In Day v T Pickles Farms Ltd, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) says that an employer should not wait for written notification of an employee's pregnancy before carrying out a risk assessment, and that its failure to carry out an assessment may have caused the employee detriment within the provisions of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975.
In Karen Bilton v Fastnet Highlands Ltd, the Scottish Court of Session holds that a fish processor who developed occupational asthma can pursue a claim for compensation against her employer under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1988 (COSHH), even though the substance is not specified by COSHH.
In Day v T Pickles Farms Ltd, the EAT holds that an employer who failed to make an assessment of the risks to the health and safety of a woman of child-bearing age employed in a sandwich shop no later than the date she started working there, and certainly before she became pregnant, could thereby have subjected her to a "detriment" within the meaning of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975.
The liability of an employer for the acts or omissions of a contractor it engages is the central issue in R v Associated Octel Co Ltd. Both the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords have considered this important case, and both have ruled that an employer cannot delegate the duty imposed by s.3(1) of the HSW Act.
In Fraser v Greater Glasgow Health Board, a nurse successfully sues her employer, claiming it provided inadequate instruction and training in a manual handling technique.
In R v Rhône-Poulenc Rorer Ltd, the Court of Appeal rules that the requirement to provide some suitable physical means to prevent falls through fragile materials, as set out in the construction Regulations, is absolute.
In Crofts v Roche Products Ltd, a firefighter who suffered a back injury while putting out a fire fails to win damages from his employer. The Court of Session holds that, given his training and experience, his employer could not anticipate he would attempt to lift or carry anything that would give rise to a risk of injury.
In Ogden v Airedale Health Authority, the High Court finds a health authority negligent after it failed to protect a radiographer from harmful fumes emitted by X-ray chemicals.
In Malcolm v Metropolitan Police Commissioners 1995 5 CLR 368 HC, the High Court held that the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, regulation 5 creates an absolute statutory duty and proof that a defect in equipment had caused an accident would fix the duty holder with civil liability.
In Barton v Wandsworth Council [1995] ET/11268/94, an employment tribunal ruled that an ambulance driver employed by the technical services division of a local authority was subjected to detriment when, in circumstances of danger that he reasonably believed to be serious and imminent, he took appropriate steps to protect himself or other persons from danger.