Description
The Claimant in this case was a young man employed by the Defendant. The Defendant repaired, maintained and fitted out boats. The Defendant had had commissioned and had built a new workshop and warehouse, which had been completed some sixteen months before the Claimant's accident. One feature of this new workshop was a walkway floored with a metal grille some 10 - 12 feet above the ground. The Claimant was injured while moving a boat on a trolley, the grille he was standing on came loose from the supporting beam; the Claimant fell 10 - 12 feet to the ground and struck his head, causing serious brain injury. He recovered an award from his employers, who then proceeded to bring in six other Defendants variously involved in the design, fabrication and construction of the new workshop.
This judgment concerned the liability of three of the six parties brought in by the Defendant. Mr Justice Akenhead rehearsed the principles relating to the extent of the duty of care owed by contractors to a third party (at para 41). He concluded (at para 69) that these three Defendants had discharged their duty of care. The court considered the principles in Clay v AJ Crump & Sons and others [1963] 1 QB 533 (at paras 72 - 74) and the extent of the duty to warn (paras 76 - 79).
