Negligence: Employer's Liability to Employee- FS

Question 1

What is the key legal feature of an employer’s duty of care to their employees in negligence?

Answer 1

The duty is personal and non-delegable — an employer may delegate performance but remains legally liable for any breach.

Question 2

When can an employer be liable even if a contractor’s negligence causes an employee’s injury?

Answer 2

When the contractor’s negligence breaches the employer’s non-delegable duty to ensure employee safety, the employer remains directly liable.

Question 3

What are the four specific duties identified in Wilsons and Clyde Coal as part of the employer’s duty of care?

Answer 3

(1) Provide competent staff
(2) provide adequate materials
(3) provide a safe place of work
(4) provide a safe system of work.

Question 4

What must an employer do if aware that an employee’s behaviour poses an ongoing safety risk?

Answer 4

The employer must take action — such as dismissal or redeployment — to prevent foreseeable harm to other employees.

Question 5

Why would an employer be liable if an employee is injured due to a co-worker repeatedly ignoring safety procedures?

Answer 5

Because failing to remove or discipline a known incompetent employee breaches the employer’s duty to provide competent staff.

Question 6

In a workplace scenario where an employee is hurt by a machine due to negligent servicing by an outside contractor, who is liable?

Answer 6

The employer is liable due to their non-delegable duty, though they may pursue a separate contractual claim against the contractor.

Question 7

How does the concept of “reasonable care” apply to an employer’s duty of care?

Answer 7

The employer must take reasonable steps to ensure employee safety while at work, encompassing the four duties in Wilsons and Clyde Coal.

Question 8

Why does an employer breach their duty of care by failing to act on known unsafe conduct by an employee?

Answer 8

Because failing to act on known unsafe conduct by an employee violates the duty to employ competent staff, breaching the employer’s duty of care.

Question 9

What duty does an employer owe regarding the provision of equipment?

Answer 9

The employer must provide adequate and safe equipment, including necessary safety gear, and ensure it is properly maintained.

Question 10

When does an employer breach the duty to provide adequate equipment?

Answer 10

When they either fail to supply necessary equipment at all or provide equipment that is inadequate or unsafe.

Question 11

Why would an employer be liable if an employee becomes ill after working without safety gear in a hazardous environment?

Answer 11

Because the employer has breached the duty to provide necessary safety equipment, such as protective masks or clothing.

Question 12

What is the purpose of the Employers’ Liability (Defective Equipment) Act 1969?

Answer 12

To allow employees to sue the employer directly for injuries caused by defective equipment, instead of having to identify and sue the manufacturer.

Question 13

What must an employee prove under the Employers’ Liability (Defective Equipment) Act 1969 to recover damages?

Answer 13

(1) That a third party (like a manufacturer) was at fault,

(2) that this fault caused the injury.

Question 14

How does the duty to provide adequate equipment relate to the common law duties from Wilsons and Clyde Coal?

Answer 14

It is one of the four specific duties under the employer’s common law duty of care to ensure employee safety.

Question 15

Why would an employer who fails to maintain machinery be liable if an employee is injured during routine use?

Answer 15

Because failing to perform required maintenance breaches the duty to provide safe equipment, placing the employer in breach of their duty of care.

Question 16

If an employee is injured due to equipment that explodes after years of poor maintenance, what legal outcome is likely?

Answer 16

The employer will likely be found to have breached their duty to provide safe equipment and will be liable in negligence, assuming causation and other elements are met.

Question 17

What does the employer’s duty to provide safe premises primarily concern?

Answer 17

The physical structure of the workplace, such as the building, floors, and entrances, not equipment or systems of work.

Question 18

How is the employer’s duty affected when an employee works on third-party premises?

Answer 18

The employer must take reasonable steps to ensure that third-party premises are also safe for employees to work in.

Question 19

If a factory floor becomes dangerously slippery due to flooding, what must an employer do to fulfill their duty of care?

Answer 19

Take reasonable steps to minimize the risk (e.g. using sawdust or barriers), even if perfect safety cannot be guaranteed.

Question 20

Why was an employer in a case not found liable when an employee slipped on a wet factory floor?

Answer 20

Because the employer had done what was reasonable in the circumstances to manage the risk, satisfying their duty.

Question 21

How does a failure to grit an icy factory entrance relate to an employer’s duty of care?

Answer 21

It breaches the duty to provide safe premises, as it allows a preventable hazard in the structural environment.

Question 22

What is the relevance of the Wilson and Tyneside Cleaning case in employer liability?

Answer 22

It shows that employers owe a duty to assess and ensure the safety of all work locations, even if they do not own the premises.

Question 23

Under which specific component of Wilsons and Clyde Coal does a claim for slipping on an icy factory entrance fall?

Answer 23

Under the duty to provide safe premises.

Question 24

What must a claimant prove in addition to a breach of the duty to provide safe premises in a negligence claim?

Answer 24

Causation, remoteness, and that no valid defences apply.

