Watkins v. Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co.

Citations

• 240 Pa. 419
• 87 A. 860
• 1913 Pa. LEXIS 687

Syllabus

<p>Negligence — Mines and mining — Mine foreman — Gas explosion.</p> <p>1. The owner or operator of a coal mine cannot be held liable for the negligence of a properly qualified mine foreman, or for his failure to comply with the provisions of the Act of June 2, 1891, P. L. 176, inasmuch as the law imposes the necessity of employing a foreman, and the duties of the foreman are prescribed by law.</p> <p>2. The lower court was correct in entering judgment for defendant n. o. v., in an action against a mining company to recover damages for the death of plaintiff’s husband, a miner, who had been killed by an explosion of gas in the mine in which he was working, where it appeared that the explosion was caused by the negligence of an assistant fire boss, who had made an examination for gas, without the use of a safety lamp; that it was the duty of the mine foreman or his assistant to make the examination for gas; that the assistant fire boss was assigned to this work by the mine foreman or his assistant, and there was no evidence to show that the assignment was made with the consent or knowledge of the defendant company or any of its employees. It was not sufficient to show that the assistant fire boss was frequently at the colliery, and to argue from this that it must have been known to one of the defendant’s superintendents that he had been assigned to the duty which he undertook to perform.</p>