Two miners while engaged in clearing gas from a pit were killed by an explosion. In an arbitration at the instance of the representatives of one of the men the arbitrator found that the explosion was due to an attempt to re-light a Glennie lamp in breach of the Coal Mines Act 1911 and refused compensation. There was no evidence that the deceased opened the lamp, which as a matter of fact belonged to the other man, or that he attempted to re-light it, nor was it proved that he was in possession of matches. Held ( aff. the judgment of the Second Division) that as the deceased was doing his work when the accident took place he was prima facie within the statute; that the onus of showing that he had contributed to the contravention, or had acted outside the scope of his employment, lay on his employers; that in the circumstances they had failed to discharge it, and that accordingly compensation fell to be awarded.
Viscount Haldane, Lord Atkinson, Lord Shaw, and Lord Parmoor
[1923] UKHL 633, 60 SLR 633
Bailii
Scotland
Employment, Personal Injury
Updated: 26 January 2022; Ref: scu.633263