Houston Branton brings this appeal from the grant of summary judgment to appellee Draper Corporation. Appellant has filed only selected portions of the record for inclusion in this appeal. Not included are the complaint and the answer. Hence, we have difficulty in determining the precise issues alleged as a basis for this action. The pretrial order describes the complaint as seeking recovery of “medical expenses, lost services, loss of incidental expenses, loss of conjugal rights, support and consortium” by Branton, for injuries to his wife, Willie Ruth Branton, alleged to have been caused by “the negligent, wanton, careless decision of the Draper Corporation to design, manufacturer [sic] and install unreasonably dangerous components on its looms sold to the Bibb Company. . . .” Mrs. Branton worked as a weaver, i.e. a loom operator, for the Bibb Company in its Columbus, Georgia mill for over 27 years. On April 20, 1982, when she walked between two operating looms, her apron was caught on an exposed flywheel and she was dragged into the loom and injured. She was hospitalized and ultimately her knee had to be replaced. She collected workers’ compensation for her injury. On February 26, 1986, almost *821 four years after her injury, her husband filed this action.
Appellee, Draper Corporation, moved for summary judgment. Appellant proceeded on the theory that Draper had defectively designed and manufactured its looms by having an exposed, rotating flywheel with spokes and set-screws mounted on an 8-inch drive-shaft extension, without a shield or guard, and these defects caused the injury to Mrs. Branton. Appellee contends there was no defective design, and if the design was dangerous, it was open, obvious, and patent to Mrs. Branton, and the cause of the injury was the negligence of Mrs. Branton in wearing a long apron which was tied about her body. Further, appellee asserted the defenses of the statute of limitations, assumption of risk, and contributory negligence, inter alia. The trial court granted appellee’s motion for summary judgment, holding that a manufacturer is not under a duty to make a machine accident-proof and is under no duty to warn against a patent peril. The court also found that Branton’s claim for lost wages, lost earning capacity and medical expenses for his wife’s injury were not properly includable within the consortium claim and were barred by the statute of limitations. Branton brings this appeal. Held:
1. “A loss of consortium has been defined as a loss of the love, society, companionship, and comfort of the wife or husband.”
Brown v. Hauser,
2. Appellant contends the trial court erred “in ruling that the Open and Obvious Rule is an absolute defense and that comparative negligence is not an issue in an action for compensatory damages based on unrebutted evidence of defendant’s gross negligence or conscious indifference to the consequences.” Appellant has failed to direct our attention to the record where this ruling can be found and our review of the record has failed to uncover such ruling.
The trial court held “that manufacturers are not under a duty to make a machine accident proof and have no duty to guard against injury from a patent peril. Under Georgia law, if the machine func *822 tions properly for the purpose for which it was designed without any latent defect, and if its functioning creates no danger or peril that is not known to [the] user, the manufacturer has produced a machine that is reasonably safe.” (Emphasis deleted.) The court reasoned that “because the alleged design defect was not latent but was in plain view, and . . . because the functioning of the loom created no danger or peril not known to the user” appellee Draper was entitled to summary judgment. This is the general law of this state. “ ‘If a manufacturer does everything necessary to make the machine function properly for the purpose for which it is designed, if the machine is without any latent defect, and if its functioning creates no danger or peril that is not known to the user, then the manufacturer has satisfied the law’s demands. We have not yet reached the state where a manufacturer is under the duty of making a machine accident proof or foolproof. . . . [H]e is under no duty to guard against injury from a patent peril or from a source manifestly dangerous. ... In other words, the manufacturer is under no duty to render a machine or other article “more” safe — as long as the danger to be avoided is obvious and patent to all.
“ ‘To impose upon a manufacturer the duty of producing an accident-proof product may be a desirable aim, but no such obligation has been — or, in our view, may be — imposed by judicial decision. Suffice it to note that, in cases dealing with a manufacturer’s liability for injuries to remote users, the stress has always been upon the duty of guarding against
hidden
defects and of giving notice of
concealed
dangers.’ ”
Stovall & Co. v. Tate,
Assuming arguendo there was a design defect in this loom, which was manufactured by appellee, from an exposed flywheel without a
*823
safety guard, Mrs. Branton had been working on the same type of loom at the same company for 27 years, and the alleged peril or danger, caused by the unguarded rotating flywheel, was clearly obvious and patent. She had been warned by management to be careful when walking between the looms, i.e., by the flywheel, she was aware of the location of the flywheel and knew not to come into contact with it when it was rotating. The record contains a “Job Analysis” sheet, purportedly bearing the signature of “Ruth Branton,” on which a job hazard is listed as involving the “handwheel,” and the action required of the worker to avoid injury is: “Don’t wear long aprons and always use a safety pin instead of tying.” Mrs. Branton admitted she wore an apron that extended to a point just above the knee and that the apron was tied around her waist. It was this apron that contacted the loom flywheel, and it was the fact that the apron was “looped around [her] waist,” rather than pinned, that caused her to be pulled into the flywheel and injured. Hence, our Supreme Court has held that “ ‘ “[i]f the user or consumer discovers the defect and is aware of the danger, but nevertheless proceeds unreasonably to make use of the product, he is barred from recovery.” ’ ”
Ford Motor Co. v. Lee,
3. Appellant argues that where a “party’s negligence is wilful and wanton, he is debarred from pleading that the other party was negligent or was a wrongdoer.” (Emphasis deleted.) Aside from the semantics involved, this is a correct statement of law. We have pointed out that “ ‘we disapprove [of] the use of the expression [wilful and wanton negligence]; for wilfulness and wantonness are so far the opposites of negligence as to make the expression “wilful and wanton negligence” misleading. . . .’ [Negligence] . . . concerns a degree of care or absence thereof. Wilful and wanton conduct, on the other hand ... is conduct ‘such as to evidence a wilfull intention to inflict the injury, or else was so reckless or so charged with indifference to the consequences ... as to justify the jury in finding a wantonness equivalent in spirit to actual intent. . . .’”
Truelove v. Wilson,
*824
A better statement of the rule is found in
Western &c. R. Co. v. Bailey,
These pronouncements may appear to be in conflict with each other, and with OCGA § 51-11-7, which provides: “If the plaintiff by ordinary care could have avoided the consequences to himself caused by the defendant’s negligence, he is not entitled to recover.” The Supreme Court in
Carr v. John J. Woodside Storage Co.,
4. Appellant alleges the trial court failed to consider the doctrine of distraction and its application to this case. First, we cannot discern from the trial court’s order whether it did or did not consider the “distraction doctrine.” See
Shackelford v. DeKalb Farmer's Market,
5. We find no reversible error in the trial court stating its findings of fact and conclusions of law, rather than merely issuing an order granting summary judgment to appellee. Neither do we find reversible error in the trial court’s order by its failure to use the standard phraseology in granting summary judgment that it considered the evidence in the light most favorable to the respondent, and gave the respondent the benefit of all reasonable doubts and favorable inferences to be drawn from the evidence, but found no material issue of fact requiring submission of the case to a jury. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, it will be presumed that judges, as public officials, properly discharge their duties.
Bank of Clearwater v. Kimbrel,
Judgment affirmed.