations for labor law and claims for lost income.  Lower Courts found that the property owner was not liable for damages because the billboard extension was deemed cosmetic maintenance and not construction.

• The New York Court of Appeals overruled the decision.  It ruled that adding an extension to the sign was construction because the sign was being altered with metal bolts.  It also ruled the Syracuse Supply was not complying with New York labor law because it did not have a safety railing around the upper rear catwalk form which Saint fell.

Insider’s take:  Another case which points out the importance of billboard insurance.  The property owner was liable for a injuries a worker sustained while attaching a billboard extension.  The case also points to the importance of good safety procedures and safe billboard design.  The worker fell when he unhooked his safety cable.  The billboard lacked a safety rail on the upper catwalk.

OAAA will conduct a safety seminar September 12-13 at the Embassy Suites in downdown Indianapolis.  The cost of the conference is $250 for OAAA members and $400 for non-members. You can learn more about the conference at the OAAA’s safety seminar page or by contacting Marci Werlinich, mwerlinich@oaaa.org.

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