Question 25

What does an employer’s duty to provide a safe system of work include?

Answer 25

It includes the physical layout of the job, the sequence of operations, and ensuring adequate instruction, training, warnings, and supervision.

Question 26

Why is the duty to provide a safe system of work considered the most frequently invoked duty?

Answer 26

Because it is the broadest duty, encompassing a wide range of safety concerns, including procedures, oversight, and workplace routines.

Question 27

What breach occurred when an employer failed to warn staff about skin hazards when cleaning without gloves?

Answer 27

The employer failed to provide a safe system of work by not warning employees of known risks associated with their tasks.

Question 28

If an employer is aware employees are misusing or not using safety gear, what must they do to avoid liability?

Answer 28

They must insist on proper use of safety measures; failure to do so is a breach of the duty to provide a safe system of work.

Question 29

How can an employer be liable if they know of repeated risks, such as workplace assaults, but take no action?

Answer 29

By failing to implement preventive systems, the employer breaches their duty to provide a safe system of work.

Question 30

Why was an employer liable when a worker was crushed after a haulage plant was activated during shift change?

Answer 30

Because the system of operations was unsafe, showing a failure to provide a safe system of work despite delegating supervision.

Question 31

If a company knows employees are using unsafe techniques to save time and does nothing, what duty is breached?

Answer 31

The employer breaches the duty to provide a safe system of work by not giving proper instruction, training, or risk control.

Question 32

What must a claimant prove in addition to a breach of the duty to provide a safe system of work?

Answer 32

The other elements of negligence: causation, remoteness, and that no valid defences apply.

Question 33

What legal duty did the case of Walker v Northumberland County Council establish regarding workplace stress?

Answer 33

It established that employers owe a duty of care to employees for psychiatric injury caused by work-related stress, especially when such injury is foreseeable

Question 34

Why was the employer in Walker v Northumberland County Council not liable for the first breakdown but liable for the second?

Answer 34

The first breakdown was unforeseeable, but the second was foreseeable after the first incident and the failure to provide promised support.

Question 35

What key principle regarding foreseeability in stress-related claims was affirmed in Barber v Somerset County Council?

Answer 35

Employers are liable if psychiatric harm was or ought to have been reasonably foreseeable based on the employee’s characteristics and job demands.

Question 36

What factors determine the foreseeability of psychiatric harm in occupational stress cases?

Answer 36

The nature and extent of the workload, the emotional or intellectual demands of the work, and any clear signs of stress shown by the employee.

Question 37

What must a reasonable employer recognize to avoid breaching the duty of care in occupational stress cases?

Answer 37

Clear and plain indications of impending harm to the employee’s health arising from work-related stress.

Question 38

Why would an employer not be liable for an employee’s stress-induced breakdown due to personal issues, as illustrated in the Robert example?

Answer 38

Because the psychiatric injury did not stem from workplace stress, but from personal life circumstances, which fall outside the scope of the employer’s duty.

Question 39

What must be true for an employer to breach their duty of care in occupational stress claims?

Answer 39

The employee must suffer psychiatric harm due to work-related stress that was reasonably foreseeable to the employer.

Question 40

What types of evidence could suggest a foreseeable risk of psychiatric harm due to workplace stress?

Answer 40

Excessive workload compared to the norm, emotionally demanding tasks, and observable signs of stress or declining mental health.

Question 41

Once an employer’s duty of care is established in negligence, which four elements must be analyzed to determine liability?

Answer 41

Breach of duty, causation (factual and legal), remoteness, and defences.

Question 42

What standard of care is an employer expected to meet under breach of duty in negligence claims?

Answer 42

The standard of taking reasonable care as an employer, considering all facts including likelihood and magnitude of harm and the practicality of precaution

Question 43

How did Paris v Stepney illustrate the importance of considering an employee’s personal characteristics in determining breach of duty?

Answer 43

The employer was liable because they failed to provide goggles to an employee known to have sight in only one eye, and the serious consequences made the low risk unacceptable.

Question 44

In the context of causation, how does the but-for test apply to employer negligence cases?

Answer 44

It checks whether the harm would still have occurred even if the employer had fulfilled their duty; if so, causation is not established, as in McWilliams v Sir William Arrol.

Question 45

When might the provision of safety equipment alone be insufficient to satisfy an employer’s duty of care?

Answer 45

In inherently dangerous environments, the employer may also need to provide clear instructions and enforce the use of the safety equipment.

Question 46

Why would an employer likely fail to argue novus actus interveniens when an employee ignores safety rules in a hazardous job?

Answer 46

Because the danger is so inherent that failing to enforce safety measures makes the employer’s omission a continuing cause of the injury.

Question 47

Why is the defence of volenti non fit injuria (consent) rarely successful in employment negligence claims?

Answer 47

Because genuine consent free from any pressure is uncommon in the employment context, as confirmed in ICI v Shatwell.