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Filing # 97953750 E-Filed 10/28/2019 12:09:09 PM
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE TWENTIETH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
IN AND FOR CHARLOTTE COUNTY, FLORIDA
CIVIL DIVISION
CASE No.: 18-000223-CA
DANIEL SHELATZ and ALYN SHELATZ,
Plaintiffs,
vs.
PUNTA GORDA HMA, LLC d/b/a BAYFRONT
HEALTH PUNTA GORDA,
SSS HS SS SH
Defendant.
DEFENDANT'S, PUNTA GORDA HMA, LLC d/b/a BAYFRONT HEALTH PUNTA
GORDA. NOTICE OF FILING DEPOSITION TRANSCRIPT OF
Defendant, PUNTA GORDA HMA, LLC d/b/a BAYFRONT HEALTH PUNTA
GORDA, by and through the undersigned counsel and pursuant to the applicable
Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, hereby files the deposition transcript of Owen Orr
Bower dated April 9, 2019.CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I HEREBY CERTIFY that I electronically filed the foregoing with the Clerk of
Court on this 28th day of October 2019, using the Florida Courts e-Filing Portal which
will send a notice of electronic filing as identified in the attached Service List.
LA CAVA & JACOBSON, P.A.
Attorneys for Defendant, Bayfront Health Punta Gorda
2590 Northbrooke Plaza Drive, Suite 307
Naples, Florida 34119
Telephone —: 239.300.9679
Facsimile —: 239.734.3546
By:___/s/A. Kevin Houston
A. KEVIN HOUSTON, ESQ.
Florida Bar No: 0610321
KARI K. JACOBSON, ESQ.
Florida Bar No. 961167
khouston @lacavajacobson.com
kkeyte@lacavajacobson.com
jserrano@lacavjacobson.com
Page |2 of 3Christopher D. Gray, Esq.
Hunter Higdon, Esq.
Florin Gray Bouzas Owens, LLC
16524 Pointe Village Drive, Suite 100
Lutz, FL 33558
Phone =: 727.254.5255
Fax 1 727.483.7942
chris@fgbolaw.com
debbie@fgbolaw.com
hunter@fgbolaw.com
Counsel for Plaintiff
Page |3 of 3Owen Orr Bower
April 9, 2019
Page 1 Page 3
1 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE TWENTIETH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT 1 INDEX
IN AND OF FOR CHARLOTTE COUNTY, FLORIDA
2 2 WITNESS EXAMINATION PAGE NO.
3 3 Called by the Defense:
4 OWEN ORR BOWER
DANIEL SHELATZ and ALYN SHELATZ,
: Plaintitts, © Direct By (Mr. Houston) 4
vs. CASE NO. 18-000223-CA 7 ‘Cross By (Mr. Gray) 84
7 a Redirect By (Mr. Houston) 110
PUNTA GORDA HMR, LLC d/b/a BAYFRONT
8 HEALTH PUNTA GORDA, ° -Recross By (Mr. Gray) 119
9 Defendant. 10 Certificate of Oath, 127
to SE 11 Certificate of Acknowledgement. 128
u wz EXHIBITS
2 5 -
g einen: pun yes enoue 13 Defense Composite Exhibit No. 1, photographs........23
Regus ~ Tampa 14 Defense Exhibit 1A, photograph 30
a4 oe eee Kennedy Boulevard 15 Defense Exhibit 1B, 1C, 1D, photographs. 31
a5 Tanpa, Florida 33607 16 Defense Exhibit No. 2, photograph 39
a6 17 Defense Exhibit No. 3, Investigative report. 33
v DATE: april 9, 2019 te -
Ceamencing at 10:16 ame Defense Composite Exhibit No. 4, OSHA 7-page report....54
1 19 Defense Composite Exhibit No. 5, OSHA letter/teport ...58
1 fense Ex
20 REPORTED BY: MARIA E, RODRIGUEZ, RPR 2 Defense Exhibit No. 6, document date 10/19. 81
Notary Public aa (marked for identification)
at 22 Defense Composite Exhibit No. 7, AMSCO File
23 (retained by deponent, to be produced)
23 24
a 25
23
Page 2 | Page 4
1 APPEARANCE | t OWEN ORR BOWER, called as a witness by the
: |? Defense, having been first duly sworn on oath, was
FOR THE PLAINTIFE: }° examined and deposed as follows:
4 i 4 DIRECT EXAMINATION
5 CHRISTOPHER D. GRAY, ESQUIRE 5 BY MR. HOUSTON:
. HUNTER HIGDON, ESQUIRE, © Q Good morning, Mr. Bower. My name is Kevin
lorin, Gray, Bouzas, Owen, LLC 7
> ray, » OW 7 Houston. I ¢ Bayfront Health Punta Gorda down i
16524 Pointe Village Drive, Suite 100 . fouston. T represent Baylront Health Punta Gorda down in
7 Lutz, FL 33558 ® Punta Gorda, the hospital. I'm taking your deposition
8 8 today.
5 | 10 Have you given a deposition before?
10 FOR THE DEFENDANT: nh A Yes,
1
A. KEVIN HOUSTON, ESQUIRE 12 Q Okay. Just some reminders. You probably
12 LA CAVA & JACOBSON, P.A. 13 remember all this, but let me finish my question before I
bs 2590 Northbrooke Plaza Drive, Suite 307 | 14 start answering because she's taking down things
Naples, FL 34119 | 15 verbatim. And if we talk over one another, it gets very
Khouston@lacavajacobson.com |
14 ~ " 16 difficult for her.
15 uv Also, I'll do the same for you. If you're
2 18 giving an answer, I won't start a question until you
ts 19 finished, and then I'll start my next question,
19 20 If you don’t understand a question, please let
20 21 me know sand I will rephrase it so we're on the same page
and when you do answer, you understood the question and,
therefore, I can assume you answered it to the best of
24 your ability, Okay?
28 A. Okay.
1 (Pages 1 to 4)
THE MCS GROUP, INC.Owen Orr Bower
April 9, 2019
Page 5 Page 7
1 Q Allright. What is your full name, sir? 1 Q > What else?
2 A Owen O. Bower. 2 A. handle all the safety meetings for each
3 Q Owen O. Bower? 3 service center.
4 A Unr-hum. 4 Q How many service centers do you guys have?
5 Q > What's the "O" stand for? 5 A Seven.
6 A Orr, O-R-R. © Q_ Are those all within the state?
7 Q > Oh, Orr. Okay. And what is what's your ? A Yes. Now, that also includes two for automated
8 professional? 8 building controls. That's a sister company.
9 A 4311 West Ida, I-D-A, Street, Tampa 33614. 6 Q > Okay. What other kind of work do you do as a
10 Q And what's the telephone number you can be 19 safety director?
it reached at? at A_ I'm the investigator for the accident and
12 A (813) 875-0782. 12 injuries.
13 Q > Okay. And you currently work for AMSCO? As Q > Okay. When you investigate, what kind of
14 A Yes. 14 accidents do you investigate, mostly accidents that
15 Q Isthat Air Mechanical — what's the formal 15 involve your employees?
16 name for AMSCO? te A Yes, and vehicle accidents.
W A. Air Mechanical and Service Corporation. ay Q Because you guys have a fleet of vehicles as
18 Q Very briefly what's your educational 18 well, correct?
18 background, like, did you go to high school? ce) A. Yes.
20 A No. [got an AA degree in business. 20 Q Does -- you say you handle new hire orientation
au Q AA degree in business. Where did that come 21 and you handle all safety meetings.
22 from? 22 Does AMSCO have any sort of like a written
23 A. That come from Hillsborough County Community | 23 policy for safety that every like —
24 a4 A No.
25
College.
Q = Hillsburg?
Q> -and I'll make the question even more
Page 6
A Yes.
Q_Isthat here in Tampa?
MR. HIGDON: It's Hillsborough.
Q Hillsborough. All right. Any other
post-graduate education?
A No.
Q How long have you been working for AMSCO?
A. Six years
Q And what's your current position with them?
A
Tm the safety HR manager.
©
Safety HR manager. So are you the director of
safety?
A You could say so, yes.
Q And the director of HR.?
A Yes.
Q Soyou're both. Okay. Is there anyone above
you that would be over safety in the company?
A No.
Q Okay. We're going to talk about your role asa
safety director at AMSCO today. I don’t think I have any
more questions over the human resource part of what you
do, but as the safety director, what sort of things do
you do for AMSCO? What's your job responsibility and job
function?
A. Okay. Ido the new hire orientation
Page 8
specific. Maybe we can divide it up from there, but does
every new employee have a safety course that they have to
complete?
A Yes,
Q >What does that entail?
A. Itentails all the specific safety courses that
‘we want them to take to make them familiar with what we
expect them to do on the job.
Q Does any of those protocols have to do with
like working on a roof?
A Yes,
Q Do you have copies of written policies that
AMSCO produces that pertain to roofs?
A Yes,
Q__Is that something I could get if Tissued a
request for that?
A. Yes, I's an AMSCO Fall Protection Program,
Q And does every new hire have to complete this
AMSCO Fall Protection Program?
A. They watch a video and we explain what we
expect of them.
Q Okay. And that would — would that apply to
all of the service technicians, the installers, all
personnel?
A. Allpersonnel.
THE MCS GROUP,
2 (Pages 5 to 8)
INC.Owen Orr Bower
April 9,
2019
Page 9
Q Even the assistant VPs like Mark Castellano,
would he have to do that as well?
A. Yes. Now, he came on after I did, so what they
had before —
Q True. He's been there a long time.
A Yeah.
Q Let's go back. We're here on an accident that
happened in October of 2017?
A Yes,
Q So and you've been there six years. So you
were there — you were investigating this accident, but
just backing up for a second. Is there — once the new
hire comes in, he goes through — watches the video, gets
the instruction from you from the meeting, how to be safe
ona roof.
Page 11
goes. All right. If they're working, OSHA requires if
we're working off the roof edge, then they have to wear
body hamesses and all that and be tied off.
Q Okay.
A. Ifyou're working inside that area, then it
just has to be you need to put up some type of barrier so
the employees know that, you know, hey, you're getting
close to the roof edge.
Q Who would be that person putting that barrier
up?
A. The superintendent or supervisor in charge of
the job,
Q Could that be the project manager?
A. Project manager also.
Q Clearly, what other fall protocols would be
ae Do they have to do any sort of like regular 16 involved for working on a flat roof like the roof was
17 safety checks or videos after they're employed? 17 here at the hospital in Punta Gorda?
a8 A_ Thave on my ~ Ihave bi-weekly or bi-monthly 18 A. Okay. Now were going to be talking
19 safety meetings — 19 specifically about that roof?
20 Q Okay. 20 Q Weean.
a A. ~on different topics. aa A. Okay,
22 Q How long have you been doing that practice? 22 Q We can, yes, sir.
2 A. Since 2013, my new hire. 23 A. Okay. That roof—
2 Q Does all the employees have to attend these 2a Q You can answer either way you want to. You can
25 bi-monthly safety meetings? 25 answer just as to that roof because you've been to that
Page 10 | Page 12
2 A. They're asked to attend. You know, if they | 1 roof, right?
2 have something already planned and they cant get outof_ | A Yes.
3 it, then they're excused. po: Q You came to this accident seen and you went up
4 Q What types of safety protocol -- when you watch | __ there and found out what happened?
° this video that you're discussing and you're having a 5 A Yes.
© safety meeting -- we're here for on an accident that © Q And I'll get to all that in a little while.
