Extent to which business can rely on contractor’s risk assessment clarified

Article date: 16.05.11

* Businesses will welcome a decision by the Court of Appeal saying that, if a contractor has already carried out its own risk assessment of its work, the business that uses the contractor can make their own risk assessment less rigorous.

An employee broke his neck while taking part in an ‘It’s a Knockout’ style fun day organised by his employer. The injury occurred during one of the games when he dived headfirst into a pool provided by a contractor events company. The same company was also responsible for giving instructions to participants and supervising the event.

The employee claimed that his employer had failed to carry out a proper risk assessment. If it had, it would have issued instructions that participants shouldn’t dive headfirst into the pool.

However, the Court of Appeal decided the case in favour of the employer. It said that sometimes an employer is entitled to rely on the fact that a risk assessment has already been carried out by a contractor. If it is, it can carry out a less rigorous risk assessment itself than it would otherwise have done. However, the employer had to take a view, via a competent person, on whether the contractor’s risk assessment was suitable and sufficient, and the fact that the contractor had carried out a risk assessment did not absolve an employer from carrying out a risk assessment at all.

Recommendation

Businesses contracting for the supply of equipment should either carry out a full risk assessment on that equipment themselves or, if they rely on the contractor’s assessment, satisfy themselves, through a competent person, that it is sufficient and suitable before deciding to carry out a less detailed risk assessment themselves.

Uren v Corporate Leisure (UK) Limited [2011] EWCA Civ 66

* This is not legal advice; it is intended to provide information of general interest about current legal issues.