195 Mass. 272 | Mass. | 1907
Until the day of the accident, the plaintiff, who had been hired by the defendants as a common laborer in their sausage factory, had not worked at the meat choppers, and from his evidence it appears that before his employment he was without experience in the use of any kind of machinery. In the preparation of the sausages the meat is run twice through the chopper. By the first process it is cut in large pieces; by the second the machine, after being properly adjusted, is run at a greater speed for the purpose of grinding the meat finer, after which the product is ready for use. While the plaintiff was engaged in his usual work, one Dunton, who, upon the evidence, the jury could find lawfully represented the defendants, having called the plaintiff, directed him to run the meat through once, which he did. Thereupon Dunton shifted the knives, put in a finer plate, and began the second process himself. When this work had been nearly completed, he directed the plaintiff to finish by grinding the remainder. In operating the chopper, the meat is fed into a hopper connected with a horizontal cylinder, at the end of which is a perforated plate set against revolving knives. A rotary feed screw, with a decreasing pitch,
The defendants, however, further urge that the verdict in their favor was rightly ordered, as the plaintiff was careless. When feeding the machine for the first process, the plaintiff with a fork and shovel placed the meat on a bench which was fitted to the top of the chopper, so that upon being pushed through an opening at the end of the bench, the meat fell into the hopper where it was ground. In undertaking the second process, Dunton, in common with other grinders in the factory, whom the plaintiff had observed, removed the bench, and- then fed, and pressed the meat down into the hopper with his hands. The plaintiff, although stating that he knew there were knives in the horizontal cylinder, neither is shown to have known, nor to have been possessed of any information which should have led him to realize or to anticipate that, if the meat was pressed down too far, he might be injured by his hand being caught and his arm drawn into the feed screw. It apparently was uncontroverted, or at least the jury could have found, that his knowledge was limited to his observation of the method used by those running the choppers, including the foreman. In performing his work in the way adopted by those whom he well might have believed understood how the machine could be safely operated, there was evidence from which it could have been determined that he was not guilty of contributory negligence. Dolan v. Boott Cotton Mills, 185 Mass. 576, 581. Manning v. Excelsior Laundry Co. 189 Mass. 231. As there must be a new trial at which the question again may arise we deem it proper to say, that the exclusion of the evidence offered by the plaintiff of the custom or practice of other sausage manufacturers to employ only experienced persons, or to instruct those who were inexperienced before directing them to operate similar machines, was within the discretion of the trial judge. Bolan v. Boott Cotton Mills, ubi supra. In the opinion ,of a majority of the court the entry must be
Exceptions sustained.