Patterson v. Harrisburg Trust Co.
Patterson v. Harrisburg Trust Co.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
In the business of manufacturing structural iron and steel,
On the first day of his employment in the shop the plaintiff was directed to remove the bolts. In doing this he stood a foot and a half from the machine and loosened the nuts with a wrench and took out the bolts with his hands. He had been engaged at this work only a few hours when the pieces from which he was removing a bolt swung back between the jaws of the machine, his glove caught on a nut and his hand was carried back between the cups. At the same instant the machine started in motion, the cups closed and his hand was crushed between them.
What caused the machine to start no one seemed to know. The operator was some distance from it and no one touched it at the time. Witnesses, some of whom operated the machine and others of whom had worked about it, testified that frequently it started automatically and that it had done this from the time it was first placed in the works five or six years before, and that this was generally known in the shop. What caused the automatic starting of the machine was not shown
The case was clearly one for the jury and it was submitted in a manner that carefully and fully guarded the defendant’s rights.
The judgment is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Patterson v. Harrisburg Trust Company
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Negligence—Master and servant—Dangerous machine—Notice. Where a workman is injured by the automatic starting of a dangerous machine the employer is liable, if it appears that the machine for five or six years before the accident had frequently started in the same way, that this fact was well known in the shop, that the injured man had not been warned of the danger, and was hurt the first day he went to work.