Bosses receive frost alert to manage bad weather risks
Employers are on frost alert, following the news that a home care worker
has won her claim for damages after slipping on ice and breaking her wrist when
visiting a client.
The
ruling by the Supreme Court means that employers who expect staff to work
outside in icy conditions will have to review risk management processes and
consider whether they need to provide special equipment.
Tracey
Kennedy was visiting the house of an elderly client in December 2010 when she
fell and injured her wrist, after slipping on a path covered with snow and
ice. At the time she was wearing a pair
of flat, ridged sole boots, and later sued her employer for damages for breach
of duty, claiming they should have provided her with crampon style attachments
to provide the necessary extra grip in the icy conditions.
The
Supreme Court said that her employers had not carried out suitable and
sufficient risk assessments to meet health and safety at work regulations,
despite having received previous reports of similar incidents and knowing there
were icy conditions at the time, as the freezing weather had persisted for
weeks.
Because
the anti-slip attachments were relatively low-cost, easily available and had
been used effectively by other employers to reduce risk, the judges ruled that
the failure to provide the crampons had caused, or materially contributed, to
the accident.
Said Ron Davison, employment expert with
Gamlins Law : “This case has been through a number of appeals, finally arriving in the
Supreme Court, and some may think the ruling seems overly paternalistic, but the Supreme Court made a distinction
between an ordinary member of the public who could choose whether to go out and
what route to use, and an employee who had no choice but to go out in bad
weather and walk on untreated footpaths as part of their employment."
He added:
“It’s
likely that trade unions will be arguing for provision of shoe attachments for
use in icy conditions, if employers want to avoid liability claims where
employees are injured after falling in ice or snow.
“And of course, the bigger picture isn’t just about slipping
in bad weather, it’s why employers have to provide life jackets where employees
are working on water, or safety harnesses if they’re working at heights.
What’s important is making sure that risk assessments are made regularly, with
feedback or new knowledge factored in, and any appropriate protective or safety
equipment put in place.“
The case hinged on a breach of Regulation 3 of the Management
of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999, failure to carry out suitable
risk assessments, and Regulations 4 and 10 of the Personal Protective Equipment
at Work Regulations 1992, requiring employers to provide suitable equipment to
their employees to avoid risks to their health and safety, and ensure the
equipment is properly used.
