Hunter v. Washington Pipe & Foundry Co.

Citations

• 43 Wash. 167
• 86 P. 171
• 1906 Wash. LEXIS 674

Syllabus

<p>Master and Servant — Duty to Guard Machinery — Contributory Negligence. Contributory negligence which, is the proximate cause of an injury, is a good defense notwithstanding the neglect of the defendant to perform the statutory duty of providing guards.</p> <p>Same — Contributory Negligence — Proximate Cause. An employee who approaches a machine in motion at a dangerous place to wipe off oil, is guilty of contributory negligence, as a matter of law, if such negligence was the proximate cause of the injury, where it appears that the machine was idle one-fifth of the time, when the oil could be wiped off with safety, and when there was no immediate need of wiping the machine at that time.</p> <p>Same — Condition oe Floor as Proximate Cause. Where an employee was injured by unnecessarily stepping upon a slippery floor, which it was his duty to inspect and keep clean, and he was there by reason of his own neglect, the condition of the floor cannot be the proximate cause of the injury, as a question for the jury.</p> <p>Same — Failure to Guard Cogs — Proximate Cause. Where an employee in a factory is injured by having his hand caught in unguarded cogs, by reason of his own neglect in unnecessarily going, at an improper time, into a dangerous place, which it was his duty to keep safe, the failure to guard the cogs cannot be the proximate cause of the injury as a question for the jury.</p>