ABSTRACT
PROFESSOR LEVY remarked 1 ‘the common law in England has always given a measure of protection to workmen against the torts of their employers’. It has not done so without considerable modification, as the social and economic fabric of society has changed and case law itself has built up a situation very different from its earlier appearance. Nor is common law the only ground on which a worker may bring a case against his employer. For, since the first Factory Act in 1802, a body of statutory duties has been enacted, which places upon the owner of premises, and the employer, the obligation to do certain things. Thus, whereas in common law cases it is necessary for the plaintiff (in this case the worker) to prove negligence on the part of the defendant (the owner), in breach of statutory duties there is no such necessity. 2