7 involved a roof, a gentleman stepped off the roof. 7 I'm just trying to get, in general, when your employees
8 What sort of safety protocols would be ® are being taught safety and watching these videos and
e addressed when you're talking about a roof? 8 taught protocol about working on any type of flat roof —
a0 A. Okay. Well, you're talking about the fall | 10 A Un-hum
11 protection, whether the building has a parapet where you | oe Q —what they are required to know and
12 can't walk off the roof. 12 understand?
a3 MR. HIGDON: Did you say a parapet? 13 A. Okay,
a4 A. It's just a wall. pola Q And you just mentioned to me that one of the
ts Q Is that P-A-R-A-P-E-T? | 18 rules if they're working on the roof edge, they're to
16 A’ Can'ttell you. } 16 wear a body harness?
vw ‘Wiscussions were held off the record.) i A Yes.
a8 Q What about flat roofs where there is no railing 18 Q If they're not working in the roof edge, I
12 and no parapet? 19 guess, within the middle of the roof or somewhere, then
20 A. Then we have to address how we're going to 20 you said barriers or barricades may be used?
21 protect the workers from walking off the roof. aa A. Okay,
2 Q What sort of things do you address in a safety 22 Q When you say a "barrier," is that like caution
25 meeting with the workers? 23 tapes is that considered a barrier?
za A. Okay. After we show the video, we talk about 2a A. You could use that, but we don't use that. We
25 25
the items that are required as far as the protection
use a rope with lines, a rope line with flags on it, red
THE MCS GROUP,
3 (Pages 9 to 12)
INC.Owen Orr Bower
April 9,
2019
Page 13
and yellow flags, depending on where they bought it at.
Just something that stands out so they say, "Hey, Ineed
to stop.”
Q Would that have been — would those rope with
the lines and the flags, would those — would that type
of equipment been available in 2017 when this accident
occurred?
A Yes.
Q Do you have any — all right. What other —
Page 15
Q What about headlamps. Do they have headlamp
gear that they wear on their head?
A. Some do, but that's not required for walking on
a roof.
Q Allright. So basically for any kind of job
that's being performed at night or in the dark, you need
to have portable
A Yes.
Q And each employee shall have a flashlight?
ing; is that right?
10 strike that. to A Yes
a What other types of barriers or barricades does n Q Headlamps is optional; you can wear a
12 AMSCO use on flat roofs. 12 headlamp?
a3 A. Some of the other guys just have concrete B A. Yeah,
14 buckets with poles on it so they tie it off. Each group ua Q Ifnot, that's okay?
25 has, you know ~ I purchase most of these flags for b A Right
26 everybody, you know, and that’s basically what I want us Q Do you— I know -- I don't know if you bought
27 them touse. 17 anything from Mr. Shelatz personnel file, but he was an
18 Q > The rope with the -- the rope that you said 18 employee of AMSCO. Do you know whether or not he signed
12 has the flags on it, is that like a, for example, I'm 12 off'on the checklist or the safety meeting?
20 just trying to show you a picture for demonstrative A. Iwent back and pulled ~ I had ~ I didn't
21 purposes. This is a single piece of caution tape. bring the dates -- one prior to the fall, okay.
2 Is your rope, is it multi-level? Is it more 2 Q Olay.
25° than one level? 23 A. He wasn't on the log, but ~
za A. No. It’s one level. 2a MR. HIGDON: You say he wasn't?
2s Q Okay. But it's got flags placed at like how 25 Q He wasn't on the log?
Page 14 | Page 16
1 many intervals apart? | t A Yeah, but I'm almost positive he was there
2 A Probably like every two feet. | 2 because we've had conversations. What I did was along
s Q > Okay. What about working at night in the | >with the video, okay, I brought in ~ back then it was
2 dark? | 4 Capital Safety. That's a safety business, and they have
5 A. Okay. 5 avehicle that is equipped to show demonstration on
6 Q Ifyou have a project that requires AMSCO. © proper equipment, and they actually show a fall from
7 employees to work on a roof at night, what sort of 7 about 12 feet up on whether if you're not using the right
® equipment do you teach them to have with them? © equipment it falls down and shows the force that goes
2 A. They have to have portable lighting. against your body. And then they go through and show a
20 Q What would portable — can you give me some | 10 proper fall with the body harness and the right lanyards
11 examples of portable lighting? | 12 to make sure they don't fall any further then, you know,
12 A You might see, you know, a three-foot stand 12 a few feet.
13 with two fixtures on it, you know, that just plugs into a Q So this is — when did that, I guess,
14 regular adapter, electrical adapter. | 14 demonstration or video occur? Do you have any knowledge
as Q > Okay. What about flashlights, would they be — | as of that?
te A_ Everybody should be carrying a flashlight. If ; te A 2014 sometime.
17 they're working at night, you know, and they're looking vw Q Okay. And you believe, it's you're
18 ata machine, they're probably carrying a flashlight also 18 understanding of it, I guess your recollection of it,
19 and maybe a drop light. 19 Mr, Shelatz was there?
20 (Whereupon, a cellular phone interruption.) 20 A. Yes, because he said he attended. I know I at
a MR. HIGDON: You're more popular than I 22 Jeast had two down there in Englewood's office.
22 am. 2 Q And this safety meeting was down in Englewood?
2s MR. HOUSTON: These robo calls a lot of A’ Yes.
aa them. 4
BY MR. HOUSTON:
Q And you said Capital Safety would come in and
demonstrate how a fall or how to avoid having a fall.
THE MCS GROUP,
4 (Pages 13 to 16)
INC.Owen Orr Bower
April 9,
2019
Page 17
And I'm assuming you said about 12 to 13 feet, so that’s
like one single-story roof or something like that?
A Yes,
Q Do — that particular roof that they were
demonstrating, was that a flat roof?
A. Itsaflat roof,
Q With no railings?
A Right
Q Do you have any record or any other independent
recollection of any safety protocol meeting that
Mr. Shelatz may have attended before this fall may have
occurred?
A. I've got, you know, I've had to pull all the
meetings for Englewood and see, you know, Ihave it over
all kind of different topies over the last five years
Page 19
because our workload. And if I do have one, I probably
get 1/3 of the employees, so. So we kind of, you know,
let that, you know, through the summer months.
Q Gotcha. That's your busiest months from June
to September?
A. Yeah, because we do a lot of work for schools
and —
Q Sure. You guys do all commercial, correct?
A Allcommercial.
Q Okay. Do you have an independent recollection
of Mr. Shelatz' accident that happened at the hospital?
A Yes.
Q Did you go to the scene to investigate?
A Yes.
Q How did you first hear about the accident?
usually from June until September there will be one
know, but I just asked him how he felt. He says he's in
ae Q Is that something that you keep in the regular te A_ I gota phone call, I guess, around 6:30 from
17 course of business? Is it like a log for how often you 17 Mark Castellano.
18 give these safety demonstrations? 18 Q Do you have any recollection of what Mark told
wv A Yes 18 you happened?
20 Q How far do you guys keep that information? 20 A. He just said that Dan had fallen off the
21 Like how long, how many years back? 2. roof.
2 A_ [keep them since I've been there. 22 Q And you said about 6:30. That was 6:30 a.m.;
2 Q So if I wanted to get, let's say, a log of all 23 is that right?
24 of the safety meetings that Mr. Shelatz had attended in 2a A. Yeah.
25 Englewood between 2013 and 2017, that's something that Q Did you — what did you do then after you got
Page 18 | Page 20
1 you should be able to produce? | 1 the phone call?
2 A_ Yes. It's a sign-in log, and it shows the ; 2 A [got dressed and headed to the hospital.
a topics that we discussed. | a Q Okay. Have you ever been to this particular
4 Q Okay. Is that a request I could send to you | 4 hospital in Punta Gorda before?
5 that you could then forward to your attorneys or 5 A No.
© corporate office or corporate people that handle that? © Q Are you aware of any complaints from any of the
7 How does that work? 7 employees working on this hospital before?
8 I would have to see — you're not part of this 8 A No.
° lawsuit, so I can't exactly send you a request to 9 Q Allright. I take it you got the phone call,
10 produce. I'd have to send you a subpoena that would | 10 you got in the car, you dressed up, you drove down to the
11 itemize this particular information that we're talking | 11 hospital, which is in Punta Gorda, Florida.
12 about. 12 What do you remember when you first got there?
a3 A Um-hum. 13 Who did you speak to?
u Q Is that something I would just serve to you? pou A. Iwent in, Idon't remember. I think Mark was
as A__Tust serve to me, yes. | 15 already there. He said Dan is already set to be flown to
ae Q Okay. That's fine. Do you have a standard | 16 St. Pete's Hospital
17 that — you've done since 2013 when you first started. i Q So you had no conversations with Mr. Shelatz on
18 Do you --is it every month you do two safety meetings or 18 that day?
19 does it kind of vary? 1 A. No. Idid walk back and talk to him while he
20 A. Itvaries. 20 was waiting
a Q Is there a certain amount that you want to do aa Q Okay. What did he tell you?
2 year? 22
per year? A. We started talking and he was in pain, so I
2 A_ It's depending on the workload. All right. 1 i 23 kind of stopped, all right, because he wasn't really with
24 try to get at least two in the first two quarters, and | 24 it. Allright. So I didn't want to get anything, you
25 | 28
THE MCS GROUP,
5 (Pages 17 to 20)
INC.Owen Orr Bower
April 9,
2019
Page 21
pain, and they just kept pumping pain medication in him,
50.
Q And then he was airlifted to St. Pete or do you
know?
A Eventually sometime, you know, I didn't know if
it was the same day they said they were waiting on the
chopper, but it was a long time before he got up there.
Q _Butit's fair to say as far as any
conversations you had with him that day, you were
checking on his health. You didn't really ask him about
what happened about the accident?
A No.
Q Okay. Do you remember when you got there, did
you take any photographs?
A Yes, after I spoke with him, I went up on the
r00f?
Q How did you go access to the roof, do you
remember?
Page 23
was the substance of what they told you or what happened,
how did Dan fall?
A. They just said they heard a noise, okay, and
they went to investigate, And they, I guess, they heard
‘him down on the ground and found him down on the
ground,
Q Okay. There's a little cour
A Yes,
Q Did he say anything else other than what you
just repeated to me?
A No. Other than they went down, and they picked
‘him up and took him to the ER.
Q Allright. These photographs that you took. T
have I think you E-mailed my office six; does that sound
right?
A Yes,
Q I want to show these to you. I think you guys
got those. All right. We're going to mark these as
ard area there?
19 A. Stairway. 12 Composite Exhibit One.
20 Q Was anyone from Bayfront, any other employees 20 (Defense Composite Exhibit No. 1 was marked for
21 working, were they with you or present with you when you | 2! identification.)
22 went on the roof? 2 Q And there's six photographs. And do those look
23 A Yes 25 ike the photographs you took, Mr. Bower?
24 Q Doyou remember who it was? 24 A Yes,
as A No. 2s Q Okay. Hand those back. Were you given prior
Page 22 | Page 24
L Q Okay. Does the name Jeff Houck sound | 2 to going on the roof and prior to taking these
2 familiar? | 2 photographs, were you given any sort of background about
3 A. Sounds familiar. | 2 what the guys were doing there, what kind of job they
4 Q Roger McMilan? | ¢ were performing there?
5 A. Ibelieve so. 8 A No.
6 Q Okay. 6 Q Was that information necessary for you to sort
7 A I'dhave to go back. I think I've got their 7 of do your investigation and find out what happened?
® names somewhere in my file. 8 A No.
9 Q Fair enough. But your recollection is when you ° Q Do you remember if Mark was on the roof with
10 went up on the roof, there were some employees of the | 10 you?
11 hospital with you there? | un A Yes.
12 A Yes. a Q You do? Do you have any knowledge or
a3 Q Okay. What did you do when you got on the 13 recollection of anyone telling you that the time of day
4 voof? | 44 when Dan fell?
as A. Allright. Iproceeded to walk over to the | is A No.
16 other guys that were working after they had taken Dan ; i Q Do you know whether it was dark out or light
17 over to the ER and spoke with them briefly to see what 17 out?
