Burns v. Vesta Coal Co.

Citations

• 223 Pa. 473
• 72 A. 800
• 1909 Pa. LEXIS 558

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Master and servant — Mines and mining — Goal mining— Neglect to warn employee of danger.</p> <p>1. It is the duty of the master to warn his servants of new or increased dangers caused by a change in his machinery, appliances or place or methods of work, and he will be held liable for injuries resulting from his neglect of duty in this respect.</p> <p>2. Where a man works in a coal mine for two days on a motor which carries him safely through the entries when seated upon the front end of the motor, and he is then transferred to a larger and higher motor, having no seat in front, and operated in another and unfamiliar part of the mine, and the workman is not warned that he could not safely ride on the top of the motor because of low places in the roof, and as a result he is thrown from the motor at a depression of the roof, he may recover from his employer damages for the personal injuries sustained.</p> <p>3. If a particular practice of mining is a dangerous one, and an injury results therefrom to an employee, the employer in a suit against him for damages by the employee, cannot show that the practice was customary in other mines. Customary negligence is no excuse in such a case.</p>