Hollis v. Widener

Citations

• 221 Pa. 72
• 70 A. 287
• 1908 Pa. LEXIS 439

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Master and servant — Safe place to work — Ice machine— Unguarded platform.</p> <p>In an action by an employee against his employer to recover damages for personal injuries sustained while the plaintiff was engaged in oiling an ice machine, where the plaintiff alleges that the place in which he was required to work was unsafe by the character of the platform which he was obliged to use, he may show that the platform was not that in ordinary use, that it was not protected by guard rails, and that the necessity for guarding the machinery was brought to the attention of the defendant, or a person representing him, who promised to remove the danger by providing the guards necessary to protect the plaintiff while he was engaged at his work.</p> <p>An employee rebuts the. presumption that he assumed the risk of working on a platform of a machine not guarded by a railing, by showing that he notified his employer of the dangerous condition of the platform, and was assured that the danger would be removed, and that he remained at his work solely by reason of this assurance.</p> <p>Where an employee slips as he places his foot upon the unguarded platform of an ice machine on which he is obliged to go in order to oil the machine and is injured, he will be regarded as having been engaged at his work as a oiler of the machine at the time he was injured. In such a case it is the duty of the employer not only to use reasonable care in protecting the plaintiff while he is at work on the platform, but also while he is stepping on it, in order to perform his work.</p>