Opinion
March 12, 1993
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Onondaga County, Stone, J.
Present — Pine, J.P., Fallon, Boomer, Davis and Boehm, JJ.
Order unanimously modified on the law and as modified affirmed without costs in accordance with the following Memorandum: Supreme Court erred by denying plaintiffs' motion for partial summary judgment under Labor Law § 240 (1). The uncontroverted facts in the record reveal that plaintiff Joel J. Howell was injured when he fell approximately 35 feet to the ground from a scaffold on which he was performing masonry work. The evidence established that the scaffold suddenly tipped and fell away at one end. Therefore, because plaintiff Joel Howell fell from an elevated worksite and no safety or protective devices were then in place to give proper protection to him, plaintiffs are entitled to partial summary judgment on their Labor Law § 240 (1) cause of action (see, Rocovich v. Consolidated Edison Co., 78 N.Y.2d 509; Staples v. Town of Amherst, 146 A.D.2d 292). Moreover, the availability of safety devices at the worksite is insufficient to defeat plaintiffs' entitlement to summary judgment because "[a]n owner's statutory duty is not met merely by providing safety instructions or by making other safety devices available, but by furnishing, placing and operating such devices so as to give proper protection" (Gordon v. Eastern Ry. Supply, 181 A.D.2d 990, 991; see also, Zimmer v. Chemung County Performing Arts, 65 N.Y.2d 513, 523-524; Heath v. Soloff Constr., 107 A.D.2d 507, 510-512).
In all other respects, the order of Supreme Court is affirmed.