Whitford

Defendant Swinerton & Walberg Company (Swinerton), a general contractor, appeals the judgment entered against it in a personal injury action brought by plaintiff Ralph Whitford (Whitford).

The relevant facts are as follows: On April 28, 1989, Swinerton was the general contractor on the construction of a 52-floor high-rise building in downtown Los Angeles known as the Mitsui Building. Whitford was a carpenter employed by Martin Brothers, a subcontractor on the project. Martin Brothers’s task was to fireproof the structural steel and to install drywall framing and drywall. The building was not yet enclosed by an exterior skin, but consisted of the structural steel and floor platforms.

As a general contractor, Swinerton bore the responsibility of formulating the work plan and the safety program on the project and ensuring that the workers had a safe workplace. Swinerton employed a safety officer on the project named Eric Skaggs, whose job was to “act as a monitor and enforcement officer, in effect, to make sure that safety [was] being maintained on the job site.” This task included seeing that the project was in compliance with safety regulations promulgated under the…