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PI Brief Update

31 March 2008 - PI Practitioner

Details
Category: PIBULJ
06 Sep 2011
Last Updated: 09 January 2014
WORKPLACE REGS 12(1) AND 12(2) – FLOOR SLIPPERINESS
Ellis v. Bristol City Council [2007] EWCA Civ 685
In the Workplace (Health, Safety & Welfare) Regulations 1992, the combined effect of r. 12(1) and 12(2) was that the floor of a workplace must not be slippery. The slipperiness had to be considered in the context of the use to which the floor was put, including temporary circumstances which arose with sufficient regularity. The court had to consider the frequency of any intermittently hazardous conditions, the chance of injury and the severity of that injury.

In this case, the floor of the claimant’s workplace was frequently contaminated by urine. The surface was slippery when wet, and injury was reasonably foreseeable. The defendant was in breach of r. 12(1) and 12(2), although the claimant, having been warned of the hazard, was guilty of contributory negligence to the extent of one-third.

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