18 they had to say, and then I started taking pictures. is ‘A. It was dark. They indicated it was dark.
wv Q Okay. Let's go —do you remember the names of 19 Q Did anyone give you any information of whether
20 the employees that were working that day? 20 or not that Dan had any sort of lighting with him?
a A No. a A No.
22 Q Was it Wayne Young. Does that ring a bell? 2 Q You said you had conversations with Mr. Shelatz
23 Homer Martinez? 25 after he was in the hospital?
2 A. Yeah, I believe so. a A Yes.
25 25
Q > What was their — let me just ask this: What
Q Okay. Did you at any point ever ask him what
THE MCS GROUP,
6 (Pages 21 to 24)
INC.Owen Orr Bower
April 9, 2019
Page 25 Page 27
1 happened? 1 basically talk with these salesmen when they sell these
2 A Yes. 2 job that they get, you know, if it’s a roof work, okay,
Q And what was the result?
A. He basically couldn't tell me. He said he was
walking up on the roof. He had his phone, and he was
taking pictures. What he was taking pictures of in the
dark, I don't know.
Q Okay, So I'm hearing this right and it's fair
and clear, your recollection of Mr. Shelatz telling you
what had happened on the day of the incident is that he
went up on the roof, was taking pictures, and doesn't
remember anything else?
A. Right.
Q He didn't remember where he fell, how he
A No.
Q How did you become aware of where he fell off
A. They indicated to me where he landed,
if there's any question of we need safety wise, they!
get ahold of me and I'll meet with them and Ill get on
the roof.
Q They being the AMSCO superintendent or project
manager?
A. No, the sales people —
Q Or the sales people?
A. ~before they even bid the job.
Q Who — what's does this salesman work for
AMSCO?
A Yes.
Q Okay. Whatis his role? Isay, "his." What
is his or her role?
A. It's just to procure work, you know.
Q Does the superintendent have to go through the
salesman to obtain like supplies like this ventilation
duct, things like that?
20 Q They being the two employees that were there? 20 A. They will have the plans and equipment list,
a A Yes. 21 yeah, they should be given all that.
2 (Whereupon, Chris Gray, Esquire, enters the 22 Q Okay. Did you, when you came to the scene,
23 deposition room at 10:42 a.m.) 23 went up on the roof, did you take any written statements
24 BY MR. HOUSTON: 24 of anyone?
25 Q Does your company AMSCO, did they have any sort 2s A No.
Page 26 | Page 28
1 of like a request form that the supervisor or the | 1 Q Did you create anything that would be
2 superintendent or project manager would submit to you all |? considered like AMSCO's internal incident report?
2 ifit's a daytime job or a nighttime job? ,? A Yes.
4 A Not to me, no. 7? Q Did you take any statements from any of the
8 Q Do you have any knowledge of whether or not any 5 Bayfront Hospital employees?
© ‘such request or form is to be submitted when they're ° A No.
7 doing a nighttime job? 7 Q Why didn't you take any statements from the
8 A No. ® hospital employees?
° Q So just so I'm clear then, there's no — if 8 A__ Because they weren't there.
10 AMSCO takes on a job and they're working at night -— | 10 Q Okay. Were you ever told by anyone, Mr. Bower,
ut A Unehum. | 11 that Dan was trying — before this accident occurred,
2 Q > ~as far as like having to fill out any form 12 that Dan was trying to get ahold of the two employees,
13 or get any particular safety equipment, there's nothing 13° Wayne and Homer, who were working on the roof, that he
14 that you're aware of that the superintendent would have |“ _—_was trying to get ahold of them to locate where the cones
is to fill out or submit to you or anyone else at AMSCO? | 1s may have been placed on the roof for the crane that was
16 ‘A. No. They may have it at their own office that, j 16 coming that morning?
17 you know, whatever they need, whether it be body a7 A No.
18 hamesses whatever, ifit was required. Its up to ~ te Q Were you ever provided or told anything that
18 you can call it supervisor, superintendent or project 18 Dan went on the roof without any lighting?
20 manager, whoever is running that job, is their 20 A No.
21 responsible to make sure that everybody is taken care a Q Were you ever told that —I guess were you
22 of. 22 ever told that Dan went on the roof without a
a Q Okay. 23 flashlight?
24 A. And they all know that I'm available 24/7. And 24 A. That was my question, you know, and basically
25 25
if they ever have any question because, you know, I
it was, no, they didn’t see a flashlight, didn’t find the
THE MCS GROUP,
7 (Pages 25 to 28)
INC.Owen Orr Bower
April 9, 2019
Page 29 Page 31
1 flashlight 1 itmight be?
2 Q That was the question to the employees that 2 A Yes.
were there?
A Yes, Ibelieve so.
Q And they responded to you that, no, there was
no flashlight present?
A’ Yeah.
Q Do you know whether or not Dan was wearing any
type of headlamp gear?
A No, I don't.
Q Did you ask the employees whether he was
wearing any type of headlamp gear?
A No.
Q Do you remember — let me come back to this.
Let's look at your photographs we got here marked Defense
Composite 1. There are six photographs.
Do you remember who -- well, I guess, if you
could, your recollection, if you could fell us, since you
took these — and just so I'm clear, Mr. Bower, these
photographs that you took, are those a fair and accurate
representation of what you saw and observed on the day of
the accident?
A Yes.
Q And you took these about what time in the
morning or that day?
Q So we'll do 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D. All right. So
just so we have a clear record, you've indicated four out
of these six photographs depict the area generally where
you believe Mr. Shelatz. stepped off and fell off the
roof?
A. Comreet,
Q And those are 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D.
(Wefense Exhibit No. 1A, 1B, 1C, were marked
for identification.)
Q Okay. All right. Looking at those four
photographs, is it fair to say all four of those
photographs depict some type of yellow tape in them?
A. Yes, but that wasn't there before,
Q > That was my question. Do you have any
recollection of whether that yellow tape was there?
A No, it wasn't there.
Q How do you know it wasn't there?
A _ Because I instructed them to stop work, go back
to the shop and get all the fall protection we needed.
Q Do you recall what protection they went and
got?
A. They went got the tape, cones and marked the
roof the way it was supposed to be marked.
Page 30
A. Probably eight, nine o'clock by then.
Q Okay, Do you — can you tell me on these
photographs where you believe or you were indicated where
Dan stepped off the roof? And feel free to look at all,
six.
MR. GRAY: Don't mean to be looking
over your shouldes, but Ineed to look over
your shoulder.
MR. HOUSTON: That's fine. It’s the
only set Ihave to give you.
MR. GRAY: Yeah.
THE WITNESS: It was in this general
area.
MR. HOUSTON: We can mark this as 1A.
(Defense Exhibit No. 1A was marked for
identification.)
BY MR. HOUSTON:
Q Is there any other photograph here — or you
know what, if you could, identify all the photographs for
me which depict the area where you believe or you were
told Dan stepped off the roof.
A. These are pretty much all the same area, okay,
with the opening down to the patio or whatever is below,
okay.
Q Okay, That looks to me like four photographs
Page 32
Q And that would be the other two AMSCO employees
there on the site?
A Yes, I believe there was.
Q Was Mark there present during that
conversation?
A Yes.
Q And is it fair to aysume that in your
investigation of this incident that when you got there,
you made a determination that there was no safety tape
being utilized by the AMSCO employees that's the safety
tape that's depicted in these pictures 1A through 1D?
A. Right.
Q And so you -is it fair to say then, that you
instructed the guys —I want to all them the guys —
A Either that or I told Mark, "We need to stop.
‘You need to get the proper stuff before the crane gets
here."
Q Okay. So at that time the employees stopped,
working, went to their local shop?
A Yes.
And they picked up the safety protocol —
Right.
— or items they needed?
‘Yes.
orore
And they returned and put them up?
THE MCS GROUP,
8 (Pages 29 to 32)
INC.Owen Orr Bower
April 9, 2019
Page 33 Page 35
L A Yes. L A No.
2 Q About how long did that process take? 2 Q Is that something that could cause an AMSCO
3 A. think the office was within 30 minutes, so 3 employee to be reprimanded?
4 probablya little over an hour. 4 A Yes.
Q And then you took these photographs — let me
ask this question: Why did you take these photographs of
the areas that we've identified 1A through 1D?
A. Because that's where they indicated that he
fell or walked off or whatever
Q And just so I'm clear, the — when you got
there and made the determination that there was no tape
present, was there any other type of barricade or any
kind of warning of the device there —
A No.
Q = that was present?
A No.
Q And that would be the responsibility of AMSCO's
employees and installers?
A Yes.
Q Do you have any knowledge whether or not
Mr. Shelatz was reprimanded for any sort of unsafe
practice before this incident?
A. No, he wasn't,
Q And was Mr. Shelatz, after you spoke with him
in the hospital, after you had conducted sort of your
investigation of what happened, was he reprimanded for
anything in this case?
A. Verbally I did, yeah.
Q What did you verbally say?
A Isaid, "What are you doing, you know, where
was all your safety stuff?” All right. And we just
talked about it, you know, and he was aware of what was
supposed to be done.
Q Did he make any statements to you indicating
20 Q asked you earlier, were you made aware of 20 that this was all his fault?
21 Dan, by anyone at AMSCO or anyone at Bayfront, were you aa A No.
22 ever made aware that Dan went up on the roof at night 22 Q Did he make any indication to you that this was
23 without a flashlight, without a headlamp before he 23. the hospital's fault?
24 fell? 2a A No.
25 A No. 25 Q Did he make any — I guess, did he make any
Page 34 | Page 36
: Q Let's assume that fo be true, Dan went on the | 1 sort of indication of who was to blame for his accident?
2 roof without a flashlight and it's at night, without a ; 2 A. We talked about that this job was supposed to
2 headlamp, without any lighting? | 5 be scheduled for Friday aftemoon. It was in an ER room,
4 A. Are you just saying ~ if I can interrupt. 74 Tunderstood. And the hospital comes to them and said,
5 You're saying at night? Its, you know, early morning. 5 "Hey, we need the room. We're going to have to cancel
® Q Correct. © this. Swap.” And then they made the determination to
7 A. Okay. 3 make it the next moming.
8 Q Well, let's make it a hypothetical because I 8 Q_ They being who?
have to characterize it in terms of that because it’s not 9 A. The hospital and Dan.
10 ike you read Dan's deposition. | 10 Q Okay.
n A. Right | 1 A Atthat ~ okay.
2 Q And you told me that his only statements to you 12 Q That's fine. So it's your understanding where
15 was what he said 0 you, So let's assume for a second 13° did you obtain that information from?
14 that Dan has testified in this case that he went up on pou A. From Dan and Mark.
15 the roof that morning, it was dark, around between | 15 Q Was it just both Dan or him and Mark?
16 and 7:00 a.m, without a flashlight, without any headlamp ‘i A. [believe it was both
27 gear, and that he stepped off the roof. Let's assume i Q Okay. Was this a conversation that occurred
18 that's true, 18 with both of them present?
2 A. Okay. 1 A. No. Dan was still in the ER.
20 Q Would that be, in your opinion, a violation of 20 Q But you're saying that Dan told you that the
21 AMSCO's safety policy? 21 hospital needed to use the area where they were trying to
2 A Yes. 22 bypass the ventilation duct there, that they needed to
a Q Would you consider that a safe practice for one | 23. use that on Friday afternoon so they told the guys to
24 of your employees — and I say your — AMSCO'S employees | 24 leave early or cancel that job?
25 ¢@ go up on a roof without any sort of lighting device? | 2s A. Right.
9 (Pages 33 to 36)
THE MCS GROUP, INC.Owen Orr Bower
April 9,
2019
Page 37
Q Okay. Let's assume that happened for a moment.
