Uddin v Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers Ltd: CA 1965

Mr Uddin, the plaintiff was a machinery attendant in a cement grading and packing factory. He wanted to catch a pigeon sitting behind the revolving shaft of a machine. He climbed a vertical steel ladder to a platform where he knew he was not authorised to be. He stood on the top of a machine with a horizontal revolving shaft with projecting studs on it. The shaft was a dangerous part of machinery and was not fenced in contravention of the Factories Act, 1937. While the plaintiff was leaning over the shaft in an attempt to catch the pigeon, his clothing was caught in the revolving shaft and he was injured.
Held: Section 14 of the 1937 Act applied, though the plaintiff was 80% responsible for his injury. Lord Pearce said, ‘there is . . nothing to justify the gloss that an employed person is to be protected only so long as he is acting within the scope of his employment.’ The duty extended to an employee doing for his own benefit something he was not authorised to do at a place he should not have been.

Judges:

Pearce LJ

Citations:

[1965] 2 QB 582, [1965] 2 All ER 213, [1965] 2 WLR 1183

Statutes:

Factories Act 1937 14

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedMcDonald v National Grid Electricity Transmission Plc SC 22-Oct-2014
Contact visiting plants supported asbestos claim
The deceased had worked as a lorry driver regularly collecting pulverized fuel ash from a power station. On his visits he was at areas with asbestos dust. He came to die from mesothelioma. His widow now pursued his claim that the respondent had . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Health and Safety

Updated: 11 May 2022; Ref: scu.538247