44 A.2d 873 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1945
Argued October 23, 1945. Claimant, in this workmen's compensation case, is the widow of George Wolsko who was killed on September 28, 1943, in the shipyard of the American Bridge Company, at Pittsburgh, Pa. Deceased was employed as a tester of landing ship tanks which were being constructed by defendant. He had been employed by defendant for a period of six or seven months before he was discharged on September 22, 1943. On September 27, 1943, he was reëmployed. On that date he worked from 5 p.m. to 2:30 a.m., and was scheduled to work the same shift on the following day — September 28, 1943. On the afternoon of the latter day, at 3:45 p.m., he appeared at an employment office of defendant in Ambridge, a mile from the shipyard, and was given a temporary badge which would admit him to defendant's shipyard. Between 4:30 and 5 p.m., deceased was seen on the main deck of landing ship tank No. 286 which was being constructed in the southways of defendant's shipyard. His work the previous night had been on landing ship tank No. 282, located in the northways of the shipyard. The testimony indicated the distance between the southways and the northways to be between 500 and 1,100 feet. Deceased, in some unexplained manner, fell a distance of 35 feet from the bow of landing ship tank No. 286 to the concrete pavement below (Board's fourth finding of fact). He died before reaching the hospital. It was permissible for an employee to enter defendant's shipyard about 3 p.m. even though his work did not begin until 5 p.m. The men were usually on the premises one-half to three-quarters of an hour before the hour fixed to begin work. *342
The referee made an award in favor of claimant and her minor son. The Workmen's Compensation Board reversed the referee and disallowed compensation. The board found that deceased had met his death by an accidental fall from the boat deck, and that at the time he was upon the employer's premises preparatory to starting work at 5 p.m.; but compensation was disallowed on two grounds: (a) There was no causal connection between the employment and the accident, (b) claimant had not established that the presence of deceased was necessary at the place where the accident occurred. The court below affirmed the board for the reason that claimant had not produced any facts or circumstances from which it could be determined or inferred that deceased was required to be where he was when he was accidentally killed.
The burden was upon claimant to prove her case, but we think the board and the court below were wrong in placing the additional burden upon her. We are also of the opinion that the board was wrong in its conclusion that a causal connection between the employment and the accident was essential.
We do not differ on two fundamentals: (1) That deceased's death was accidental,1 and (2) that the accident occurred on the premises of the employer.2
The board's attitude is indicated in the following excerpt from its opinion: "If the determination of compensation here depends solely upon the finding of death from any accidental cause, we would necessarily sustain the referee's award." But the board went on to say: *343 "The law does not go so far as to say that every death by accident is compensable. There must be some causal connection between the employment and the accident. The present record only establishes that the decedent was an employee of the defendant and the death occurred on defendant's premises . . . The fatal defect in claimant's case is that she has not established, nor in fact produced any testimony whatsoever, that the presence of her decedent was necessary on Boat 286 in the Southways, when the nature of his employment required him to be on Boat 282 in the Northways, about 1000 feet away. The burden of proof was upon the claimant."
Defendant's counsel insists that no compensation should be awarded to claimant because deceased was not on the employer's premises at a place where his presence was required by the nature of his employment at the time of the accident.
We agree with the board that the accident in question occurred on the employer's premises. We recognize that the word "premises," in section 301 of the Act of June 2, 1915, P.L. 736, as reënacted and amended by the Act of June 21, 1939, P.L. 520,
The fact that deceased was on the employer's premises and sustained an accidental injury sometime prior to the hour his work was to begin, is not in itself sufficient to defeat the claim for compensation. Deceased was injured about 15 minutes before his day's work was to begin. It was entirely proper for deceased to be on the premises of his employer a reasonable length of time before the hour fixed for him to commence his duties. Carlin v. Coxe Bros. Co., Inc.,
The board erroneously held that claimant had the burden to prove that deceased's presence was "necessary on Boat 286 in the Southways," and this principle, in disallowing compensation, was affirmed by the lower court. As a result the board's fifth finding of fact reads as follows:
"Fifth: We find as a fact that no duty or business of the defendant called him to the scene of the accident, which was approximately 1100 feet from his proper working place on Boat 282 in the Northways; when he met death he was not engaged in the furtherance of the business or affairs of his employer; and nothing in the nature of his employment required his presence at or near the boat in the Southways where the accident occurred." *345
It is not necessary to entitle a claimant to compensation that the injury be sustained while the employee is actually engaged in the work he was hired to do (Hale v. Savage Fire Brick Co.,
When we apply these legal principles to the facts of this case, it is clear to us that the disallowance of compensation and the judgment in favor of defendant must be set aside.
A further misconception of the law was the pronouncement of the board that there must be some causal connection between the employment and the accident. We have repeatedly held that it is not a requirement in this state that the accident arise out of the employment. Hale v. Savage Fire Brick Co., supra,
Those cases where the accident occurred off the premises are in no way applicable. In such cases the burden rests on claimant to prove that the employee was actually engaged in the furtherance of the business or affairs of the employer, and that his presence was required at the place of the accident by the nature of his employment. Knowles v. Parker Wylie Carpet Co., Inc., et al.,
The most that can be said in the present case is that deceased was not at the exact place on defendant's premises where his duties were to be performed when he was fatally injured. But he had entered the premises of defendant — the shipyard — where his presence was required. He was not on the premises an unreasonable length of time prior to the beginning of his day's task. Neither the purpose nor the motive for his presence on landing ship tank No. 286 was established. But *348
there might be several proper and natural reasons for his being in the southways of the shipyard. McAdams v. Pearson andLudascher,
We are of the opinion that on the facts found by the board there remained only a question of law, and that the conclusions of the board and of the court below were erroneous. See Berlin v.Crawford,
The judgment is reversed, and the record is remitted to the court below with direction to enter judgment, as computed by the referee in his award, in favor of claimant, as widow of deceased employee and for dependent minor son, and against defendant and its insurance carrier.