‘What would you expect the AMSCO employees to do the
following morning? Would you expect them to start during
daylight hours or would you expect them ¢o start at
night, like, daylight hours before daylight?
‘A. That's okay if they were going to start at
daylight, you know, that would be fine. But if theyre
going to start at night, they needed to do what was
needed,
Q And when we say when they start at night, what
was needed, what are you referring to?
A Im talking about the safety line and
lighting.
Q Andis that the decision that the project
manager would make?
A. That was his responsibility, yes.
Q Now, let's assume that the project manager
‘wasn't aware of that, is that something that you would
expect the installers to be aware of if they're going to
be working at night to have some sort of lighting up
there?
A [would expect that, yes.
Q Doyou have any recollection as we sit here
today whether or not the two employees that found Dan, do
you remember whether or not if they had any sort of
Page 39
2, Defense 2. Mr. Gray gave it to us.
(Defense Exhibit No. 2 was Marked for
identification.)
Q Okay. If you could, we're referencing now
Defense Exhibit 2.
Do you remember — do you know about what unit
they were working on at the time that Dan fell?
A__ [believe it was this one here in the comer.
Q Okay. I'll represent to you that that is what
the other employees have identified as well. Do you know
what that unit — what particular room it was over? Do
you have any knowledge of that?
A Noclue.
Q Okay. And so when you talked to the two
employees, they said they were working over here on this
unit that's identified in Defense 2, and they — what —
after — how did they know Dan fell?
A. They just heard a noise.
Q Okay. Do you know who the project manager was
for this particular project going on at Punta Gorda
Hospital?
A. It would have been Dan Shelatz.
Q Okay. And going back to had — who — I guess
is — if Dan was the project manager, is there anybody
over him as far as the hierarchy goes as far as who he'd
Page 38
lighting gear?
A. They had I think flashlights or some type of
drop light that they were working in that area.
Q Did they tell you where they were working when
Dan fell or about when Dan fell?
A Yes,
Q Is that indicated here on the photographs
anywhere?
A You can't quite see it. It was —no, you
can't see it. Itwas here. It’s going to be back in
this comer.
Q Okay. Maybe they have some other photographs.
MR. GRAY: We got this one. I don't
know which other ones we have, Looks like
they have others,
Page 40
report to?
A Mark Castellano, service manager.
Q Doyou have any knowledge of whether or not
either Dan or Mark informed the two employees that were
working that morning in the dark on this unit identified
in Defense Number 2, do you have any knowledge of whether
or not that they indicated to them that they're going to
start at night ¢o have the property safety lighting and
stuff available?
A Not that I know of.
Q Did you reach a conclusion as to whether such a
conversation occurred?
A Yeah. Evidently.
Q And just so I'm clear, I mean, is it fair to
assume that if AMSCO's employees — and that could be the
16 Q Yeah. I think it’s over here. That's here. 16 project manager or it could be the installers ~ if
17 Okay. Kind of give you a layout of the roof. Does that 17 they're going to be working on the roof in the dark that
28 ook familiar? 18 they are to ~ they're required, by their own policy, to
9 A Yes, 19 have the proper safety equipment?
20 Q This is the courtyard here? 20 A. Right
a A Right a Q And that would include these lighting, portable
2 MR. HOUSTON: Are you going to use that 22 lighting, you said?
23 as an exhibit, Chris? | A Yes.
a MR. GRAY: Yeah, probably. | 4 Q Flashlights?
2s Q Okay. 1B—no, I'm sorry, two. Thank you. | 28 A Yes.
10 (Pages 37 to 40)
THE MCS GROUP, INC.Owen Orr Bower
April 9,
2019
Page 41
Q And you said headlamp gear could be optional?
A. Right
Q Let's say — maybe we can use Defense Number 2
or you can use any of the other photographs to give
yourself sort of a — this is sort of a hypothetical
question.
Let's assume this job was being done at night,
where would you anticipate where the lighting would be?
A. Itshould have been, you know, if we're coming
up the stainway, okay.
Q You come out —
A. Okay. Yeah. If they're coming out the
stairway, we should have had lighting here, and then all
the way down ~ all the way up to the courtyard so it had
lighting halfway.
Q Okay. Did you come to any conclusion of
whether or not the actual project they were working on,
was that near the ledge here next to the courtyard?
A_ No, it's not.
Page 43
Q Do you have any sort of as safety director any
sort of policy or what would you teach the installers
with laying duct work when it comes - when it comes near
a roof, what would you teach them?
A. Ifwe laid that and we'e back to the safety
line again, all right. And if they were working here,
they would have been required to wear body hamesses. If
wwe lay this and, you know, a safety line, you know, if
we're working the roof edge, then they have to wear the
body protection, okay.
Q And that's - you're referring to the duet
work?
A Duct work.
Q I'm talking -- for the court reporter's sake —-
you're looking at 1A and 1D, as in dog.
A Okay.
Q [guess it would be pictured here in 1B and
1c?
A Yes,
20 Q Do you have any knowledge of why or in your 20 Q Did you take any sort of measurements when you
21 investigation of try to determine what happened, did you 21 got there of like how far this duct work or how far the
22 ever reach any sort of the conclusion as to why Dan would | 2? —_roof edge was from the -- from the duct work?
23° be over here near the courtyard edge of the roof? a3 A No, Ididntt.
aa A. No, Idont. 4 Q But presuming because you were telling us that
2s Q These pictures in 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D that have the 25 you weren't sure if AMSCO —- if the employees had put
Page 42 | Page 44
1 caution tape on them, they also have looks like duct | 1 that duct work on the roof or not. I'm going to have you
2 work; is that right? | 2 just assume that they did.
3 A. Right, }: A. Okay.
4 Q Who lays that duet work? ; 4 Q That the employees testified that they laid
5 A. That was already on the roof. The supplier S this duct work the day before this incident occurred. I
© retum duet work for aireondition. © want to make sure I'm clear.
7 Q Did you have any understanding of whether your 7 It's your opinion that this duct work is laid
® AMSCO employees put that duet work in there? ® too close to the roof’s edge without using the proper
9 A No. ® safety equipment you described for me earlier; is that
20 Q You don't think you did? | 10 righe?
u A I don't think we did. At least not at that | n A Yes.
12 time. Now, they might have done it on a different 2 Q Do you recall having any conversations with
13 project. 13 Mark Castellano about the duct work or about the duct
u Q If—let's assume that the AMSCO employees | 14 work being too close to the roof's edge?
15 laid the duet work the day before the accident. They | 1s A No.
16 were runing the duct work to bypass, I guess, from this | + Q Did you have any input with any of Mark or with
17 unit they're repairing to another unit over here to have 17 the crew — because now Dan is injured, he's in the
18 temporary air going in there. Does that make sense? 18 hospital, so now Dan's off the project for a while.
wv A Yes 19 Do you recall any conversations or meetings you
20 Q Okay. Let's assume that the AMSCO employees 20 might have had with Mark about going forward completing
21 Jaid that duct work and that conduit. Did you reach any 21 any further work on the hospital?
22 or you can tell us today do you believe that duct work 22 A Yeah. We talked about what was needed, and
23 would have been — is that laid too close to the roof's | then he went and got it
24 edge there? | a Q > What was needed?
25 A. Yes. | 25 A. The safety line, and then lighting, if they
THE MCS GROUP,
11 (Pages 41 to 44)
INC.Owen Orr Bower
April 9,
2019
Page 45
were going to continue to continue to do work at night.
Q And the safety line you're talking about,
that's the rope with the flags spaced on them?
A Umehum, Because this here, this is actually
almost the pathway to the equipment. You'd have had to
step over that to get to the root's edge.
Q And why is it important to have the safety line
there?
A. Just so to make sure that they're aware, you
know, the roof edge is there. That's why they got to
keep five feet away from it
Q So this—
A And it would have been, - you know, I don't
have the distance here, but the line would probably be on
this side of the duct work.
Page 47
requires either the project manager or the supervisor to
go up onto the roof of a project that they're about to
undertake and to sort of have a huddle or a game plan
before they start?
A Yes.
Q What would that include?
A. They should have the list of equipment that
theyte installing, all right, whether they're going to
need subcontractors like the crane, okay, and then
coordinate all the installation together. Make sure that
they would all the proper, you know, whatever we need to
lift the unit and then, you know.
Q What about safety equipment?
A. Its their responsibility to provide all the
safety equipment.
ae Q Let's assume that the two AMSCO — the AMSCO 16 Q Andis it the project manager and supervisors
17 employees installers put the duct work on there. Do you 17 that their responsibility of AMSCO to, I guess, formulate
18 yeeall having any conversations with them advising them 18 some sort of safety plan or safety guide about how to do
19 that the duct work was too close to the roof's edge? 19 that particular project?
20 A No. 20 A. They should, or at least sit down with the
a Q Did you have any conversations with them about 21 employees to discuss whatever safety items that might
22 laying any additional duct work for other units that were 22 oceur.
22 going to be worked on for the hospital about warning 23 Q And assuming that that was done, I guess, let's
24 them, don't get the duct work too close to the roof's 24 say in this particular job, you're kind of looking at
25 edge? 28 these photographs, is it your opinion, or do you have
Page 46 | Page 48
L A No. | 1 one, of whether or not that Mark or Dan should have
2 Q Now, you talked about you became aware of |? identified any safety issue?
3 conversation that Mark or Dan had had with the hospital po: A. Yeah. Dan should have. Tm not aware that
about ceasing to work the day before, then having to | 4 Mark was on the roof before the project started
5 start over the next morning. 5 Q Okay. So Dan is a project manager, right?
6 A. Right © A Yes.
7 Q _['ilrepresent to you that this was — the 7 Q Andis it safe then to say that he's the one
© accident was Saturday morning, October the 14th. And the % that should identify any safety issue on the roof?
® day before that would have been Friday the 13th, right? 9 A. Yes. He would have known that the requirement
10 A. Unehum, | 10 for the five-foot line away from the roof’s edge.
a Q So do you have any ~ let's assume that the | u Q So if Dan — do you have any knowledge of
12 hospital asked them to stop working Friday afternoon and 12 whether or not Dan ever identified this particular roof's
15 resume their work Saturday morning. Let's assume that 13 edge by the courtyard? Did he ever identify that as a
14 occurred. | 14 safety problem?
a8 Do you have any knowledge of whether or not the | 15 A. No, but he was aware that it was there.
16 hospital employees had anything to do with telling the ‘i Q And how do you know that?
17 installers for AMSCO how or where to run the duct work? i A. Ive got it in the statement.
18 A No. 18 Q Soit's your understanding that Mr. Shelatz
1 Q Would you expect the hospital to have any input 19 told you that he was aware that the courtyard was
20 on how to run the duct work? 20 there?
a A No. aa A Yes.
2 Q And why is that? 22 Q And that was prior to his fall — that was
2 A Because we're the professionals, and if we're 23° before he fell off the roof?
24 running duct work, they should have had a diagram down 2a A. Yeah, yeah. This is in my interview.
28 25
Q Is there any sort of safety protocol that
Q Correct. Your interview came after the fall?
THE MCS GROUP,
12 (Pages 45 to 48)
INC.Owen Orr Bower
April 9,
2019
a
Page 49
A. Right
Q Butit's your testimony that he made a
statement to you indicating that he was aware that the
courtyard was present before he fell?
A. Right
Q Now, let's assume that Dan was on the roof and
he's looking at this job for the hospital. And he's
walking over here in this area sort of identifying the
units that are going to be replaced and whether or not
there's going to be a temporary duct work run to give air
to this room where they're taking the unit off. Let's
assume that was done.
If you were the project manager on this or if
you're looking at this from a safety perspective, are
there any particular hazards that you would identify
looking at this roof that would present a safety issue?
