Elizabeth Insua, as personal representative of the Estate of Jose Luis Insua,
On May 15, 2000, decedent, Jose Insua, was employed as an electrician performing electrical work for Dupuy Marine Services aboard a 141-foot yacht docked at the Hyatt Marina located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Jose was electrocuted while installing an upgrade on the yacht’s vacuum sewage system which was manufactured by Envirovac, Inc. At the time Jose was electrocuted he was working at the electrical panel for the vacuum sewage system. In her amended complaint, the personal representative did not allege that the En-virovac electrical panel was negligently designed or manufactured, but proceeded exclusively under a negligent failure to warn theory. The trial court in granting the summary judgment in favor of Envirovac concluded that Envirovac owed no duty'to warn decedent of the danger of electrocution. We agree.
A cause- of action for negligence is made up of four elements, the -first of which is a “duty, or obligation recognized by the law, requiring the [defendant] to conform ,to a certain standard of conduct, for the protection of others against unreasonable risks.” Clay Elec. Co-op., Inc. v. Johnson,
Whether a duty exists is a question of law for the court. Goldberg v. Fla. Power & Light Co.,
In McCain, the supreme'court held:
The duty element of negligence focuses on whether the defendant’s conduct foreseeably created a broader “zone of risk” that poses a general threat of ■harm to others ...
Where a defendant’s conduct creates a foreseeable zone of risk, the law generally will recognize a duty placed upon defendant either to lessen the risk or see that sufficient precautions are taken to, protect others from the harm that the risk poses ...
Rather, each defendant who creates a risk is required to exercise prudent foresight whenever others may be injured as a result. This requirement of reasonable, general , foresight is the core of the duty element.
McCain,
In Cohen v. General Motors Corp., Cadillac Division,
A duty to warn arises where a product is inherently dangerous or has dangerous propensities. Thus, a warning of a known danger in a non-defective machine is required in the exercise of reasonable care. Further, a suppliér of a product who knows or has reason to know that the product is likely to be dangerous in normal use has a duty to warn those who may not fully appreciatethe possibility of such danger. However, there is no duty to warn of an obvious danger.
Id. at 390-91 (citations omitted); see also Scheman-Gonzalez v. Saber Mfg. Co.,
Insua argues that Scheman-Gonzalez, in which a summary judgment for the defendant was reversed, stands for the proposition that a question of fact remains as to the need for a warning on an inherently dangerous product. In that case when the decedent mounted a 16 inch tire onto a 16.5 inch rim, it exploded. There was an issue of whether the decedent was aware of the danger involved and the danger was not obvious as the tire appeared to fit the rim. The case also raised the issue of fact as to whether the warning was sufficient.
In the instant case, it is not necessary to reach the sufficiency of the warning. As to whether Jose was aware of the danger involved in working on electrical products, the supreme court held in Richmond v. Florida Power & Light Co.,
Affirmed.
