Iron-Ship Building Works v. Nuttall
Iron-Ship Building Works v. Nuttall
Opinion of the Court
.Opinion,
The defendant in error, who was plaintiff below, was in the employment of the ship building and engine works as a carpenter. While so employed he was requested, on the day of the accident to assist at the circular saw, by carrying the lumber that was to be cut up preparatory to slitting, to the right of the sawyer where -it could be easily reached by him. He had carried thirty or forty pieces and was passing around with another when a stick that was upon the table got behind the saw and was caught by it and thrown violently backward,
As to the failure to provide a spreader, the case of the plaintiff is, if possible, more clearly without merit. The testimony shows, that such an attachment is not in general use, and that there is no general agreement among mill owners or practical sawyers that it is a desirable or a useful attachment. It is not enough that some persons regard it as a valuable safeguard. The test is general use. Tried by this test, the saw of the defendant is such an one as the company had a right to use, because it is such as is commonly used by mill owners ; and it was error to leave to the jury any question of negligence based on the failure to provide a spreader.
The judgment is reversed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- IRON-SHIP BUILDING WORKS v. D. T. NUTTALL
- Cited By
- 15 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- In an action by a servant, a mechanic, to recover from an employer for personal injuries received from a circular saw about which he was employed, the negligence charged against the defendant was the failure, (1) to inform the plaintiff that the circular saw was dangerous, and (2) to provide it with an attachment claimed to be effective in diminishing the danger: Held, 1. That the omission of such a warning to a mechanic, under the circumstances of the case, was not a failure in duty on the part of the employer. 2. That, as the testimony showed that the attachment referred to was not in general use and that there was no general agreement among mill-owners and sawyers that it was desirable or useful, it was error to leave to the jury any question of negligence based on the omission to provide it.