A. Yeah, Ifwe're walking within the five feet of
the roofs edge, you would have to identify that it
Page 51
A. Right.
Q Did you service roofs that are similar in
structure and development to the roof here at the
hospital?
A. That I couldn't tell you.
Q Okay. Well, as far as it being a flat roof
that doesn’t have handrails or guardrails on it?
A Yes.
Q You do service those types of roofs?
A Yes.
Q We talked about that at the very that you had
this company called Capital Safety that you had this
company that come out demonstrate to your employees
working on a similar type flat roof; is that right?
A Yes.
Q Would you agree with the general premise that
safety takes precedence over expediency and shortcuts?
‘A. Yes. That is preached to them at every
18 needed to be protected, The employee needed to be 1s meeting.
20 protected to be made aware that this, "Hey, this opening 20 Q And these meetings happen four to five times a
21 ig there." 2. year.
22 Q Soisit your understanding,
Preview
Filing # 97953750 E-Filed 10/28/2019 12:09:09 PM IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE TWENTIETH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR CHARLOTTE COUNTY, FLORIDA CIVIL DIVISION CASE No.: 18-000223-CA DANIEL SHELATZ and ALYN SHELATZ, Plaintiffs, vs. PUNTA GORDA HMA, LLC d/b/a BAYFRONT HEALTH PUNTA GORDA, SSS HS SS SH Defendant. DEFENDANT'S, PUNTA GORDA HMA, LLC d/b/a BAYFRONT HEALTH PUNTA GORDA. NOTICE OF FILING DEPOSITION TRANSCRIPT OF Defendant, PUNTA GORDA HMA, LLC d/b/a BAYFRONT HEALTH PUNTA GORDA, by and through the undersigned counsel and pursuant to the applicable Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, hereby files the deposition transcript of Owen Orr Bower dated April 9, 2019.CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I HEREBY CERTIFY that I electronically filed the foregoing with the Clerk of Court on this 28th day of October 2019, using the Florida Courts e-Filing Portal which will send a notice of electronic filing as identified in the attached Service List. LA CAVA & JACOBSON, P.A. Attorneys for Defendant, Bayfront Health Punta Gorda 2590 Northbrooke Plaza Drive, Suite 307 Naples, Florida 34119 Telephone —: 239.300.9679 Facsimile —: 239.734.3546 By:___/s/A. Kevin Houston A. KEVIN HOUSTON, ESQ. Florida Bar No: 0610321 KARI K. JACOBSON, ESQ. Florida Bar No. 961167 khouston @lacavajacobson.com kkeyte@lacavajacobson.com jserrano@lacavjacobson.com Page |2 of 3Christopher D. Gray, Esq. Hunter Higdon, Esq. Florin Gray Bouzas Owens, LLC 16524 Pointe Village Drive, Suite 100 Lutz, FL 33558 Phone =: 727.254.5255 Fax 1 727.483.7942 chris@fgbolaw.com debbie@fgbolaw.com hunter@fgbolaw.com Counsel for Plaintiff Page |3 of 3Owen Orr Bower April 9, 2019 Page 1 Page 3 1 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE TWENTIETH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT 1 INDEX IN AND OF FOR CHARLOTTE COUNTY, FLORIDA 2 2 WITNESS EXAMINATION PAGE NO. 3 3 Called by the Defense: 4 OWEN ORR BOWER DANIEL SHELATZ and ALYN SHELATZ, : Plaintitts, © Direct By (Mr. Houston) 4 vs. CASE NO. 18-000223-CA 7 ‘Cross By (Mr. Gray) 84 7 a Redirect By (Mr. Houston) 110 PUNTA GORDA HMR, LLC d/b/a BAYFRONT 8 HEALTH PUNTA GORDA, ° -Recross By (Mr. Gray) 119 9 Defendant. 10 Certificate of Oath, 127 to SE 11 Certificate of Acknowledgement. 128 u wz EXHIBITS 2 5 - g einen: pun yes enoue 13 Defense Composite Exhibit No. 1, photographs........23 Regus ~ Tampa 14 Defense Exhibit 1A, photograph 30 a4 oe eee Kennedy Boulevard 15 Defense Exhibit 1B, 1C, 1D, photographs. 31 a5 Tanpa, Florida 33607 16 Defense Exhibit No. 2, photograph 39 a6 17 Defense Exhibit No. 3, Investigative report. 33 v DATE: april 9, 2019 te - Ceamencing at 10:16 ame Defense Composite Exhibit No. 4, OSHA 7-page report....54 1 19 Defense Composite Exhibit No. 5, OSHA letter/teport ...58 1 fense Ex 20 REPORTED BY: MARIA E, RODRIGUEZ, RPR 2 Defense Exhibit No. 6, document date 10/19. 81 Notary Public aa (marked for identification) at 22 Defense Composite Exhibit No. 7, AMSCO File 23 (retained by deponent, to be produced) 23 24 a 25 23 Page 2 | Page 4 1 APPEARANCE | t OWEN ORR BOWER, called as a witness by the : |? Defense, having been first duly sworn on oath, was FOR THE PLAINTIFE: }° examined and deposed as follows: 4 i 4 DIRECT EXAMINATION 5 CHRISTOPHER D. GRAY, ESQUIRE 5 BY MR. HOUSTON: . HUNTER HIGDON, ESQUIRE, © Q Good morning, Mr. Bower. My name is Kevin lorin, Gray, Bouzas, Owen, LLC 7 > ray, » OW 7 Houston. I ¢ Bayfront Health Punta Gorda down i 16524 Pointe Village Drive, Suite 100 . fouston. T represent Baylront Health Punta Gorda down in 7 Lutz, FL 33558 ® Punta Gorda, the hospital. I'm taking your deposition 8 8 today. 5 | 10 Have you given a deposition before? 10 FOR THE DEFENDANT: nh A Yes, 1 A. KEVIN HOUSTON, ESQUIRE 12 Q Okay. Just some reminders. You probably 12 LA CAVA & JACOBSON, P.A. 13 remember all this, but let me finish my question before I bs 2590 Northbrooke Plaza Drive, Suite 307 | 14 start answering because she's taking down things Naples, FL 34119 | 15 verbatim. And if we talk over one another, it gets very Khouston@lacavajacobson.com | 14 ~ " 16 difficult for her. 15 uv Also, I'll do the same for you. If you're 2 18 giving an answer, I won't start a question until you ts 19 finished, and then I'll start my next question, 19 20 If you don’t understand a question, please let 20 21 me know sand I will rephrase it so we're on the same page and when you do answer, you understood the question and, therefore, I can assume you answered it to the best of 24 your ability, Okay? 28 A. Okay. 1 (Pages 1 to 4) THE MCS GROUP, INC.Owen Orr Bower April 9, 2019 Page 5 Page 7 1 Q Allright. What is your full name, sir? 1 Q > What else? 2 A Owen O. Bower. 2 A. handle all the safety meetings for each 3 Q Owen O. Bower? 3 service center. 4 A Unr-hum. 4 Q How many service centers do you guys have? 5 Q > What's the "O" stand for? 5 A Seven. 6 A Orr, O-R-R. © Q_ Are those all within the state? 7 Q > Oh, Orr. Okay. And what is what's your ? A Yes. Now, that also includes two for automated 8 professional? 8 building controls. That's a sister company. 9 A 4311 West Ida, I-D-A, Street, Tampa 33614. 6 Q > Okay. What other kind of work do you do as a 10 Q And what's the telephone number you can be 19 safety director? it reached at? at A_ I'm the investigator for the accident and 12 A (813) 875-0782. 12 injuries. 13 Q > Okay. And you currently work for AMSCO? As Q > Okay. When you investigate, what kind of 14 A Yes. 14 accidents do you investigate, mostly accidents that 15 Q Isthat Air Mechanical — what's the formal 15 involve your employees? 16 name for AMSCO? te A Yes, and vehicle accidents. W A. Air Mechanical and Service Corporation. ay Q Because you guys have a fleet of vehicles as 18 Q Very briefly what's your educational 18 well, correct? 18 background, like, did you go to high school? ce) A. Yes. 20 A No. [got an AA degree in business. 20 Q Does -- you say you handle new hire orientation au Q AA degree in business. Where did that come 21 and you handle all safety meetings. 22 from? 22 Does AMSCO have any sort of like a written 23 A. That come from Hillsborough County Community | 23 policy for safety that every like — 24 a4 A No. 25 College. Q = Hillsburg? Q> -and I'll make the question even more Page 6 A Yes. Q_Isthat here in Tampa? MR. HIGDON: It's Hillsborough. Q Hillsborough. All right. Any other post-graduate education? A No. Q How long have you been working for AMSCO? A. Six years Q And what's your current position with them? A Tm the safety HR manager. © Safety HR manager. So are you the director of safety? A You could say so, yes. Q And the director of HR.? A Yes. Q Soyou're both. Okay. Is there anyone above you that would be over safety in the company? A No. Q Okay. We're going to talk about your role asa safety director at AMSCO today. I don’t think I have any more questions over the human resource part of what you do, but as the safety director, what sort of things do you do for AMSCO? What's your job responsibility and job function? A. Okay. Ido the new hire orientation Page 8 specific. Maybe we can divide it up from there, but does every new employee have a safety course that they have to complete? A Yes, Q >What does that entail? A. Itentails all the specific safety courses that ‘we want them to take to make them familiar with what we expect them to do on the job. Q Does any of those protocols have to do with like working on a roof? A Yes, Q Do you have copies of written policies that AMSCO produces that pertain to roofs? A Yes, Q__Is that something I could get if Tissued a request for that? A. Yes, I's an AMSCO Fall Protection Program, Q And does every new hire have to complete this AMSCO Fall Protection Program? A. They watch a video and we explain what we expect of them. Q Okay. And that would — would that apply to all of the service technicians, the installers, all personnel? A. Allpersonnel. THE MCS GROUP, 2 (Pages 5 to 8) INC.Owen Orr Bower April 9, 2019 Page 9 Q Even the assistant VPs like Mark Castellano, would he have to do that as well? A. Yes. Now, he came on after I did, so what they had before — Q True. He's been there a long time. A Yeah. Q Let's go back. We're here on an accident that happened in October of 2017? A Yes, Q So and you've been there six years. So you were there — you were investigating this accident, but just backing up for a second. Is there — once the new hire comes in, he goes through — watches the video, gets the instruction from you from the meeting, how to be safe ona roof. Page 11 goes. All right. If they're working, OSHA requires if we're working off the roof edge, then they have to wear body hamesses and all that and be tied off. Q Okay. A. Ifyou're working inside that area, then it just has to be you need to put up some type of barrier so the employees know that, you know, hey, you're getting close to the roof edge. Q Who would be that person putting that barrier up? A. The superintendent or supervisor in charge of the job, Q Could that be the project manager? A. Project manager also. Q Clearly, what other fall protocols would be ae Do they have to do any sort of like regular 16 involved for working on a flat roof like the roof was 17 safety checks or videos after they're employed? 17 here at the hospital in Punta Gorda? a8 A_ Thave on my ~ Ihave bi-weekly or bi-monthly 18 A. Okay. Now were going to be talking 19 safety meetings — 19 specifically about that roof? 20 Q Okay. 20 Q Weean. a A. ~on different topics. aa A. Okay, 22 Q How long have you been doing that practice? 22 Q We can, yes, sir. 2 A. Since 2013, my new hire. 23 A. Okay. That roof— 2 Q Does all the employees have to attend these 2a Q You can answer either way you want to. You can 25 bi-monthly safety meetings? 25 answer just as to that roof because you've been to that Page 10 | Page 12 2 A. They're asked to attend. You know, if they | 1 roof, right? 2 have something already planned and they cant get outof_ | A Yes. 3 it, then they're excused. po: Q You came to this accident seen and you went up 4 Q What types of safety protocol -- when you watch | __ there and found out what happened? ° this video that you're discussing and you're having a 5 A Yes. © safety meeting -- we're here for on an accident that © Q And I'll get to all that in a little while. 7 involved a roof, a gentleman stepped off the roof. 7 I'm just trying to get, in general, when your employees 8 What sort of safety protocols would be ® are being taught safety and watching these videos and e addressed when you're talking about a roof? 8 taught protocol about working on any type of flat roof — a0 A. Okay. Well, you're talking about the fall | 10 A Un-hum 11 protection, whether the building has a parapet where you | oe Q —what they are required to know and 12 can't walk off the roof. 12 understand? a3 MR. HIGDON: Did you say a parapet? 13 A. Okay, a4 A. It's just a wall. pola Q And you just mentioned to me that one of the ts Q Is that P-A-R-A-P-E-T? | 18 rules if they're working on the roof edge, they're to 16 A’ Can'ttell you. } 16 wear a body harness? vw ‘Wiscussions were held off the record.) i A Yes. a8 Q What about flat roofs where there is no railing 18 Q If they're not working in the roof edge, I 12 and no parapet? 19 guess, within the middle of the roof or somewhere, then 20 A. Then we have to address how we're going to 20 you said barriers or barricades may be used? 21 protect the workers from walking off the roof. aa A. Okay, 2 Q What sort of things do you address in a safety 22 Q When you say a "barrier," is that like caution 25 meeting with the workers? 