No. 00-84046 (2002). Fields v. NFC Mining.

• Case Date: October 09, 2002
• Court: Kentucky

Kentucky Workers Compensation 2002. No. 00-84046 (2002). Fields v. NFC Mining JOHN FIELDS PETITIONER vs. NFC MINING and HON. DONNA H. TERRY, ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE RESPONDENTSOPINION ENTERED: October 9, 2002CLAIM NO. 00-84046APPEAL FROM HON. DONNA H. TERRY, ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE REVERSING AND REMANDING * * * * * * * * * * * BEFORE: LOVAN, Chairman, STANLEY and GARDNER, Members. LOVAN, Chairman. John Fields ("Fields") appeals from the decision of Hon. Donna H. Terry, Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ"), in which she denied his claim for a 15% safety violation penalty pursuant to KRS 342.165 as the result of an injury sustained by him while working for NFC Mining ("NFC") on May 17, 2000. Several issues were presented to the ALJ but only one remains for our consideration. Under the evidence of this claim, do the penalty provisions for a safety violation pursuant to KRS 342.165 apply? This injury occurred May 17, 2000 and, therefore, the potential for a 15% penalty against NFC was all that was available. The injury occurred when Fields, a maintenance worker, laid across the belt line at NFC for the purpose of screwing a grease hose into a bearing. Apparently this was something he thought would be done the previous evening but it had not. According to Fields he told his supervisor he would be doing this work and lying on the belt. He stated that approximately three to four minutes after getting on the belt the belt began to move, he was caught and pulled through a brace and shot out like a lump of coal. He fell some 15 to 20 feet to the ground sustaining a fracture to his wrist, a fracture to his pelvis and low back pain. According to Fields testimony, presumably based upon what he pieced together later, some contractors (welders) were there working and had asked that the belt line be turned on to move some coal out of the way. Apparently Bobby Johnson forgot Fields was going to be up on the belt and turned it on. Fields was asked about safety violations and testified that one safety write-up was for failure to provide a safe place to stand while he was doing work and the other related to not having a lock out system. The latter would be where the individual working on the belt could lock the power out and no one would be able to start the belt while they were on it. He testified there were a total of 39 violations but those...