Devlin v. Phœnix Iron Co.

Citations

• 182 Pa. 109
• 37 A. 927
• 1897 Pa. LEXIS 777

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Master and servant — Contributory negligence.</p> <p>The duty of an employer is to provide his workmen with a safe place in which to work, and suitable tools, and to see that any dangers peculiar to their use are fully made known to the workmen. He has a right to rely on the exercise of common prudence by his employees in the selection of materials from a common stock provided for them, and in the use and care of the tools with which their work is done. A workman is bound to take notice of an obvious danger and cannot be required to continue at work in a dangerous place.</p> <p>In an action by a workman against his employer to recover damages for personal injuries, it appeared that the plaintiff, who was an iron worker, was at the time of the accident engaged in raising a bloom from a pit, and loading it upon a truck. The bloom was clasped by bitts while it was being lifted and carried to the truck. One of the bitts slipped, allowing the bloom to fall. Plaintiff alleged that he sprang backwards to avoid the falling bloom, and thus came in contact with a “ round ” of iron, and some scrap iron lying near it, which caused him to fall, and before he could escape the bloom struck and injured him. These articles had been improperly allowed to lie on the floor, although the defendant had provided a place for their storage. Plaintiff had for two or three years worked in the room, and nearly in the same place where the accident occurred. Plaintiff also alleged that the bitts were too smooth to grasp the bloom with sufficient firmness to support its weight. The evidence showed that the defendant kept a supply of sharp bitts on hand, and that the plaintiff knew this fact and the place where they were kept, and that it was his duty to discontinue the use of a bitt when it became smooth, and replace it by a sharpened one. Held, (1) that the defendant having provided a proper place for plaintiff to work, if such place became unsafe by the neglect of the workmen to