Owen v. Elliot Hospital

The plaintiff was a cook in the defendant’s kitchen. While at work at a gas stove, her dress caught fire from contact with the flame of a pilot burner and she was burned. The burner was part of an attachment for heating the oven. The practice was to turn on a petcock and light the pilot burner, which in turn lighted the oven burners, and then turn off the petcock. The pilot burner stood about nine inches above the floor and projected a number of inches in front of the stove. It was unguarded, although a guard was practical. The plaintiff had two assistants to help her and one of them had left…