23 tapes is that considered a barrier? za A. Okay. After we show the video, we talk about 2a A. You could use that, but we don't use that. We 25 25 the items that are required as far as the protection use a rope with lines, a rope line with flags on it, red THE MCS GROUP, 3 (Pages 9 to 12) INC.Owen Orr Bower April 9, 2019 Page 13 and yellow flags, depending on where they bought it at. Just something that stands out so they say, "Hey, Ineed to stop.” Q Would that have been — would those rope with the lines and the flags, would those — would that type of equipment been available in 2017 when this accident occurred? A Yes. Q Do you have any — all right. What other — Page 15 Q What about headlamps. Do they have headlamp gear that they wear on their head? A. Some do, but that's not required for walking on a roof. Q Allright. So basically for any kind of job that's being performed at night or in the dark, you need to have portable A Yes. Q And each employee shall have a flashlight? ing; is that right? 10 strike that. to A Yes a What other types of barriers or barricades does n Q Headlamps is optional; you can wear a 12 AMSCO use on flat roofs. 12 headlamp? a3 A. Some of the other guys just have concrete B A. Yeah, 14 buckets with poles on it so they tie it off. Each group ua Q Ifnot, that's okay? 25 has, you know ~ I purchase most of these flags for b A Right 26 everybody, you know, and that’s basically what I want us Q Do you— I know -- I don't know if you bought 27 them touse. 17 anything from Mr. Shelatz personnel file, but he was an 18 Q > The rope with the -- the rope that you said 18 employee of AMSCO. Do you know whether or not he signed 12 has the flags on it, is that like a, for example, I'm 12 off'on the checklist or the safety meeting? 20 just trying to show you a picture for demonstrative A. Iwent back and pulled ~ I had ~ I didn't 21 purposes. This is a single piece of caution tape. bring the dates -- one prior to the fall, okay. 2 Is your rope, is it multi-level? Is it more 2 Q Olay. 25° than one level? 23 A. He wasn't on the log, but ~ za A. No. It’s one level. 2a MR. HIGDON: You say he wasn't? 2s Q Okay. But it's got flags placed at like how 25 Q He wasn't on the log? Page 14 | Page 16 1 many intervals apart? | t A Yeah, but I'm almost positive he was there 2 A Probably like every two feet. | 2 because we've had conversations. What I did was along s Q > Okay. What about working at night in the | >with the video, okay, I brought in ~ back then it was 2 dark? | 4 Capital Safety. That's a safety business, and they have 5 A. Okay. 5 avehicle that is equipped to show demonstration on 6 Q Ifyou have a project that requires AMSCO. © proper equipment, and they actually show a fall from 7 employees to work on a roof at night, what sort of 7 about 12 feet up on whether if you're not using the right ® equipment do you teach them to have with them? © equipment it falls down and shows the force that goes 2 A. They have to have portable lighting. against your body. And then they go through and show a 20 Q What would portable — can you give me some | 10 proper fall with the body harness and the right lanyards 11 examples of portable lighting? | 12 to make sure they don't fall any further then, you know, 12 A You might see, you know, a three-foot stand 12 a few feet. 13 with two fixtures on it, you know, that just plugs into a Q So this is — when did that, I guess, 14 regular adapter, electrical adapter. | 14 demonstration or video occur? Do you have any knowledge as Q > Okay. What about flashlights, would they be — | as of that? te A_ Everybody should be carrying a flashlight. If ; te A 2014 sometime. 17 they're working at night, you know, and they're looking vw Q Okay. And you believe, it's you're 18 ata machine, they're probably carrying a flashlight also 18 understanding of it, I guess your recollection of it, 19 and maybe a drop light. 19 Mr, Shelatz was there? 20 (Whereupon, a cellular phone interruption.) 20 A. Yes, because he said he attended. I know I at a MR. HIGDON: You're more popular than I 22 Jeast had two down there in Englewood's office. 22 am. 2 Q And this safety meeting was down in Englewood? 2s MR. HOUSTON: These robo calls a lot of A’ Yes. aa them. 4 BY MR. HOUSTON: Q And you said Capital Safety would come in and demonstrate how a fall or how to avoid having a fall. THE MCS GROUP, 4 (Pages 13 to 16) INC.Owen Orr Bower April 9, 2019 Page 17 And I'm assuming you said about 12 to 13 feet, so that’s like one single-story roof or something like that? A Yes, Q Do — that particular roof that they were demonstrating, was that a flat roof? A. Itsaflat roof, Q With no railings? A Right Q Do you have any record or any other independent recollection of any safety protocol meeting that Mr. Shelatz may have attended before this fall may have occurred? A. I've got, you know, I've had to pull all the meetings for Englewood and see, you know, Ihave it over all kind of different topies over the last five years Page 19 because our workload. And if I do have one, I probably get 1/3 of the employees, so. So we kind of, you know, let that, you know, through the summer months. Q Gotcha. That's your busiest months from June to September? A. Yeah, because we do a lot of work for schools and — Q Sure. You guys do all commercial, correct? A Allcommercial. Q Okay. Do you have an independent recollection of Mr. Shelatz' accident that happened at the hospital? A Yes. Q Did you go to the scene to investigate? A Yes. Q How did you first hear about the accident? usually from June until September there will be one know, but I just asked him how he felt. He says he's in ae Q Is that something that you keep in the regular te A_ I gota phone call, I guess, around 6:30 from 17 course of business? Is it like a log for how often you 17 Mark Castellano. 18 give these safety demonstrations? 18 Q Do you have any recollection of what Mark told wv A Yes 18 you happened? 20 Q How far do you guys keep that information? 20 A. He just said that Dan had fallen off the 21 Like how long, how many years back? 2. roof. 2 A_ [keep them since I've been there. 22 Q And you said about 6:30. That was 6:30 a.m.; 2 Q So if I wanted to get, let's say, a log of all 23 is that right? 24 of the safety meetings that Mr. Shelatz had attended in 2a A. Yeah. 25 Englewood between 2013 and 2017, that's something that Q Did you — what did you do then after you got Page 18 | Page 20 1 you should be able to produce? | 1 the phone call? 2 A_ Yes. It's a sign-in log, and it shows the ; 2 A [got dressed and headed to the hospital. a topics that we discussed. | a Q Okay. Have you ever been to this particular 4 Q Okay. Is that a request I could send to you | 4 hospital in Punta Gorda before? 5 that you could then forward to your attorneys or 5 A No. © corporate office or corporate people that handle that? © Q Are you aware of any complaints from any of the 7 How does that work? 7 employees working on this hospital before? 8 I would have to see — you're not part of this 8 A No. ° lawsuit, so I can't exactly send you a request to 9 Q Allright. I take it you got the phone call, 10 produce. I'd have to send you a subpoena that would | 10 you got in the car, you dressed up, you drove down to the 11 itemize this particular information that we're talking | 11 hospital, which is in Punta Gorda, Florida. 12 about. 12 What do you remember when you first got there? a3 A Um-hum. 13 Who did you speak to? u Q Is that something I would just serve to you? pou A. Iwent in, Idon't remember. I think Mark was as A__Tust serve to me, yes. | 15 already there. He said Dan is already set to be flown to ae Q Okay. That's fine. Do you have a standard | 16 St. Pete's Hospital 17 that — you've done since 2013 when you first started. i Q So you had no conversations with Mr. Shelatz on 18 Do you --is it every month you do two safety meetings or 18 that day? 19 does it kind of vary? 1 A. No. Idid walk back and talk to him while he 20 A. Itvaries. 20 was waiting a Q Is there a certain amount that you want to do aa Q Okay. What did he tell you? 2 year? 22 per year? A. We started talking and he was in pain, so I 2 A_ It's depending on the workload. All right. 1 i 23 kind of stopped, all right, because he wasn't really with 24 try to get at least two in the first two quarters, and | 24 it. Allright. So I didn't want to get anything, you 25 | 28 THE MCS GROUP, 5 (Pages 17 to 20) INC.Owen Orr Bower April 9, 2019 Page 21 pain, and they just kept pumping pain medication in him, 50. Q And then he was airlifted to St. Pete or do you know? A Eventually sometime, you know, I didn't know if it was the same day they said they were waiting on the chopper, but it was a long time before he got up there. Q _Butit's fair to say as far as any conversations you had with him that day, you were checking on his health. You didn't really ask him about what happened about the accident? A No. Q Okay. Do you remember when you got there, did you take any photographs? A Yes, after I spoke with him, I went up on the r00f? Q How did you go access to the roof, do you remember? Page 23 was the substance of what they told you or what happened, how did Dan fall? A. They just said they heard a noise, okay, and they went to investigate, And they, I guess, they heard ‘him down on the ground and found him down on the ground, Q Okay. There's a little cour A Yes, Q Did he say anything else other than what you just repeated to me? A No. Other than they went down, and they picked ‘him up and took him to the ER. Q Allright. These photographs that you took. T have I think you E-mailed my office six; does that sound right? A Yes, Q I want to show these to you. I think you guys got those. All right. We're going to mark these as ard area there? 19 A. Stairway. 12 Composite Exhibit One. 20 Q Was anyone from Bayfront, any other employees 20 (Defense Composite Exhibit No. 1 was marked for 21 working, were they with you or present with you when you | 2! identification.) 22 went on the roof? 2 Q And there's six photographs. And do those look 23 A Yes 25 ike the photographs you took, Mr. Bower? 24 Q Doyou remember who it was? 24 A Yes, as A No. 2s Q Okay. Hand those back. Were you given prior Page 22 | Page 24 L Q Okay. Does the name Jeff Houck sound | 2 to going on the roof and prior to taking these 2 familiar? | 2 photographs, were you given any sort of background about 3 A. Sounds familiar. | 2 what the guys were doing there, what kind of job they 4 Q Roger McMilan? | ¢ were performing there? 5 A. Ibelieve so. 8 A No. 6 Q Okay. 6 Q Was that information necessary for you to sort 7 A I'dhave to go back. I think I've got their 7 of do your investigation and find out what happened? ® names somewhere in my file. 8 A No. 9 Q Fair enough. But your recollection is when you ° Q Do you remember if Mark was on the roof with 10 went up on the roof, there were some employees of the | 10 you? 11 hospital with you there? | un A Yes. 12 A Yes. a Q You do? Do you have any knowledge or a3 Q Okay. What did you do when you got on the 13 recollection of anyone telling you that the time of day 4 voof? | 44 when Dan fell? as A. Allright. Iproceeded to walk over to the | is A No. 16 other guys that were working after they had taken Dan ; i Q Do you know whether it was dark out or light 17 over to the ER and spoke with them briefly to see what 17 out? 18 they had to say, and then I started taking pictures. is ‘A. It was dark. They indicated it was dark. wv Q Okay. Let's go —do you remember the names of 19 Q Did anyone give you any information of whether 20 the employees that were working that day? 20 or not that Dan had any sort of lighting with him? a A No. a A No. 22 Q Was it Wayne Young. Does that ring a bell? 2 Q You said you had conversations with Mr. Shelatz 23 Homer Martinez? 25 after he was in the hospital? 2 A. Yeah, I believe so. a A Yes. 25 25 Q > What was their — let me just ask this: What Q Okay. Did you at any point ever ask him what THE MCS GROUP, 6 (Pages 21 to 24) INC.Owen Orr Bower April 9, 2019 Page 25 Page 27 1 happened? 