Inland Steel Co. v. Smith

75 N.E. 852, 39 Ind. App. 636, 1905 Ind. App. LEXIS 284
Indiana Court of Appeals·Decided October 31, 1905·No. No. 5,239·Published·Cited by 7 cases

Opinion

Black, J.

The appellee recovered judgment against the appellant for a personal injury. In the complaint it was shown that the appellant owned and operated a large steel manufacturing plant at Indiana Harbor; that on the morning of June 12, 1902, the appellee was employed by the appellant; that through its officers and agents the appellant directed the appellee to engage in the work of fastening certain cleats, for the hanging of electric wires, to a certain tall pillar in appellant’s mill, which direction was a reasonable one, and the appellee obeyed it, as it was his duty to do; that the cleats were put on by passing a bolt through the iron of said pillar and screwing a nut down on the bolt, so as to hold the cleat firmly in place; that in order to do the work the appellee was directed by the appellant to climb up on a certain horizontal beam and to stand on the flange thereof and on the angle-iron attached to the pillar, which was a reasonable direction, and the appellee obeyed it; that in order to retain his foothold, which was very slight and precarious, and to do the work which he was required to do, it was necessary that he put his arm around the upper portion of the pillar at some distance above the horizontal beam, and he did so; that he put his left arm around the pillar in order to hold himself in the position in which it was necessary for him to be to do the work; that at that time, and for some days prior thereto, the appellant used, operated and had charge of a certain large traveling Crane, which was operated and moved over the horizontal beam so attached to the pillar, which crane was a part of the equipment of the building and plant; that when he was in this position, with his arm around the pillar, in discharge of his duty, the appellant knew, or ought to have known, the dangerous position in which appellee was placed; that he was in full view of the agents and representatives of the appellant operating the crane; that it was necessary for him [639] to work with his back to the crane, and he did so work, and in this position he conld not see the crane moving or approaching him; that his work necessarily engrossed his entire attention, and he could not see and did not know the crane was being operated over the beam by the pillar about which he had his left arm, and he had no reason to suspect that the crane was being operated or would be operated while he was in this position, without notice to him, so that he might protect himself from injury, which he could and would have done if warned or notified; that the appellant did not give him any notice or warning that the crane was being used, and he did not know of that fact or of the danger therefrom; that while he was in the position described, in obedience” to said orders, and in the careful performance of his duties, and wholly without fault on his part, the appellant negligently, without warning or notice to him, ran the traveling crane noiselessly and quietly down, against and upon him; that the appellant negligently failed to equip the crane with a bell or other means for the purpose of warning persons that might be injured by it when it was put in motion, and negligently constructed the crane so that in passing the pillar on the horizontal beam it passed very close to it; that appellee did not know the crane was being operated on the horizontal beam, and did not know of the danger of his position, and did not know that the crane would not clear the beam in such manner that his arm would not be caught by it, as hereinafter stated; that at the time of his injury and the time of running the crane down upon him the Itidiana Bridge Company, by its officers, agents and employes, was engaged in placing certain large iron or steel plates in the floor of the building and riveting them to the beams thereof; that this work made a great deal of noise, so that it was impossible for the appellee to hear the slight noise made by the moving of the crane; that the crane was negligently run against and upon the appellee by the appellant, and thereby [640] and by reason of said negligence of the appellant he was crushed, mangled, mutilated, bruised and lacerated — describing his injuries and stating his damages, etc.

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Inland Steel Co. v. Smith, 75 N.E. 852, 39 Ind. App. 636, 1905 Ind. App. LEXIS 284 (Ind. Ct. App. 1905).

75 N.E. 852 (Inland Steel Co. v. Smith) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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