Duty of care is the legal recognition of the obligation to take all reasonable steps to avoid foreseeable harm. This plays a key role in the establishment of liability (fault) in negligence claims such as motor vehicle accident claims, personal injury claims, public liability, and more. If you’re injured due to another person’s breach of duty of care, it may amount to negligence and you may be entitled to compensation.
Duty of care responsibilities
Integral to the law of negligence, those who owe a duty of care to others must do everything a reasonable person would do to prevent harm to the person to whom they owe a duty.
For example, drivers must pay attention and follow the road rules at all times to avoid an accident with a pedestrian or another motorist. If there is a car crash, the at-fault driver is the one that breached their duty of care to other road users. Examples where the other driver may be at fault is if they were speeding, driving under the influence, distracted by a mobile phone, or simply failed to keep a proper lookout, or drove carelessly causing an accident.
In a workers’ compensation claim all employers owe a strict and non-delegable duty of care to all employees. Again, in these cases an injured worker must establish that the employer breached its duty of care in order to be able to pursue a damages claim. A statutory claim for workers compensation only needs to establish that the injured person was a worker, and that they sustained injury at work as defined under the Workers Compensation and Rehabilitation Act.
Both employers and employees have a duty of care in the workplace. This may include providing training and instructions, appropriate safety equipment, as well as following health and safety instructions.
Duty of care relationships
It’s important to note that not all relationships impose a duty of care. Relationships that are recognised by law to impose a duty of care include:
- Road user to road user
- Solicitor to client
- Public authorities to members of the public
- Landlord to tenant
- Doctor to patient
- Occupier of private premises to entrant
- Manufacturer of goods to consumer
- Supplier of services to consumer
- Prison authority to prisoner
- Employer to employee
How is a breach of duty of care determined in a compensation case?
When determining if a breach of duty of care has occurred and whether it gives rise to any entitlement to damages in a compensation case, the main elements a court will consider are:
- Was there a duty of care?
- Was duty of care breached?
- Is the injury the direct result of a breach of duty of care?
If you have suffered an injury and the answer to these questions is yes, you may be entitled to compensation. A court will then consider a range of factors before determining if compensation is payable as a result of the breach of duty. To get a free evaluation of your case, get in touch with our team and we’ll determine whether you have a strong case.