125 P. 281 | Or. | 1912
delivered the opinion of the court.
At the' conclusion of plaintiff’s evidence, counsel for defendant asked for a nonsuit, which was denied, and also requested a directed verdict for defendant. The rulings of the court upon these points are assigned as error. It was the duty of plaintiff, as operator of the machine, to cut off the pulp or sulphite, and to regulate the felt when necessary. At the time of the accident, plaintiff had been working for defendant about a month, operating the machine. He claimed that he stepped upon the board in the usual manner, about two feet toward the middle, for the purpose of reaching the wheel to regulate the felt. The board “raised up slightly,” “swung around slightly,” and “slipped slightly over,” causing him to be thrown suddenly forward. At the same time he grabbed for the wheel, and tried to catch himself with his left hand; but it caught in the rollers,- and the third and fourth fingers were completely severed, part of the second finger was taken off, and his hand was badly mangled. Plaintiff states that he stepped toward the middle of the board; but how far he does not know. It appears that the room was so dark that the photographer had to turn on the electric lights, in order to take the picture of the machine. . Other witnesses testified that they used the board, while in the same condition, before and after the accident, and that’it did not tip with them. Plaintiff, who is a foreigner, states that at one 'time the broken end of the plank would be at one end of the machine, and at another time at the other end; that he does not recollect how it was situated when the accident occurred.
Where there is no proof of any fact by which the defendant’s conduct may be ascertained, there is nothing for the jury. The mere proof of an accident, therefore, ordinarily raises no presumption of negligence; but, where it is accompanied by proof of facts and circumstances from which an inference of negligence may or may not be drawn, the case cannot be determined by the court as a matter of law, but must be submitted to the jury. Galvin v. Brown & McCabe, 53 Or. 598, 608 (101 Pac. 671) ; Geldard v. Marshall, 43 Or. 438 (73 Pac. 330).
At the time of the accident, the plaintiff was engaged in adjusting the felt, which had worked out of place. This naturally required haste and attention. He is not conclusively presumed to have had constantly in mind the particular danger incident to this act. The care and attention required by an employee, while working about dangerous machinery, may depend upon the facts of the particular case. Whether the circumstances were such as to excuse him from that degree of care and thoughtfulness which a prudent man will ordinarily exercise under usual conditions, and whether, in such a case, the injured party was guilty of contributory negligence, are questions of fact for the jury. Magone v. Portland Mfg. Co., 51 Or. 21, 28 (93 Pac. 450) ; Carroll v. Grande Ronde Elec. Co., 47 Or. 424, 436 (84 Pac. 389: 6 L. R. A. [N. S.] 290).
The language of this court, in Viohl v. North Pac. Lbr. Co., 46 Or. 297, at page 301 (80 Pac. 112, at page 114), is as follows: “Mere knowledge of the danger is not conclusive of negligence in failing to avoid it. A servant’s knowledge and his voluntary exposure to the danger are probative facts from which the ultimate fact of negligence must be determined; but they are not conclusive. That the servant exposed himself to dangers which could have been avoided imports negligence only when they were of such a character that a man of ordinary prudence and caution would have refused to have incurred them in the performance of his duties; and these are ordinarily ques
The main questions in the case are: Did the company provide plaintiff with a reasonably safe place in which to work? And was the board in a reasonably safe condition to be used for the purpose designed by defendant? It appears that the board had been in use for three years; that it had been broken and one cleat disarranged for 10 days prior to the accident. The jury might fairly have believed that the managers of the company knew, or with reasonable diligence could have known, of the dangerous condition of the same, and, in the exercise of such diligence and care, would have repaired the plank; that the board, in its broken condition, was not reasonably safe for Kopacin to walk upon in regulating and operating the machine.
“If you find from the evidence that the plaintiff, while attempting to adjust the felt on defendant’s wet machine, failed to use the wheel or attachment on defendant’s machine for use in regulating the felt, and instead thereof he was attempting to adjust the felt by taking hold of the same, or some part thereof, with his hand, and while the rollers of the machine were in motion, and that in so doing, and in failing to use the wheel provided for that purpose, he failed to exercise reasonable and ordinary care for his own safety, and that such failure on his oart contributed to the accident, your verdict should be for the defendant.”
This instruction was Requested upon the basis of the testimony of the company’s physician, which was to the effect that, after the plaintiff’s hand was injured, while he was being treated, he made motions with his other hand, which the doctor construed to mean that he was adjusting the felt with his hands, without using the regu
Finding no error in the record, the judgment of the lower court is affirmed. Affirmed.