Pfeifer v. Allegheny Steel Co.

Citations

• 243 Pa. 256
• 90 A. 152
• 1914 Pa. LEXIS 611

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Master and servant — Defective machinery — Foreman — Vice-principal—Assumption of rislc — Contributory negligence — Case for jury.</p> <p>1. A foreman of a steel company who gives all orders to persons employed in and about certain cranes, who has full charge of both employees and machinery and whose acts, in employing and discharging men though reported to the superintendent, always receive the superintendent’s approval, is a vice-principal to the extent that he is the proper person to be notified of defects in said cranes and in the appliances connected therewith.</p> <p>2. It is not an assumption of risk to continue work in and about machinery having certain defects and made dangerous by the accumulation of grease, where the foreman who has been notified of the conditions of the machinery, has told the workman to continue his work, and that the condition would be remedied in a few days.</p> <p>3. In an action of trespass to recover damages for personal injuries, it appeared that plaintiff, a crane operator, was operating a crane traveling on a run attached to parallel steel girders at a height of twenty-five or thirty feet above the ground; that while so engaged a part of the machinery broke, requiring plaintiff to walk along the steel girder to a drum, also a part of the machinery, and remove a broken strap; that while so engaged plaintiff’s foot slipped in consequence of an accumulation of grease on the girder, and he fell to the ground sustaining the injuries complained of. It further appeared that defendant’s foreman, who was a vice-principal, had been notified by plaintiff of the condition of the drum causing leakage of grease in large quantities onto the girder, and had told plaintiff to continue his work, and that the defects would be remedied. Held, that the doctrine of assumption of risk did not apply, and that the questions of defendant’s negligence and plaintiffs contributory negligence were for the jury.-</p>