Worker Fell Through a Skylight?

Newport Beach Premises Liability Attorney Helps Injured Workers

Video Transcript:

Molly Hendrickson: 

Do commercial buildings with skylights present a hazard for roof workers in California? We ask attorney Michelle West in this Ask the Lawyers Quick Question.

Michelle West: 

They can be a dangerous product, and if there is not appropriate preventing... If there's not an appropriate guarding over it, if there isn't a way to prevent access to it, and the skylights are considered a walking surface on the roof, and a walking surface we all expect is gonna hold the weight of a person who walks on it, just like the roof would. But actually, the skylight often do not hold the weight of a person, and even smart and sophisticated people who work in the roofing industry, they don't even know this, and even if they tie off on the roof, sometimes people fall, sometimes there's accidents, sometimes they prevent, they forget to tie off, and the skylight can be old, decrepit, cracked and someone can fall through it. So skylights and the premises where the skylights are installed are very important to make sure that they're constantly maintained, that they are guarded or that there's some warning about the skylight that it is not a safe walking surface.

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