Fatal accidents
If, as a result of the employer’s negligence, an employee is
killed in the course of his employment the personal rep-
resentatives of the deceased have a claim on behalf of the
estate under the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions)
Act 1934. In addition, under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976
certain dependant relatives, e.g. husband or wife and
children, are entitled to claim in a personal capacity if they
were dependent on the deceased for their living expenses.
The connection between physical and psychological
injury and death was considered by the House of Lords
in Corr v IBC Vehicles(2008). In this case, the employee
was seriously injured at work. As a result of his injuries
he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. He
became depressed and, six years after the accident, he
committed suicide. Prior to his death, he commenced
proceedings against IBC Vehicles for his physical and
psychological injuries. His wife was substituted as
claimant after his death. The employer accepted that the
accident involved a breach of the duty owed – the duty
to take reasonable care not to cause him both physical
and psychological injury. The dispute centred on whe-
ther a claim under the Fatal Accidents Act was possible
given that the employee took his own life.
The House of Lords held that the employer owed
Corr a duty not to cause him physical and psychological
injury. Further, it held that he would not have committed
suicide but for this injury. Depression was a foreseeable
consequence of the injury and this illness impaired his
capacity to make reasoned and informed judgements
about his future. Accordingly, a claim for damages for
Corr’s death, under the Fatal Accidents Act, was possible
because the deceased was not unreasonable.
Health and safety at work
Health and safety regulations
The general principles of health and safety and enforce-
ment procedures and offences are contained in the Health
and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. That Act also estab-
lishes the Health and Safety Commission and the Health
and Safety Executive. (See p 510 .) However, the cen-
tral core of provisions relating to health and safety at
work are now to be found in sets of regulations which
came into force at the beginning of 1993. They apply
to work activity generally and, like the health and safety
provisions which we have had since the Health and Safety
at Work Act 1974 was passed into law, the regulations
place duties on employers to protect their employees and
in some cases others, e.g. members of the public who
may be harmed by the work being carried out.
Self-employed persons also have duties under the regu-
lations to protect themselves and others who might be
affected by the work being done, and although we talk
about ‘employers’ in this section of the book remember
the expression also includes the self-employed.
The regulations implement EC Directives on health
and safety at work. They were made under Art 118A of
the Treaty of Rome which was added for this purpose.
There is one set of regulations for each directive.
The duties in the regulations are not absolutely new
but they clarify and state more explicitly what the law
is. Those who have followed previous health and safety
law should not find the new rules unfamiliar. However,
there are some new aspects, i.e. management of health
and safety, manual handling of loads and the use of dis-
play screens. The regulations are considered below.
Management of Health and Safety at Work
Regulations 1999 (SI 1999/3242)
The latest version of these regulations came into force
on 29 December 1999. They set out the general duties of
employers in regard to the management of health and
safety as follows:
■Every employer is required to assess the risks to the
health and safety of his employees and record the
significant findings of the risk assessment together
with means by which the employer controls them.
■Employers must make arrangements to implement
health and safety measures to deal with the risks iden-
tified and put these into written form where there are
five or more employees. A written risk assessment is
not required if there are fewer than five employees.
■Competent safety advisers must be appointed to deal
with the implementation of health and safety measures.
These persons may come from within the organisa-
tion or from outside, and may recommend a health
surveillance of employees if thought appropriate.Part 4Business resources
502
was injured by a stone which fell from the crane because
of the negligent strapping of the load.
The court decided that Smith had not voluntarily un-
dertaken the risk of his employers’ negligence and that
his knowledge of the danger did not prevent him recover-
ing damages.