Posted By Marcus Corcoran Your opinions on this would be appreciated: A woman rents ( by verbal agreement ) some land and a stable area on a working farm to keep her horses on. Whilst tending for the horses one evening she is attacked by a free roaming cockerel resulting in a fall and a broken hip. No witnesses to the actual accident and the woman was found 1/2 hour later by a lorry driver who parks his truck on the farm land. The cockerel has attacked the woman's son in the past when he has tended the horses, the woman's vet may also have witnessed the nature of the bird and a farm hand has definitely been subject to attack. The farm hands wife actually contacted the woman after the accident and commented that her husband usually kicks the cockerel when it attacks him. The woman was off work for 4 months and may suffer long term as a result of the injury. This accident has not yet been reported under RIDDOR but I spoke with the local HSE enforcement office today and they gave me the incident reporting number to pass on to the woman in question to get it reported. What are peoples opinions on this accident ? Do you think there is a case for a breach of Duty of Care based on the fact that there are a number of potential witnesses who could confirm that the cockerel was a danger to people ? If it has attacked a number of people in the past then its likely that the farmer new about the risks and didn't act accordingly ? This is a real example which is quite sensitive to me so integrity would be appreciated. I am new to a Health & Safety role in my job and am half way through my BSC Certosh course so apart from my personal interest in this accident, your expertise may also help with my studies Regards,

Posted By Adrian Watson Marcus, Why do you think this injury is reportable under RIDDOR? Think of the claim from first principles - Who owes a duty of care? Was there a breach of the duty of care? Did injury result from the breach? Regards Adrian Watson

Posted By Marcus Corcoran Please correct me if im wrong: The Farmer owes a Duty of care to his Employees and visitors to his premises which would include anyone renting / using his land. If the Cockerel is a known nuisence / risk to people on the farm then my thoughts are that yes, Duty of Care has been breached. As for the breach causing the injury, the cockerel attacked the woman from behind and latched onto her leg with its beak. the woman was obviously startled, turned sharply, lost her footing and fell causing a clean fracture to one hip. So yes (IMOA)the breach resulted in the injury. Please advise if my answers are incorrect or im missing the point somewhere !

Posted By Morgan Healey This is a wind up.

Posted By gham I had a situation in a residetial area, a home owner kept hens and a cock, the wee blyter let me in but would not let me leave, I've seen less agressive guard dogs. I took nearly an hour to get myself and my car off the property

Posted By gham Jim Are you sure, if the bird is known to be aggressive then it is reasonably forseeable that it could cause injury, because it is known that people are permitted to use the land it is reasonable to expect that they do not suffer any harm while on that land (the farmers duty of care much the same as if it where your own home you have a duty not to allow anyone to suffer a loss regardless of it they are there lawfully or not), it is therefor reasonable to keep the bird under control in such a way that harm cannot be caused. However, I do see you point. I you go into a field (to tip cow for example) and theres a bull in there your going to get hurt. They are fam animals and they are dangerous

Posted By Jim Walker RIDDOR is supposed to be a statistics gathering exercise and they would not turn anyone wanting to submit, away. I may well be wrong, but it in itself does not indicate they will take an interest. Assume you have alternative stabling for when your current landlord throws your horses out should he get an official visit.

Posted By andymak IMOA the farm is a business premises, owners and operators of business premises have duty of care over tenants, employees, and visitors. If the Cockerel is a known nuisance and health risk (it has attacked more than one person) which it appears to be, the owner of the business has a duty to take all reasonable steps to ensure the risk is minimised or removed. If it were a guard dog in a multi-occupier office block attacking someone I feel it would be reportable, so why not in this instance?

Posted By Jim Walker Marcus, Sorry you took offence at my opinions. And remember that's all they are, you are quite welcome to ignore them. I doubt any farm worker would be bothered about a hen. Your new scenario is about segregation of vehicles - that's the risk not the distraction of the killer chuckie. Does your mum have a sign riveted onto her horse saying "Danger this animal is unpredictable and might kick" because I bet if you look at statistics you will find quite a few more deaths caused by horses than chickens. Yet evidently, your mum and the other horse owners do not regard a warning sign necessary.

Posted By andymak The rooster could always be taken into care by the RSPCA/B! After all it is suffering abuse from the farmer who kicks it when it goes for him.....

Posted By Morgan Healey Marcus you also say that your mother suffered a broken hip as a result, well i would hazard a guess that at the moment she hasnt got a leg to stand on!!!!!

Posted By Marcus Corcoran Morgan Your obviously seeking some kind of reaction from me, but unfortunately even though this is my mothers health your mocking I can rise above it and this will be the only response you will get.

Posted By gham Morgan You need to get more, try a farm, turkeys and rooster can be vicious like your comments. They have feathers incase you don't recognise them, the chickens you see in the supermarkes have hand them removed Very nasty can beleive you posted that

Posted By gham Okay I am well confused I m going to abstain from the site for a while, the tone has dropped a bit in here lately later.......

Posted By gham sorry last post and I'm out of here for a while Marcus, with regards to the bull analogy, Jim implied that the woman was aware, which she may well have been, of the nature of the beast at least but not necessarily of it's location on the day the incident happened; did she approach the animal and worry it?. With regards to the bull you know it's in there so you don't go in