Bradas v. Henry Vogt Machine Co.
| Decision Date | 25 May 1917 |
| Citation | 175 Ky. 803 |
| Parties | Bradas v. Henry Vogt Machine Company. |
| Court | Kentucky Court of Appeals |
Appeal from Jefferson Circuit Court (Common Pleas Branch, First Division).
AUGUSTUS E. WILLSON, MARTIN G. MORAN and RICHARD P. DIETZMAN for appellant.
EUGENE R. ATTKISSON and BARRETT, ALLEN & ATTKISSON for appellee.
The appellant, William T. Bradas, was by occupation a painter and had been engaged for nine or ten years, in greater part, as a painter of carriages and automobiles, but was, also, a painter of houses. He was employed by the appellant, Henry Vogt Machine Company, to assist in painting the building in which its manufacturing concern was located. While working there, he was under the direction of a foreman, who directed him what to do and the manner of its being done. The building was about three hundred feet long and through the center of it, from the north to south, there was a wide aisle or room, the width of which the evidence does not disclose. On either side of this room, extending from north to south, was a row of steel posts. About twenty feet from the ground, on either side, was fastened to these posts a sheet or girder of metal, which was surmounted by what is called a "T" rail. Supported by these "T" rails, situated upon either side, was a movable crane, having at either end a wheel, which fitted to and ran upon the "T" rail as its track. This crane extended entirely across the room from one of the "T" rails to the other. Thus attached, the crane could be moved the entire length of the room from north to south, and was used in moving heavy weights, which were attached to the crane by a chain, which extended from the middle of the crane in the direction of the floor of the building. The crane was operated by means of an electrical apparatus, and the individual who controlled the operation of the crane, had his position in a small cage, which was underneath the crane and near the east end of it. The crane was not controlled in its movements, from one end of the room to the other, by any schedule, but was operated and moved backward and forward, as it might be necessary, in the movement of heavy bodies. On the west side of the room, about fifteen feet from the floor and adjoining the "T" rail upon that side, was a room called the "cupola" room. This room was twenty or thirty feet square, and from the floor of it, which was about eight feet below the "T" rail, on the west side, it was enclosed up to the "T" rail by metal sheets and extending from the floor, up to about even with the top of the rail, upon the inside of the room, was an iron lattice work, and the remainder of the room, from the rail up to the ceiling was unenclosed. Several men, including the appellant, under the direction of their foreman, were sent up into this room to do painting, and the appellant was directed by the foreman to take a pneumatic hose blower, and to blow the dust from the lattice work on the inside of the "cupola" room, and from the rail, on the side next to the "cupola" room, and then to paint the lattice work and the rail up to the "ball," or the portion of it, upon which, the wheel of the crane traveled. He made a small platform out of some boxes and got upon it, which elevated him until the portion of his body, above the waist line, was above the "T" rail, and while there at work the crane was moved and ran over his arm above the elbow, crushing it and making the amputation of it necessary. At this point the evidence becomes very contradictory. The evidence for the appellant conduced to prove, that he did not know that the crane was being operated on the morning of the injury, and that the accident occurred to him after he had been engaged at work for about five minutes; that the pneumatic blower made considerable noise and prevented him from hearing the approach of the crane, and that the dust, which he blew away with the blower, confused his sight; that he had the blower in his right hand, with his back toward the south, and that the nature of his work brought him in very close proximity to the rail, and while thus engaged, the crane was moved without any warning to him, and that the boxing, which enclosed the wheel, at the end of the crane and protruded over on the side, where appellant was working, beyond the rail, struck him on the shoulder, knocking his right arm down upon the rail, when it was caught by the cogs of the wheel and his arm crushed. The crane approached him from the south and at his rear. It was, furthermore, shown by his evidence, that no lookout duty was kept by the company for him, and no warning given to him of the approach of the crane; that he had no notice, that he was, in anywise, in danger, until he was struck by the boxing, which enclosed the wheel. Upon the other hand, the evidence for appellee conduced to prove that the appellant had been engaged in working, within the building and underneath the crane for several days, and was acquainted with the manner of its operation, and with the danger of getting upon its track; that he had previously painted the metal course underneath the rail; that his work did not bring him necessarily closer to the rail than seven or eight inches; that just previous to the accident to him, the crane was being moved backward and forth across the room, and that the operator of the crane, in moving it from the north to the south end of the room, observed appellant's arm lying upon the rail; that he stopped the crane and called to appellant and told him to remove his arm from the rail and warned him, in the future, to keep off of it; that appellant then moved his arm from the rail, when the crane was moved on past him toward the south end of the room, and within four or five minutes was moved back toward the north end of the room. The operator of the crane occupied a cage that was suspended underneath the crane, on the opposite of the room from where appellant was at work, and that the operator kept a lookout on the rail for appellant until the wheel of the crane arrived within about ten feet of where appellant was, when his sight was cut off and he could not see the rail in front of the wheel; that other workmen upon the floor of the main building saw appellant's arm lying upon the rail, when the wheel of the crane was approaching within a short distance of it, and they called out a warning to him from where they were, but he did not hear the warning or failed to take heed, and the wheel of the crane ran over his arm and crushed it; that there was no boxing over the wheel, which could have protruded over the rail, and there were...
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