Occupiers Liability 1957

Question 1

The duty owed to lawful visitors is defined in the

Answer 1

Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957

Question 2

Who is an occupier?

Answer 2

neither statute provides a definition of an ‘Occupier.’ However under Section 1(2) of the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 it states that common law rules apply. Under common law, the test as to who can be considered an occupier is one of control.

Question 3

What case says can be two occupiers?

Answer 3

Wheat v E Lacon and Co. (1966)

Question 4

What is the definition of premises?

Answer 4

no statutory definition of ‘premises’, although under Section 1(3) of the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 it states that the term includes not only land and buildings but also “fixed or moveable structures that include vessels, vehicles and aircraft.”

Question 5

Person is classed as a visitor if

Answer 5

he or she has permission to enter the
premises, this permission may be express or implied. Anyone without permission is classed as a trespasser, and the 1984 Act will apply.

Question 6

Lowery V Walker

Answer 6

The claimant was injured by a horse when walking across a field. Due to land laws, there was an implied right to use it as shortcut.

Question 7

The Calgarth

Answer 7

Scrutton LJ stated “When you invite a person into your house to use the staircase, you do not invite him to slide down the bannisters, you invite him to use the staircase in the ordinary way in which it is used.”

Question 8

Who has permission to enter

Answer 8

• Those who are invited
• Those who have a license to enter
• Those with contractual permission
• Those with a statutory right

Question 9

What are remedies that can be awarded 1957

Answer 9

Money for personal injury or property damage

Question 10

Duty of care

Answer 10

It is the visitor rather than the premises that has to be made safe. This means that there can be dangerous areas within the premises, but the occupier will have discharged of their duty if the visitor is made safe.

Question 11

Standard of Care

Answer 11

expected is the same as that in ordinary negligence, so the occupier need only protect the visitor from foreseeable risks.

Question 12

What states that an occupier owes a duty

Answer 12

S2(1) of the OLA 1957 states that an occupier of premises owes a common duty of care to visitors to those premises.

Question 13

What is and what defines common duty

Answer 13

S2(2) of the OLA 1957 defines the common duty of care as:
‘…the duty to take such care as in all the circumstances of the case is reasonable to see that the visitor will be reasonably safe in using the premises for the purposes for which he is invited or permitted by the occupier to be there.’

Question 14

Laverton V Kiapasha Takeaway Supreme

Answer 14

Ds cleaned the floor of their takeaway which had slip-resistant tiles. The claimant entered and slipped over and broke her ankle. As the defendants had taken reasonable care, they were not liable.

Question 15

Daily Occurrences Meaning and Case

Answer 15

if the defendant has taken reasonable steps to make it reasonable safe, there is no liability.
The duty to mitigate a specific risk can only last so long, and therefore there is no liability for genuine accidents. Dean and Chapter of Rochester Cathedral V Debell

Question 16

Dean and Chapter of Rochester Cathedral V Debell

Answer 16

Claimant tripped on a small protrusion of concrete. As “trips and falls” are daily occurrences, Ds were not liable. Minor defects can still render a place reasonable safe.

Question 17

Duty owed to child visitors

Answer 17

Section 2(3) states that an occupier:
‘must be prepared for children to be less careful than adults’, so the premises must be
reasonably safe for a child.’

Question 18

Glasgow Corporation v Taylor (1922) Principle

Answer 18

A 7 year old ate poisonous berries from a shrub in a public park and died. The shrub on which the berries grew was not fenced off in any way.
Principle: It was held that the council was liable to the child’s parents. It was aware of the danger and the berries amounted to an allurement to young children.

Question 19

allurement

Answer 19

An occupier should do nothing to attract children to the danger

Question 20

Phipps v Rochester Corporation [1922] Principle

Answer 20

In this case a five- year-old child was injured having fallen down a trench dug by the defendant council where the child frequently played.
Principle: The Court held that the defendant was not liable because the court concluded that the parents should have had a child of that age under proper control.

Question 21

Persons exercising a calling (workers)

Answer 21

ection 2(3)(b) states that:
‘An occupier may expect that a person, in the exercise of his calling, will appreciate and guard against any special risks ordinarily incidental to it, so far as the occupier leaves him free to do so.’

Question 22

What are those carrying out a trade expected to do

Answer 22

To take measures to avoid the risks associated with it. For example, an occupier could expect an electrician to take precautions to avoid being electrocuted.

Question 23

Roles v Nathan [1963] Principle

Answer 23

The case involved chimney sweeps who died after inhaling carbon monoxide fume while cleaning flues in an industrial chimney.
Principle: The Court held that the sweeps should have been aware of the risk.

Question 24

What three things must a person do to transfer liability

Answer 24

1. It must be reasonable for the occupier to have given the work to the independent contractor
2. The contractor hired must be competent. The occupier should check references or with a trade association to satisfy this requirement. They should check the contractor is insured.
3. The occupier must check the work has been properly done. The more complicated the work, the more likely it will be that the occupier has to employ an architect or surveyor to check the work.

Question 25

Hazeldine v Daw and Son Ltd (1941)

Answer 25

The claimant was killed when a lift plunged to the bottom of a shaft. The occupier wasn’t liable for the negligent maintenance of the lift as this is specialist work.