Bennett v. Standard Plate Glass Co.

Citations

• 158 Pa. 120
• 27 A. 874
• 1893 Pa. LEXIS 1552

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Master and servant — Defective appliance.</p> <p>An employer who has had ample opportunity to discover a defective appliance, and does not repair it within a reasonable time, is liable in damages to an employee who is injured by reason of the defective appliance while in the performance of his duties.</p> <p>Plaintiff was employed to attend a revolving polishing table in defendant’s glass works. At one end of the table where he was employed there was a bridge made of plank across a trench, in which was the revolving shaft which moved the table. Between the engine which moved the shaft, and the plank, the trench was uncovered. Against the plank farthest from the table, and nearest the engine, a guard or barrier was usually maintained to protect the employees. It was testified that the barrier had been removed for some time before the accident; plaintiff said two or three weeks, other witnesses said three or four days. It appeared that the general manager of defendant company was in the room almost every day. Plaintiff, in crossing the bridge in the performance of his duty, fell into the trench, and was injured. Held, that the case was for the jury.</p>