1 basically talk with these salesmen when they sell these 2 A Yes. 2 job that they get, you know, if it’s a roof work, okay, Q And what was the result? A. He basically couldn't tell me. He said he was walking up on the roof. He had his phone, and he was taking pictures. What he was taking pictures of in the dark, I don't know. Q Okay, So I'm hearing this right and it's fair and clear, your recollection of Mr. Shelatz telling you what had happened on the day of the incident is that he went up on the roof, was taking pictures, and doesn't remember anything else? A. Right. Q He didn't remember where he fell, how he A No. Q How did you become aware of where he fell off A. They indicated to me where he landed, if there's any question of we need safety wise, they! get ahold of me and I'll meet with them and Ill get on the roof. Q They being the AMSCO superintendent or project manager? A. No, the sales people — Q Or the sales people? A. ~before they even bid the job. Q Who — what's does this salesman work for AMSCO? A Yes. Q Okay. Whatis his role? Isay, "his." What is his or her role? A. It's just to procure work, you know. Q Does the superintendent have to go through the salesman to obtain like supplies like this ventilation duct, things like that? 20 Q They being the two employees that were there? 20 A. They will have the plans and equipment list, a A Yes. 21 yeah, they should be given all that. 2 (Whereupon, Chris Gray, Esquire, enters the 22 Q Okay. Did you, when you came to the scene, 23 deposition room at 10:42 a.m.) 23 went up on the roof, did you take any written statements 24 BY MR. HOUSTON: 24 of anyone? 25 Q Does your company AMSCO, did they have any sort 2s A No. Page 26 | Page 28 1 of like a request form that the supervisor or the | 1 Q Did you create anything that would be 2 superintendent or project manager would submit to you all |? considered like AMSCO's internal incident report? 2 ifit's a daytime job or a nighttime job? ,? A Yes. 4 A Not to me, no. 7? Q Did you take any statements from any of the 8 Q Do you have any knowledge of whether or not any 5 Bayfront Hospital employees? © ‘such request or form is to be submitted when they're ° A No. 7 doing a nighttime job? 7 Q Why didn't you take any statements from the 8 A No. ® hospital employees? ° Q So just so I'm clear then, there's no — if 8 A__ Because they weren't there. 10 AMSCO takes on a job and they're working at night -— | 10 Q Okay. Were you ever told by anyone, Mr. Bower, ut A Unehum. | 11 that Dan was trying — before this accident occurred, 2 Q > ~as far as like having to fill out any form 12 that Dan was trying to get ahold of the two employees, 13 or get any particular safety equipment, there's nothing 13° Wayne and Homer, who were working on the roof, that he 14 that you're aware of that the superintendent would have |“ _—_was trying to get ahold of them to locate where the cones is to fill out or submit to you or anyone else at AMSCO? | 1s may have been placed on the roof for the crane that was 16 ‘A. No. They may have it at their own office that, j 16 coming that morning? 17 you know, whatever they need, whether it be body a7 A No. 18 hamesses whatever, ifit was required. Its up to ~ te Q Were you ever provided or told anything that 18 you can call it supervisor, superintendent or project 18 Dan went on the roof without any lighting? 20 manager, whoever is running that job, is their 20 A No. 21 responsible to make sure that everybody is taken care a Q Were you ever told that —I guess were you 22 of. 22 ever told that Dan went on the roof without a a Q Okay. 23 flashlight? 24 A. And they all know that I'm available 24/7. And 24 A. That was my question, you know, and basically 25 25 if they ever have any question because, you know, I it was, no, they didn’t see a flashlight, didn’t find the THE MCS GROUP, 7 (Pages 25 to 28) INC.Owen Orr Bower April 9, 2019 Page 29 Page 31 1 flashlight 1 itmight be? 2 Q That was the question to the employees that 2 A Yes. were there? A Yes, Ibelieve so. Q And they responded to you that, no, there was no flashlight present? A’ Yeah. Q Do you know whether or not Dan was wearing any type of headlamp gear? A No, I don't. Q Did you ask the employees whether he was wearing any type of headlamp gear? A No. Q Do you remember — let me come back to this. Let's look at your photographs we got here marked Defense Composite 1. There are six photographs. Do you remember who -- well, I guess, if you could, your recollection, if you could fell us, since you took these — and just so I'm clear, Mr. Bower, these photographs that you took, are those a fair and accurate representation of what you saw and observed on the day of the accident? A Yes. Q And you took these about what time in the morning or that day? Q So we'll do 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D. All right. So just so we have a clear record, you've indicated four out of these six photographs depict the area generally where you believe Mr. Shelatz. stepped off and fell off the roof? A. Comreet, Q And those are 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D. (Wefense Exhibit No. 1A, 1B, 1C, were marked for identification.) Q Okay. All right. Looking at those four photographs, is it fair to say all four of those photographs depict some type of yellow tape in them? A. Yes, but that wasn't there before, Q > That was my question. Do you have any recollection of whether that yellow tape was there? A No, it wasn't there. Q How do you know it wasn't there? A _ Because I instructed them to stop work, go back to the shop and get all the fall protection we needed. Q Do you recall what protection they went and got? A. They went got the tape, cones and marked the roof the way it was supposed to be marked. Page 30 A. Probably eight, nine o'clock by then. Q Okay, Do you — can you tell me on these photographs where you believe or you were indicated where Dan stepped off the roof? And feel free to look at all, six. MR. GRAY: Don't mean to be looking over your shouldes, but Ineed to look over your shoulder. MR. HOUSTON: That's fine. It’s the only set Ihave to give you. MR. GRAY: Yeah. THE WITNESS: It was in this general area. MR. HOUSTON: We can mark this as 1A. (Defense Exhibit No. 1A was marked for identification.) BY MR. HOUSTON: Q Is there any other photograph here — or you know what, if you could, identify all the photographs for me which depict the area where you believe or you were told Dan stepped off the roof. A. These are pretty much all the same area, okay, with the opening down to the patio or whatever is below, okay. Q Okay, That looks to me like four photographs Page 32 Q And that would be the other two AMSCO employees there on the site? A Yes, I believe there was. Q Was Mark there present during that conversation? A Yes. Q And is it fair to aysume that in your investigation of this incident that when you got there, you made a determination that there was no safety tape being utilized by the AMSCO employees that's the safety tape that's depicted in these pictures 1A through 1D? A. Right. Q And so you -is it fair to say then, that you instructed the guys —I want to all them the guys — A Either that or I told Mark, "We need to stop. ‘You need to get the proper stuff before the crane gets here." Q Okay. So at that time the employees stopped, working, went to their local shop? A Yes. And they picked up the safety protocol — Right. — or items they needed? ‘Yes. orore And they returned and put them up? THE MCS GROUP, 8 (Pages 29 to 32) INC.Owen Orr Bower April 9, 2019 Page 33 Page 35 L A Yes. L A No. 2 Q About how long did that process take? 2 Q Is that something that could cause an AMSCO 3 A. think the office was within 30 minutes, so 3 employee to be reprimanded? 4 probablya little over an hour. 4 A Yes. Q And then you took these photographs — let me ask this question: Why did you take these photographs of the areas that we've identified 1A through 1D? A. Because that's where they indicated that he fell or walked off or whatever Q And just so I'm clear, the — when you got there and made the determination that there was no tape present, was there any other type of barricade or any kind of warning of the device there — A No. Q = that was present? A No. Q And that would be the responsibility of AMSCO's employees and installers? A Yes. Q Do you have any knowledge whether or not Mr. Shelatz was reprimanded for any sort of unsafe practice before this incident? A. No, he wasn't, Q And was Mr. Shelatz, after you spoke with him in the hospital, after you had conducted sort of your investigation of what happened, was he reprimanded for anything in this case? A. Verbally I did, yeah. Q What did you verbally say? A Isaid, "What are you doing, you know, where was all your safety stuff?” All right. And we just talked about it, you know, and he was aware of what was supposed to be done. Q Did he make any statements to you indicating 20 Q asked you earlier, were you made aware of 20 that this was all his fault? 21 Dan, by anyone at AMSCO or anyone at Bayfront, were you aa A No. 22 ever made aware that Dan went up on the roof at night 22 Q Did he make any indication to you that this was 23 without a flashlight, without a headlamp before he 23. the hospital's fault? 24 fell? 2a A No. 25 A No. 25 Q Did he make any — I guess, did he make any Page 34 | Page 36 : Q Let's assume that fo be true, Dan went on the | 1 sort of indication of who was to blame for his accident? 2 roof without a flashlight and it's at night, without a ; 2 A. We talked about that this job was supposed to 2 headlamp, without any lighting? | 5 be scheduled for Friday aftemoon. It was in an ER room, 4 A. Are you just saying ~ if I can interrupt. 74 Tunderstood. And the hospital comes to them and said, 5 You're saying at night? Its, you know, early morning. 5 "Hey, we need the room. We're going to have to cancel ® Q Correct. © this. Swap.” And then they made the determination to 7 A. Okay. 3 make it the next moming. 8 Q Well, let's make it a hypothetical because I 8 Q_ They being who? have to characterize it in terms of that because it’s not 9 A. The hospital and Dan. 10 ike you read Dan's deposition. | 10 Q Okay. n A. Right | 1 A Atthat ~ okay. 2 Q And you told me that his only statements to you 12 Q That's fine. So it's your understanding where 15 was what he said 0 you, So let's assume for a second 13° did you obtain that information from? 14 that Dan has testified in this case that he went up on pou A. From Dan and Mark. 15 the roof that morning, it was dark, around between | 15 Q Was it just both Dan or him and Mark? 16 and 7:00 a.m, without a flashlight, without any headlamp ‘i A. [believe it was both 27 gear, and that he stepped off the roof. Let's assume i Q Okay. Was this a conversation that occurred 18 that's true, 18 with both of them present? 2 A. Okay. 1 A. No. Dan was still in the ER. 20 Q Would that be, in your opinion, a violation of 20 Q But you're saying that Dan told you that the 21 AMSCO's safety policy? 21 hospital needed to use the area where they were trying to 2 A Yes. 22 bypass the ventilation duct there, that they needed to a Q Would you consider that a safe practice for one | 23. use that on Friday afternoon so they told the guys to 24 of your employees — and I say your — AMSCO'S employees | 24 leave early or cancel that job? 25 ¢@ go up on a roof without any sort of lighting device? | 2s A. Right. 