Employees Working Off Site - Liability under Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998?

The House of Lord have issued their decision in Smith v Northamptonshire County Council - a case concerning an employee injured on a crumbling wooden ramp while wheeling a wheelchair user (Mrs Cotter) from her home to the minibus driven by the employee who also worked for the Council as a carer. The ramp in question had been installed by the NHS some 10 years earlier and had a latent defect in it. It had been inspected by the Council but not for the purposes of these Regulations. The House of Lords held that unless the equipment in question, ie the ramp, was actually in the "control" of the employer then there was no liability. In this case the Council did not install the ramp, did not have any responsibility maintain it and had no control over it's maintenance or use. For that reason, the House of Lords decided in favour of the council because it did not have the necessary level of control over the ramp and so were not liable under the Regulations.

So, from this point of view, businesses can relax because they will not be held liable for equipment used by their employees whilst working off site, which is not within their "control".

Their Lordships also considered the principle behind the Regulations which is that they are there to promote employees health & safety and not to give employees a right to claim compensation.

Disclaimer: the contents of this blog are not intended form the basis of legal advice. Independent legal advice should be taken from your own solicitor for all cases.