Posted By Melanie Fellows
A paint sprayer (who's a subcontractor for the main contractor) is walking back from his break. He descends some stairs which has two handrails (the furthest one away is for the stairs he's not on that are blocked off). He holds the handrail which is furthest away, which turns out to be not fixed properly, and when he gets near to the bottom, the handrail moves, he loses his footing and falls down the stairs. Results? 6-8 weeks in plaster for a broken leg.

The main contractor says its not his responsibility as the lad was working at the weekend without permission (all other weekend has been carried out without any formal permission given), surely if he shouldn't have been there security shouldn't have let him on?

Who's responsible for the potential claim?
I understand that it is generally joint between the client, the contractor, and any sub-contractors, but to what extent depends on the circumstances doesn't it?

All help/ advice gratefully received.

Thanks,

Mel

Posted By Bill Parkinson
Agree with Peter likely to be Occupiers Liability Issue with possibly some employers liability if they knew people were working at the week-ends even though not authorised.

Posted By Robert K Lewis
Melanie

You have not been clear in the nature of this contract If the job is notifiable then the Principal Contractor will have to carry some of the liability as the handrail is clearly insecure. However the stairways and handrails may be no part of the contract in which case the responsibility may pass fully over to the occupier.

Non notifiable jobs place a greater burden on the occupier but there still could be residual liabilities on the main contractor if the stairs are included in the works. One needs also to remember the generalities of section 2 &3 as it should have been clear that the stairway would be used for access and egress by both the client and the contractor.

The closure of a stairway does not mitigate the fact that a handrail that was available for use was insecure - the fact that it was designated for the closed stairway is actually irrelevant. It will ultimately be up to the courts to allocate responsibility. If the client is held responsible for the injury he may still however be able to pass this to the PC/MC insurer to pay under indemnity clauses in the contract. It is a legal minefield but a good one for some interesting debate.

Bob