MINE WOUNDS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 43, 20 February 1935, Page 9

MINE WOUNDS.

WORKER'S CLAIM.

FAILURE TO GET TREATED. COMPENSATION DISPUTE. Whether failure to comply with a notice posted in the mine ordering workers, other than hospital cases or fractures, who met with an accident, however slight, to report to the shift boss, and then to the dressing station provided at the mine for treatment, prejudiced the worker's claim under the Workers Compensation Act, was a point raised at the Arbitration Court this morning. A claim was brought for £16 compensation by Frederick John Heath, a quartz miner (Mr. P. J. O'Regan, of Wellington), against the Waihi Gold Mining Company as the result of incapacity for four weeks following abrasions to his knees, which turned septic. In evidence, the plaintiff stated that he was working a quartz drill, which necessitated his being on hie knees. He felt the quartz puncture his knees, but thought the trouble so trivial that he did not report it. Three days later the wounds turned septic, and he was unable to work. Witness said that he had been working in the mine for about 20 years. In answer to Mr. Richmond, plaintiff agreed that workers in the Waihi mine had always been subject to wounds turning septic. He would not dispute that was why the dressing station and first aid equipment had been made available. Mr. O'Rega'n stated that the ease raised a unique position. In time the workers would become disciplined to the station. Plea of Justification. Mr. Justice Frazer, Chairman of the Court: You mean the plea of justification you are making now will not obtain later. Mr. O'Regan: Yes. The men, I understand, are not reporting. "The principle involved in this case is a serious one," declared Mr. Richmond. The company had been trying for years to combat sepsis. As doctors knew, the mines were extremely unfavourable to the healthy healing of cuts. Men employed in the underground workings had developed all kinds of troubles, and the company had decided on a system of immediate reporting to the dressing station. The notices were put up in the middle of December. The fact that the company had received no notice in this case for several days was of the greatest importance. It was not claimed that the treatment at the dressing station was always successful, but since the station was erected there had been a marked falling off in sepsis. The men did not all report as they should, or more could be done. The company desired to enforce the provisions of the notice. Plaintiff knew the scratch was not trivial as he had previous experience of 12 cases of sepsis. "There are no such things as trivial scratches in the Waihi mine," concluded counsel.

Is Treatment Effective? His Honor questioned the value of the dressing station in cases where men received scratches when they started their shift and went on working amid dirt and grime till they came off shift. "Is this treatment any good where sepsis has started if it is not applied until the next morning?" he asked. "I would like to be satisfied that the treatment is really of some use." Mr. Richmond: The fact is that the station has resulted in a decrease in disease. Dr. Frederick Barraclough, of Waihi, said the longer such scratches were left the greater the danger of sepsis. To his Honor, he added that the station would be more useful if men obtained treatment immediately. Jn reply to Mr. Richmond, witness said that if a man had received a scratch, say, six hours before his shift finished, and sepsis had set in, treatment at the dressing station would be of value in combating it. Witness agreed with a suggestion by his Honor that ail improvement would be effected if men used the ambulance boxes provided through the mine at the time they received injuries, reporting to the dressing station at the end of the shift, as at present. Mr. O'Regan submitted it could not be contended that the terms of the notice were included in the contract of service. The whole question was whether the man had disbarred himself from compensation. Plaintiff had not prejudiced the company in its defence by his failure to report the accident immediately. Six Similar Cases. "As Mr. Richmond pointed out, we cannot compel these men to use the dressing station," said his Honor. It might be said the trouble was due to the man's refusal to avail himself of treatment. When his Honor intimated the Court would retire to consider its judgment, Mr. O'Regan said he had six more similar cases. The legal question ih these was reserved. In the case of Herbert Parkes Napier, who claimed fll 1/8 and costs, evidence in proof of the claim, which was contested on this point, was heard. This plaintiff obtained judgment for the full amount with costs. When the court resumed, His Honor intimated that decision would be reserved, as there were certain points the court required •to consider. "There are some unusual factors in this case," he concluded.