The danger of placing ladders on a stone floor, without any protection against slipping, was referred to at a Rushden inquest on Monday, on Thomas Percival (64), of 34, Robinson-road, Rushden, who fell from a ladder on April 21st last whilst engaged in replacing a belt on shafting at the factory of Messrs. Cunnington Bros., Ltd.   The Coroner suggested that a sack placed underneath such ladders would obviate the risk of slipping, and the foreman of the jury thought that hooks might be fixed to the tops of the ladders.   A verdict that death was due to injuries accidentally received was returned, and it was stated that Percival sustained three fractured ribs, one of which penetrated the left lung, also a fractured wrist.   The inquest was held at the Rushden Police Station, conducted by the Deputy Divisional Coroner, Mr. J. C. Parker.  Mr. P. R. E. Smith, of Wellingborough, represented Messrs. Cunnington Bros., Ltd., and Mr. C. W. Wing was present on behalf of the insurance company concerned.  Mr. J. Woodward, H.M. Inspector of Factories, was also present.   Mr. E. C. Bandey was chosen foreman of the jury of eight.   Florence Percival, of 34, Robinson-road, Rushden, said the body was that of her husband, Thomas Percival, aged 64 years.  He was employed in the rough stuff department of Messrs. Cunnington Bros., Ltd.  On the 21st April her husband told her he was on a ladder and somehow it slipped, and down he came.  He was helping with the shafting at the time.   Deceased was brought home and attended by Dr. Topping, on whose advice he was removed to Northampton General Hospital.  He was brought back the same day and seemed to be “getting along very nicely.”  Witness nursed him, with occasional help, but on Sunday morning, after waking up at the usual time, soon after six o’clock, deceased “came over very funny.” “Funny Feeling”   “He said he had got a funny feeling and a very bad headache,” declared witness.  “He said ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen.’  I got up as soon as possible and helped him with his pillow, but he laid there and didn’t move, and I don’t think he spoke again.”   Witness called her neighbour and on returning her husband was breathing very hard.  The neighbour went up first and Mr. Percival apparently told her to fetch witness.  When she arrived in the bedroom, however, her husband had passed away.  Mrs. Percival said that her husband did not blame anyone for the accident.  He usually did the odd jobs in the factory and didn’t complain about them or the tools he had to use.   Dr. James Topping, of Rushden, assisting Dr. Muriset, said he saw the deceased between 11 and 12 o’clock on the day of the accident.  He complained of pain in the left side of the chest, and in the left wrist.  Witness examined him and made a provisional diagnosis of several fractures including two ribs, of which, however, he was not sure.  Witness attended to him and sent him to Northampton Hospital. Severe Fractures   Deceased returned early in the afternoon of the same day after being X-rayed.  The examination showed a fracture of the wrist and fractures of sixth, seventh and eighth ribs.  The ribs could not have penetrated the lungs;  had there been Percival would have been detained in the hospital.   Coroner: As there was not, you agree with the action of the hospital authorities in sending him home? – Yes, according to the findings at that time.   Witness attended him daily, and Percival made very satisfactory progress, and was properly nursed, and all witness’s instructions were carried out.   On Sunday last, at 7 a.m., he was called to see the deceased, being told then, over the ‘phone, that he was dead.  This he confirmed upon arrival.  Deceased was in bed, in a natural position, and there was no evidence to indicate the cause of death. Punctured The Lung   On Monday, on instructions received from the Coroner, witness, with assistance, made a post mortem examination.  The diagnoses of the hospital were corroborated.  The seventh rib had punctured the covering to the lung, and had penetrated into the lung itself.  This had caused haemorrhage between the lung and pleura, so that there could be no external signs.  The lung itself, especially at the base, was congested, and this part of the lung had evidently not functioned for some days.  The pleura was adherent to the chest.   The base of the right lung was also congested, and a clot of blood had been carried from the heart.  It was rather difficult to say how long this had occurred, but not more than an hour or two before death.   The heart was rather flabby and the walls thin.  