Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
➤
measures in relation to the means of escape from
relevant premises;
➤
measures for securing that, at all material times, the
means of escape from relevant premises can be
safely and effectively used;
➤
measures in relation to the means of fi ghting fi res in
relevant premises;
health and safety, the tort of negligence is of particular
interest.
The tort of negligence involves more than simply
careless conduct causing a loss to an individual. For a
civil law claim of negligence to succeed, the claimant
must prove three elements:
1.
That a duty of 'reasonable care' was owed to the
claimant by the defendant
➤
measures in relation to the means of:
➤
detecting fi res in relevant premises; and
2.
That the duty of 'reasonable care' was breached
giving warning in the event of fi re, or suspected
fi re, in relevant premises;
➤
measures in relation to the arrangements for action
to be taken in the event of fi re in relevant premises
(including, in particular, measures for the instruction
and training of employees and for mitigation of the
effects of fi re).
➤
3.
That the claimant suffered a loss as a result of the
breach of duty of reasonable care.
Duty of 'reasonable care' owed
When considering whether or not a duty of reasonable
care was owed courts will always seek to identify an
established relationship between the claimant and the
duty holder. Relationships that have been established by
judicial precedent include employer/employee, doctor/
patient and teacher/pupil. For claims relating to the duty
of reasonable care the landmark case that established
the 'neighbour' principle was the case of
Donoghue
v.
Stevenson
(1932).
In this case, the claimant, Miss Donoghue, and a
friend went into a café and her friend bought two bottles
of ginger beer. The bartender served the beer in their
original bottles that were dark green and opaque.
The claimant drank part of the contents of one
bottle and on refi lling her glass, she discovered the part
decomposed body of a snail in the remaining beer. As a
result of drinking the beer she became ill.
Those who have 'to any extent' control of premises are
also duty bound to ensure that the above measures
(employer's duties) are carried out, as per the RRFSO.
Employees are also given responsibilities that fall
under very similar scope to those that are contained
within the RRFSO, MHSW Regulations and the HSWA.
1.4.5 Civil law
Civil law has its roots in ancient laws from the 11th cen-
tury and beyond and is most likely to be encountered
relative to workplace conduct as 'common law'. It deals
with the manner in which individuals should conduct
their affairs in modern society.
It is not laid down by statute but rather is found as
an accumulation of decisions made by judges in individ-
ual cases. This process is referred to as a precedent
whereby as each case is decided in court principles of
law are established.
A fundamental principle that has been established
by common law in the UK is that people have a 'duty
of care' towards others who may be affected by what
they do. In the case of health and safety, this duty has
been expanded by a judicial precedent to be a duty of
'reasonable care'. When determining what is meant by
reasonable care the courts will take into account the
qualifi cations, experience, age, locality, intelligence,
seniority and skills of the individuals concerned.
For example, it is likely that the courts will fi nd that
reasonable care has been exercised by a company
when making arrangements for the safe evacuation of
a building in the case of fi re if it has ensured suffi cient
arrangements for the management of the young, infi rm,
disabled and sensory impaired persons.
Negligence
The term 'tort' means a civil wrong committed by one
party against another. In the case of occupational
Figure 1.20
The balance of reasonability
