VALLEY STEEL CONST. v. Prater

This is a workmen's compensation case.

The trial court awarded the employee permanent total disability benefits for the remainder of his life. The employer appeals. We affirm.

The employee, a forty-nine-year-old male, worked for the employer as an I-beam turner until September 1983. In this job the employee cleaned rust from I-beams, heavy pieces of steel, and lifted and turned the I-beams as part of the cleaning process.

In December 1982 the employee sustained an injury to his lower back while turning an I-beam. He was given conservative medical treatment and returned to his same job with a…