62 THE QUEENS COURIER • HEALTH • DECEMBER 7, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Q: I am a truck driver. One day, I was moving a loaded pallet jack onto a
truck. My employer had rented this truck. Its tailgate was equipped with a
hydraulic lift gate. A lift gate is used to load and unload, to raise and lower, cargo.
The lift gate was a sloped one – angled upward from the ground to the truck.
With no problem, I pushed the jack onto the lift gate. When it got level
with the tailgate, I started pushing my jack into the truck. Unfortunately, there
was a gap between the tailgate and the lift gate. A wheel of my jack got caught in
this gap. As I maneuvered the jack free, it began rolling backwards, and knocked
me to the ground.
A: Although the owner may make the outrageous contention that a gap like
this is an ordinary and obvious hazard of a truck loader’s employment, there is no
reason to think that the owner can prove this contention.
You may well want to hire an expert, such as a licensed engineer and
motor vehicle inspector, who can testify that the gap developed over the course of
months as a result of wear and tear and improper maintenance. As always, it is
very helpful if you have some photographs – in this case, of the slope and of the
gap. In this way, your expert will have something tangible to stand on, even if she
does not get to examine the truck.
The owner’s rental manager may well be a key witness. If so, you will
want to take his deposition. You are also entitled to get the service records for this
truck. All in all, your goal is to prove that the owner had what the law calls ‘notice’
of this gap.
the faster you
treat it, the
longer it beats.
THE ROLLING JACK
Experts at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens bring the care you need, closer to home.
Find a cardiologist at nyp.org/queens-heart or call 800-282-6684, press 1.