Shipyard Not a Defendant : Injured Nassco Employee Sues Crane Manufacturers

A worker who was seriously injured earlier this month when a 390-pound hook and ball assembly fell from a crane at the National Steel & Shipbuilding Co. has filed a lawsuit against the manufacturer in San Diego County Superior Court.

Jesus Hernandez, 52, a 13-year Nassco employee, is asking for unspecified damages from Badger Construction Equipment Co. and Burro-Badger Corp., two Minnesota companies identified as the crane’s manufacturer. Carde Pacific Corp., a Los Angeles County rental company that allegedly rented the crane to Nassco, was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges negligence, breach of warranty and that the accident was caused in part by a manufacturing defect in the crane. Nassco was not named a defendant in the lawsuit but Hernandez has filed a workers compensation claim against the company.

Helping to Unload Car

According to Preston Easley, a National City attorney representing Hernandez, the Nassco employee was working the second shift at the shipyard when the accident occurred on June 6. Hernandez, a rigger, was helping to unload a railroad car when one of the crane’s loading lines snapped, sending a 390-pound hook and ball assembly crashing to the ground, injuring Hernandez. The crane was identified as a 45-ton mobile hydraulic crane.

“Our preliminary investigation indicates that the crane lacked a device that would have prevented the accident by preventing the assembly from slipping,” Easley said.

The June 6 accident was the fifth crane accident at Nassco in the past five years. On July 10, 1987, six workers died and six were injured when a personnel basket being transported by crane fell on the deck of a Navy ship that was being repaired.

The recent accident is being investigated by Cal-OSHA, the state agency that enforces safety laws in the workplace.

Hernandez, who lives in Chula Vista with his wife and three young children, suffered severe cuts on his torso and will require massive skin grafts, Easley said. He is hospitalized at UCSD Medical Center, where he was listed in fair condition on Tuesday.