ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the employer’s personal liability to their employees in the tort of negligence. A claim by an employee against their employer for injury, illness, or disease suffered at work follows the standard structure for a claim in negligence: the employee must establish duty of care, breach of duty, causation of damage. The employer will consider defences. The special principles applicable to employers’ liability in negligence lie in the area of duty of care. Therefore, this chapter examines the employer’s duty, dealing with the place of work, the system of working, work equipment, and competent fellow staff. It then explains the special non-delegable nature of the employer’s duty. This chapter does not re-visit the other elements of the claim (breach of duty, causation of damage, and defences) because they are fully covered in previous chapters. However, it is always necessary to complete the analysis of an employers’ liability claim by considering those elements.