There was no disease of the valves or aorta, but there was, however, a large clot of blood on the pulmonary artery, causing almost complete obstruction to the mouth of the artery, which would be quite sufficient to cause death, but not as a natural cause. Cause of Death   In the doctor’s opinion, this state was caused undoubtedly by the injury to the lung, by the rib.   Coroner: It follows that if there had been no accident there would have been no death from this cause? – No.   There was no obvious disease of the other organs, though they were somewhat degenerated.   Mr. Woodward asked whether the injuries, including the colles fracture to the wrist, were consistent with a fall from a height.   Witness: Yes.   Were the fingers pinched at all? – No.   Percy Stocker, 6, Oswald-road, Rushden, said he was in the employ of Messrs. Cunnington Bros.  On April 21st a belt came off a pulley in the finishing room at the factory, and the deceased was sent for to put it on again. The Accident   Coroner: Was that his job? – Yes sir.   Witness was detailed to help, and had done so on similar jobs before.   He stood at the bottom of the ladder, which was up against the shafting.  Percival went up the ladder to put the belt on, and after he had done so, started to come down.   Coroner: Were you watching him? – No.   How did you know he had put it on? – He started to come down the ladder.   Witness continued that the deceased came down, and he stepped off the bottom for Percival to get to the ground.  The ladder then slipped out at the foot, knocking witness on one side, while the deceased fell “a bit sideways” right across some boxes.   Coroner: How far was he down the ladder when you stepped away? – About half-way down.   Was it immediately you stepped out that he fell? – Yes.   How many rung ladder was it? – Witness could not say – about 12 feet.   Was it set on a brick or stone floor? – Concrete.   Was there a sack or anything for the ladder to stand on? – No, sir.   Is there anything provided as a rule in the factory to put the ladder on? – No, sir.   After the accident did you speak to him? – No sir.  I felt so queer I went away.   Witness did not know whether the deceased made any complaint, but he did not have a great way to fall.  He fell across a case.   Coroner: Have you helped him do this job before? – Once or twice.   He knew the job? - Yes.   Mr. Woodward: Do you know how high this shafting was from the floor? - No, sir.   Was the ladder nearly vertical, or sloping? – It was sloping.   Did the deceased come down and then go up again? – I could not say whether he came right down or whether he went up again without me knowing. Constantly Doing It   Do you know whether the shafting had been stopped when he fell? – I could not say.   Mr. Smith: To your knowledge Percival constantly replaced belts that had come off? – Yes.   He had done it dozens of times? – Yes.   This concluded the evidence.   Summing up, the Coroner reminded the jury of the evidence of the doctor, to the effect that death was due to one of the ribs entering the lung, and this would not have occurred had it not been for the accident.  The only other question was as to how those injuries were received.  The practice of going up ladders to replace belting was a common one in factories, and it was rather dangerous just to place a ladder on an iron or stone floor.  A sack placed underneath would easily get over the difficulty.  People, however, got used to doing a job and would not go to the slightest trouble to protect themselves, even if protection was provided by their employers.  Whether that was so in this case he did not know. The Verdict   The jury returned a verdict that death was due to injuries accidentally received and no blame attached to anyone.   The foreman of the jury suggested that hooks might be fixed to the end of ladders used for such purposes, so that there was no possibility of slipping.  Shafting was nearly always at the same height from the ground.   Mr. Smith said the only trouble in this case was that the shafting was not all at the same height and several ladders or hooks would be required.  The ladder now in use had been inspected by a Factory Inspector, not Mr. Woodward, within the last fortnight.   The foreman: I have worked in a factory myself, and I think it should be done.   Mr. Woodward: I can send you particulars of non-slip ladders.   The Coroner: My common or gardening sack would do just as well, but it is too simple!   Mr. Smith expressed the regret of the firm at losing an old and valued employee, and their sympathy with the widow.