(Extra Division Inner House) ‘In this action for damages for personal injury three central issues arise:
(1) Was the wardrobe pole which fell and injured the pursuer ‘work equipment provided by the defenders for use or used by an employee of theirs at work’ for the purpose of The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 when the accident happened?
(2) Was the pursuer at work when the accident happened?
(3) Was the lodge in which the accident happened a workplace for the purpose of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 when the accident happened? The pursure was a chef working for the defenders, satying at residential accomodation provided by them. The appellant sustained injury when he was removing his own personal possessions from a wardrobe in premises that he occupied otherwise than as a result of his contract of employment with the defenders.
Held: The answer to thr first question was ‘No’, and ‘The appellant was not at work when the accident happened – he was removing his personal possessions from the accommodation which he occupied, but there was nothing in the evidence to establish that he was doing so as a result of an instruction given to him in the course of his employment rather than in the context of his agreement with the defenders that he should be permitted to occupy the lodge on a temporary basis. The lodge was not, at the time of the accident, a workplace for the purpose of the workplace regulations. ‘
Lord Menzies
[2015] ScotCS CSIH – 3
Bailii
Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998
Scotland
Scotland, Personal Injury, Health and Safety
Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.540499