9 (Pages 33 to 36) THE MCS GROUP, INC.Owen Orr Bower April 9, 2019 Page 37 Q Okay. Let's assume that happened for a moment. ‘What would you expect the AMSCO employees to do the following morning? Would you expect them to start during daylight hours or would you expect them ¢o start at night, like, daylight hours before daylight? ‘A. That's okay if they were going to start at daylight, you know, that would be fine. But if theyre going to start at night, they needed to do what was needed, Q And when we say when they start at night, what was needed, what are you referring to? A Im talking about the safety line and lighting. Q Andis that the decision that the project manager would make? A. That was his responsibility, yes. Q Now, let's assume that the project manager ‘wasn't aware of that, is that something that you would expect the installers to be aware of if they're going to be working at night to have some sort of lighting up there? A [would expect that, yes. Q Doyou have any recollection as we sit here today whether or not the two employees that found Dan, do you remember whether or not if they had any sort of Page 39 2, Defense 2. Mr. Gray gave it to us. (Defense Exhibit No. 2 was Marked for identification.) Q Okay. If you could, we're referencing now Defense Exhibit 2. Do you remember — do you know about what unit they were working on at the time that Dan fell? A__ [believe it was this one here in the comer. Q Okay. I'll represent to you that that is what the other employees have identified as well. Do you know what that unit — what particular room it was over? Do you have any knowledge of that? A Noclue. Q Okay. And so when you talked to the two employees, they said they were working over here on this unit that's identified in Defense 2, and they — what — after — how did they know Dan fell? A. They just heard a noise. Q Okay. Do you know who the project manager was for this particular project going on at Punta Gorda Hospital? A. It would have been Dan Shelatz. Q Okay. And going back to had — who — I guess is — if Dan was the project manager, is there anybody over him as far as the hierarchy goes as far as who he'd Page 38 lighting gear? A. They had I think flashlights or some type of drop light that they were working in that area. Q Did they tell you where they were working when Dan fell or about when Dan fell? A Yes, Q Is that indicated here on the photographs anywhere? A You can't quite see it. It was —no, you can't see it. Itwas here. It’s going to be back in this comer. Q Okay. Maybe they have some other photographs. MR. GRAY: We got this one. I don't know which other ones we have, Looks like they have others, Page 40 report to? A Mark Castellano, service manager. Q Doyou have any knowledge of whether or not either Dan or Mark informed the two employees that were working that morning in the dark on this unit identified in Defense Number 2, do you have any knowledge of whether or not that they indicated to them that they're going to start at night ¢o have the property safety lighting and stuff available? A Not that I know of. Q Did you reach a conclusion as to whether such a conversation occurred? A Yeah. Evidently. Q And just so I'm clear, I mean, is it fair to assume that if AMSCO's employees — and that could be the 16 Q Yeah. I think it’s over here. That's here. 16 project manager or it could be the installers ~ if 17 Okay. Kind of give you a layout of the roof. Does that 17 they're going to be working on the roof in the dark that 28 ook familiar? 18 they are to ~ they're required, by their own policy, to 9 A Yes, 19 have the proper safety equipment? 20 Q This is the courtyard here? 20 A. Right a A Right a Q And that would include these lighting, portable 2 MR. HOUSTON: Are you going to use that 22 lighting, you said? 23 as an exhibit, Chris? | A Yes. a MR. GRAY: Yeah, probably. | 4 Q Flashlights? 2s Q Okay. 1B—no, I'm sorry, two. Thank you. | 28 A Yes. 10 (Pages 37 to 40) THE MCS GROUP, INC.Owen Orr Bower April 9, 2019 Page 41 Q And you said headlamp gear could be optional? A. Right Q Let's say — maybe we can use Defense Number 2 or you can use any of the other photographs to give yourself sort of a — this is sort of a hypothetical question. Let's assume this job was being done at night, where would you anticipate where the lighting would be? A. Itshould have been, you know, if we're coming up the stainway, okay. Q You come out — A. Okay. Yeah. If they're coming out the stairway, we should have had lighting here, and then all the way down ~ all the way up to the courtyard so it had lighting halfway. Q Okay. Did you come to any conclusion of whether or not the actual project they were working on, was that near the ledge here next to the courtyard? A_ No, it's not. Page 43 Q Do you have any sort of as safety director any sort of policy or what would you teach the installers with laying duct work when it comes - when it comes near a roof, what would you teach them? A. Ifwe laid that and we'e back to the safety line again, all right. And if they were working here, they would have been required to wear body hamesses. If wwe lay this and, you know, a safety line, you know, if we're working the roof edge, then they have to wear the body protection, okay. Q And that's - you're referring to the duet work? A Duct work. Q I'm talking -- for the court reporter's sake —- you're looking at 1A and 1D, as in dog. A Okay. Q [guess it would be pictured here in 1B and 1c? A Yes, 20 Q Do you have any knowledge of why or in your 20 Q Did you take any sort of measurements when you 21 investigation of try to determine what happened, did you 21 got there of like how far this duct work or how far the 22 ever reach any sort of the conclusion as to why Dan would | 2? —_roof edge was from the -- from the duct work? 23° be over here near the courtyard edge of the roof? a3 A No, Ididntt. aa A. No, Idont. 4 Q But presuming because you were telling us that 2s Q These pictures in 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D that have the 25 you weren't sure if AMSCO —- if the employees had put Page 42 | Page 44 1 caution tape on them, they also have looks like duct | 1 that duct work on the roof or not. I'm going to have you 2 work; is that right? | 2 just assume that they did. 3 A. Right, }: A. Okay. 4 Q Who lays that duet work? ; 4 Q That the employees testified that they laid 5 A. That was already on the roof. The supplier S this duct work the day before this incident occurred. I © retum duet work for aireondition. © want to make sure I'm clear. 7 Q Did you have any understanding of whether your 7 It's your opinion that this duct work is laid ® AMSCO employees put that duet work in there? ® too close to the roof’s edge without using the proper 9 A No. ® safety equipment you described for me earlier; is that 20 Q You don't think you did? | 10 righe? u A I don't think we did. At least not at that | n A Yes. 12 time. Now, they might have done it on a different 2 Q Do you recall having any conversations with 13 project. 13 Mark Castellano about the duct work or about the duct u Q If—let's assume that the AMSCO employees | 14 work being too close to the roof's edge? 15 laid the duet work the day before the accident. They | 1s A No. 16 were runing the duct work to bypass, I guess, from this | + Q Did you have any input with any of Mark or with 17 unit they're repairing to another unit over here to have 17 the crew — because now Dan is injured, he's in the 18 temporary air going in there. Does that make sense? 18 hospital, so now Dan's off the project for a while. wv A Yes 19 Do you recall any conversations or meetings you 20 Q Okay. Let's assume that the AMSCO employees 20 might have had with Mark about going forward completing 21 Jaid that duct work and that conduit. Did you reach any 21 any further work on the hospital? 22 or you can tell us today do you believe that duct work 22 A Yeah. We talked about what was needed, and 23 would have been — is that laid too close to the roof's | then he went and got it 24 edge there? | a Q > What was needed? 25 A. Yes. | 25 A. The safety line, and then lighting, if they THE MCS GROUP, 11 (Pages 41 to 44) INC.Owen Orr Bower April 9, 2019 Page 45 were going to continue to continue to do work at night. Q And the safety line you're talking about, that's the rope with the flags spaced on them? A Umehum, Because this here, this is actually almost the pathway to the equipment. You'd have had to step over that to get to the root's edge. Q And why is it important to have the safety line there? A. Just so to make sure that they're aware, you know, the roof edge is there. That's why they got to keep five feet away from it Q So this— A And it would have been, - you know, I don't have the distance here, but the line would probably be on this side of the duct work. Page 47 requires either the project manager or the supervisor to go up onto the roof of a project that they're about to undertake and to sort of have a huddle or a game plan before they start? A Yes. Q What would that include? A. They should have the list of equipment that theyte installing, all right, whether they're going to need subcontractors like the crane, okay, and then coordinate all the installation together. Make sure that they would all the proper, you know, whatever we need to lift the unit and then, you know. Q What about safety equipment? A. Its their responsibility to provide all the safety equipment. ae Q Let's assume that the two AMSCO — the AMSCO 16 Q Andis it the project manager and supervisors 17 employees installers put the duct work on there. Do you 17 that their responsibility of AMSCO to, I guess, formulate 18 yeeall having any conversations with them advising them 18 some sort of safety plan or safety guide about how to do 19 that the duct work was too close to the roof's edge? 19 that particular project? 20 A No. 20 A. They should, or at least sit down with the a Q Did you have any conversations with them about 21 employees to discuss whatever safety items that might 22 laying any additional duct work for other units that were 22 oceur. 22 going to be worked on for the hospital about warning 23 Q And assuming that that was done, I guess, let's 24 them, don't get the duct work too close to the roof's 24 say in this particular job, you're kind of looking at 25 edge? 28 these photographs, is it your opinion, or do you have Page 46 | Page 48 L A No. | 1 one, of whether or not that Mark or Dan should have 2 Q Now, you talked about you became aware of |? identified any safety issue? 3 conversation that Mark or Dan had had with the hospital po: A. Yeah. Dan should have. Tm not aware that about ceasing to work the day before, then having to | 4 Mark was on the roof before the project started 5 start over the next morning. 5 Q Okay. So Dan is a project manager, right? 6 A. Right © A Yes. 7 Q _['ilrepresent to you that this was — the 7 Q Andis it safe then to say that he's the one © accident was Saturday morning, October the 14th. And the % that should identify any safety issue on the roof? ® day before that would have been Friday the 13th, right? 9 A. Yes. He would have known that the requirement 10 A. Unehum, | 10 for the five-foot line away from the roof’s edge. a Q So do you have any ~ let's assume that the | u Q So if Dan — do you have any knowledge of 12 hospital asked them to stop working Friday afternoon and 12 whether or not Dan ever identified this particular roof's 15 resume their work Saturday morning. Let's assume that 13 edge by the courtyard? Did he ever identify that as a 14 occurred. | 14 safety problem? a8 Do you have any knowledge of whether or not the | 15 A. No, but he was aware that it was there. 16 hospital employees had anything to do with telling the ‘i Q And how do you know that? 17 installers for AMSCO how or where to run the duct work? i A. Ive got it in the statement. 18 A No. 18 Q Soit's your understanding that Mr. Shelatz 1 Q Would you expect the hospital to have any input 19 told you that he was aware that the courtyard was 20 on how to run the duct work? 20 there? a A No. aa A Yes. 2 Q And why is that? 22 Q And that was prior to his fall — that was 2 A Because we're the professionals, and if we're 23° before he fell off the roof? 24 running duct work, they should have had a diagram down 2a A. Yeah, yeah. This is in my interview. 28 25 Q Is there any sort of safety protocol that Q Correct. Your interview came after the fall? THE MCS GROUP, 12 (Pages 45 to 48) INC.Owen Orr Bower April 9, 2019 a Page 49 A. Right Q Butit's your testimony that he made a statement to you indicating that he was aware that the courtyard was present before he fell? A. Right Q Now, let's assume that Dan was on the roof and he's looking at this job for the hospital. And he's walking over here in this area sort of identifying the units that are going to be replaced and whether or not there's going to be a temporary duct work run to give air to this room where they're taking the unit off. Let's assume that was done. If you were the project manager on this or if you're looking at this from a safety perspective, are there any particular hazards that you would identify looking at this roof that would present a safety issue? A. Yeah, Ifwe're walking within the five feet of the roofs edge, you would have to identify that it Page 51 A. Right. Q Did you service roofs that are similar in structure and development to the roof here at the hospital? A. That I couldn't tell you. Q Okay. Well, as far as it being a flat roof that doesn’t have handrails or guardrails on it? A Yes. Q You do service those types of roofs? A Yes. Q We talked about that at the very that you had this company called Capital Safety that you had this company that come out demonstrate to your employees working on a similar type flat roof; is that right? A Yes. Q Would you agree with the general premise that safety takes precedence over expediency and shortcuts? ‘A. Yes. That is preached to them at every 18 needed to be protected, The employee needed to be 1s meeting. 20 protected to be made aware that this, "Hey, this opening 20 Q And these meetings happen four to five times a 21 ig there." 2. year. 22 Q Soisit your understanding,