OCCUPIER NOT LIABLE TO EMPLOYEES OF INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR

Fairchild v Glenhaven Funeral Services Ltd [2001] EWCA Civ 1881, [2002] 1 WLR 1052

In Fairchild v Glenhaven Funeral Services Ltd [2001] EWCA Civ 1881, [2002] 1 WLR 1052 the Court of Appeal held that the defendant occupiers were not liable to employees of independent contractors who were working on the defendants’ premises and who alleged that they contracted mesothelioma as a result of coming into contact with asbestos dust while working on the premises. The claims against the occupiers based on the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 failed because the claim was not one which arose out of the state of the premises but rather arose as a result of an activity taking place on the premises. The regulation of the activity was a matter for the common law, not the Act. However, the claimants’ common law claim failed on the ground that the occupiers were not aware of the risk of injury to the claimants and an occupier who has employed competent contractors is not under a duty to take steps to find out about the risks that might imperil the contractor’s workforce.