Cambre v. White Castle Lumber Co
| Decision Date | 03 February 1919 |
| Docket Number | 21860 |
| Citation | 81 So. 256,144 La. 699 |
| Court | Louisiana Supreme Court |
| Parties | CAMBRE v. WHITE CASTLE LUMBER CO |
Rehearing Denied March 3, 1919
P. G Borron, of Plaquemine, for appellant.
Marks & Le Blanc, of Napoleonville, and J. H. Pugh, of Plaquemine for appellee.
PROVOSTY, J., takes no part, not having heard the argument.
Plaintiff claims damages from the defendant for personal injuries suffered by him while in the employ of the latter, being engaged as a sawyer in a sawmill. He alleges fault and neglect on the the part of the defendant in failing to provide him with a safe place in which to do his work, in failing to furnish safe tools and appliances with which to do that work, and in failing to use reasonable safe care in selecting competent employes to keep the tools and appliances to be used in good, proper, and safe working condition.
Defendant answered, denying neglect or fault on its part, and alleged that the place where plaintiff was employed was a safe one to work in; that the tools and appliances were safe and in good condition; that the other employes in the sawmill did their work properly; and that plaintiff was himself at fault, and contributed to the accident which befell him.
There was judgment in favor of plaintiff and against defendant in the sum of $ 15,000, and defendant has appealed.
The accident to the plaintiff and the very great seriousness thereof are admitted by defendant to have occurred at the time and place stated in the petition, while plaintiff was engaged in operating a band saw in defendant's sawmill.
'The master must furnish to his servant a safe appliance with which to work, a safe place in which to work, and he must, on proper inspection, see that the appliances are kept in good condition, and that the place assigned his servant to work in is reasonably safe.' Wilkinson on Personal Injuries, pp. 32, 33.
If the employer fails to do these things, he may become liable for any injury on account of such failure.
The position of sawyer in a lumber mill is a most hazardous and dangerous occupation; and it is the duty of the employer to safeguard his servant who is operating a saw.
It is argued on behalf of plaintiff that the place in which he did his work as sawyer was not a safe place, because the band box or housing for the saw was not lined with sheet iron, and that there was no guard or shield for the levers.
The band box in the mill of defendant was lined with heavy wood, not with sheet iron. Doubtless a lining of sheet iron would be a better protection from accident than the heavy wood used by the defendant, and it is uncertain, for the record is not clear, as to whether the majority of band saws are protected with housing lined with sheet iron or not; but the point is immaterial, for the reason that the injury to the plaintiff did not result because of the improper housing of the saw, which broke, and inflicted the injury upon him. The evidence is clear that the housing was not in any manner affected by the broken saw, and the imperfect housing, if it was imperfect, did not contribute in any way to the accident to plaintiff.
'There can be no recovery where the evidence, so far as any certain deductions can be drawn from it, tends to prove that the accident was not caused by the defect complained of.' Labatt, Master & Servant, vol. 2, § 803. p. 2209; O'Donnell v. American Mfg. Co., 112 La. 720, 36 So. 661.
Plaintiff alleges, and the evidence shows, that the accident to him resulted from the breaking of a band saw which he was operating, and that he was struck in the head by a broken piece of the saw while the saw was running at the rate of 8,000 to 10,000 feet per minute.
It is urged by plaintiff that, if the levers at which he was standing had been properly protected by a guard, he would not have been struck in the head and injured by a flying piece of the broken saw, and that it was the duty of defendant to have thus protected him and the levers which he was operating to move the carriage on which the log was resting, and which was being sawed.
A lever guard, as its name implies, is described to be a guard for the protection of the levers. One witness testified with reference to it:
...
To continue reading
Request your trial