You may have heard the term, ‘breach of duty of care’, but do you know what that means? A duty of care applies in certain daily situations you could find yourself in. Broadly, they require that the liable third party in the situation reasonably prevents foreseeable harm and avoids careless acts that could injure others. Adherence to a duty of care is a legal obligation. If the liable third party fails to comply with relevant rules and regulations, they are said to have ‘breached their duty’.
If a duty of care is accidentally or deliberately breached by this third party and you sustain an injury (either physical, mental or both) as a result, you might have good grounds to make a personal injury compensation claim.
Breach Of Duty Of Care
The following sections look at a few examples of where you are owed a duty of care and the laws that govern this.
In The Workplace
In the workplace The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA) requires employers to take practicable and reasonable steps to prevent employees from experiencing harm whilst doing their jobs. This is the duty of care that employers owe to their workforce. It entails actions including but not limited to:
- Carrying out regular risk assessments of workplace safety.
- Providing adequate personal protection equipment (PPE).
- Training staff properly.
- Adhering to any relevant workplace health and safety regulations.
With this in mind, an example of a breach would be failing to provide properly tested tools and equipment to workers. Equipment should be regularly tested and taken out of use if faults are found. Any malfunction that injures a worker based on this is a breach of duty. As such, an accident at work claim could be made for any injuries sustained due to a breach of duty.
While In Public Spaces
In the public arena, the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 states that those in control of areas open to the general public must take necessary steps to implement measures that reasonably prevent them from being harmed. This can be achieved by regularly checking their premises for avoidable hazards. As well as clearly indicating any unavoidable risks to the public.
An example of a breach of duty in a public place would be a failure to put warning signs on low ceiling beams. A resulting claim for head injury might apply against the occupier/third party in charge if a member of the public hits their head against it.
Using The Roads
On the roads, all users owe a duty of care to each other. They must navigate and drive in ways that are safe and responsible to avoid causing injuries and damage to themselves and other road users. To fully comply with their duty of care, all road users need to abide by the Road Traffic Act 1988. As well as additional rules and regulations laid out in the Highway Code.
Any breach of duty here has the potential to cause a serious road traffic accident. For example, speeding above the limit or driving while intoxicated are both considered a breach of duty. If you sustain injuries in a road traffic accident because another user failed to adhere to their duty of care, you could be eligible to claim compensation.
To further explore legal terms, please visit our legal glossary.
