FACTORY MISHAP

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 24826, 24 February 1944, Page 7

FACTORY MISHAP

LOSS OF RIGHT HAND EMPLOYEE SEEKS DAMAGES As a result of a factory accident, a claim for damages by an employee, was brought before Mr. Justice Call ait and a jury yesterday. The plaintiff was Martin Kiddle, aged 53, machinery band (Mr. North), who claimed from New Zealand Plywood, Limited (Mr. West), £2500 general and £ll7 special damages for the loss of his right hand. The accident happened on May 20, 1943, when Kiddle's hand was caught in a machine known as a "timber bog" and cut off with the exception of the thumb. He was cleaning the jaws of it at the time, _ because they had become clogged with waste timber, and he alleged that, while doing so, a fellow employee, Athol Mclsaac, negligently started the machine by switching on the current. He further alleged various acts of negligence against the company in failing to provide competent assistance, a proper system of control, and safe methods of working.

The defence denied any negligence, and said that Mclsaac was not employed by the company to operate the machine. If he did so, it was not in the course of his employment. It was alleged that the plaintiff had caused or contributed to the accident bv bis own negligence; he knew the risk involved, and voluntarily accepted it. Mr. North said his client had suffered the most serious loss that a manual worker could suffer. Evidence would show that prior to the accident the machine became clogged very frequently, and there was no method of cleaning it except by hand. Kiddle was expected to do what was really a two-man job, and he was given only a 14-year-old bov-

Evidence was given by Sehvyn Morris, orthopaedic surgeon, that from an industrial, point of new the plaintiff was virtually a one-armed man. The hearing of the claim will be continued to-day.