Duty to anticipate accidents

Robb v Salamis (M&I) Ltd HL TLR 22 December

The claimant was working on an oil and gas production platform, the sleeping accommodation being equipped with two-tier bunks with suspended ladders providing access to the top bunks. When the claimant attempted to descend from the top bunk, he had fallen to the floor and been injured because the ladder had not been properly engaged within the retaining brackets. The ladders were removable from the brackets and frequently removed and replaced. Sometimes, they were not properly replaced within the brackets, in which case they might become dislodged and fall. After the accident, the owners of the platform had fixed them permanently with screws. It was a simple operation that it would have been reasonably practicable to carry out before the claimant had his accident. Where an employer was assessing the risks to which his employees might be exposed when using equipment that he provided for them to work with, he had to consider not only the skilled and careful man, but also the contingency of carelessness and the frequency with which that contingency was likely to arise. The employer’s obligation was to anticipate situations that might give rise to accidents; he was not permitted to wait for them to happen.