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Employer’s Duty of Care

All employers owe their employees a duty to take reasonable care to protect them against any foreseeable injury that may arise during the course of their employment.

NSW also has occupational health and safety laws in place that require employers to take proactive steps to identify foreseeable risks, and to implement necessary measures to prevent injury from occurring in the workplace.

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Negligence is the term used to describe a failure to take reasonable duty of care to avoid causing injury or loss to another person. There are generally accepted four steps in proving negligence:

  • That there is a duty of care.
  • That the defendant breached that duty of care by some behaviour or inaction that did not meet the standard of care which a reasonable person would meet in the circumstances.
  • That any damage suffered was caused by that breach of duty.
  • That damage suffered by the plaintiff (injury or loss) is foreseeable, and expected injury or loss in the circumstances.

In the case of an employer, there is no doubt that an employer owes an employee a duty of care to ensure his or her safety whilst in the workplace.

The law imposes upon every employer, a duty to take reasonable care for the safety of its employees.

That duty can be described as follows: “by providing proper and adequate means of carrying out his work without unnecessary risk, by warning him of unusual unexpected risks and by instructing him in the performance of his work where instructions might reasonably thought to secure him from danger of injury…. The standard of care for employee’s safety is not a low one.”

An employer’s duty of care is a non-delegable duty which means an employer cannot delegate that duty to someone else. An employer is always responsible for the safety of its employees.

An employer has a duty only to take “reasonable care” so as to avoid foreseeable risk of injury. This is not a guarantee of safety. An employer must avoid injury by providing reasonable care in the circumstances. For example, it is not reasonable to require an employer to spend thousands of dollars on safety equipment if the risk of injury without such equipment is relatively low.

A court will ultimately decide having regard to all of the circumstances whether or not an employer has breached their duty of care and does not meet the standard of care which a reasonable person would expect in the circumstances of the injury.

Claim against employers for breach of duty of care are governed by the NSW Workers compensation legislation. They are known as Work Injury Damages claims.

A claim for work injury damages can only be made if you have a whole person impairment of 15%.

You will need your lawyer to have the whole person impairment assessed before you can make a claim.

Find our blog articles on Work Injury Damages HERE.

If you need assistance with your duty of care claims, please do not hesitate to contact us as follows;

  1. Complete our FREE case assessment form HERE
  2. Email us at info@garlingandco.com.au
  3. Give us a call on (02) 8518 1120

Would you like assistance with your claim?

Complete our free, no obligation confidential case assessment form and we’ll get back to you within 24 hours.

Alternatively, we are available to talk by phone and email. Please contact our experienced accredited specialist personal injury lawyers to find out how we can help.

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Angie & B.
00:58 18 Sep 24
We cannot recommend Garling and Co. Lawyers highly enough! Our principal solicitor, Matthew Garling, was absolutely outstanding throughout our entire legal journey. He, along with the fantastic team... in the office, especially Allison, provided outstanding support. They were always responsive, willing to listen, and took the time to thoroughly explain the entire process. Thanks to their dedication and expertise, we achieved a brilliant outcome.read more
Yanthi S.
11:22 12 Sep 24
I engaged with Garling and Co to assist me for my weekly payment dispute with the insurance. I was upset with Natasha, as she didn't prepare me to the worse outcome or told me about the kind of... negotiation in the hearing. I assumed that as a Lawyer she should have an experience with the process or the way to solve the case. Even though I asked her what should I do or what would be happened in the hearing a week before but she didn't mentioned anything, and told me not do anything. But in the hearing she and the Barrister only gave me less than 5 minutes to make decision and pushed me to accept the disappointed outcome and what she said in the hearing totally different with what she said earlier. I don't trust her at all, her words is not consistent.I would like to express my appreciation to Matthew Garling who had stepped in to handle my weekly payment issue with the insurance. He is very professional, knowledgeable, easy to talk to and very humble. My disappointment earlier has melted away by his kindness and caring to resolve my issue which has came out the great outcome. Now I am satisfied with his expertise therefore I would not hesitate to let him to handle the case I might have in the future.As I said before I would not hesitate to let my other claim to be handled by a professional as Matthew Garling. I would like to thank him for his time and effort to settle my case smoothly and I trusted him to give me the best outcome. Also I appreciated his support and his patience to answer my questions from the time I signed the agreement up to the day before the mediation. He did not promise the unrealistic outcome but what ever he promised that what the result was according to his experiences. And I would not forget to Alison, Nathan who also have assisted this matters, by gathering all documents and answering my questions.Also my appreciation to a Barrister Mr Dallas Morgan.So, in summary I am really grateful to have Garling and Co as my lawyer to handle my damaged claim.read more
Tina S
07:45 29 Aug 24
Thank you for the great outcome!
Lisa L.
05:18 13 Jul 24
Outstanding service and commitment to my case was delivered from the first point of contact right until the end of my successful case.Highest recommendations to the team at Garling and Co. Matthew... got me an excellent result and was available and informative throughout the entire foreign process of legal proceedings. He was wonderful and so was his team.If i could rate higher than 5 stars i would!read more
J B
07:12 02 Jul 24
Matthew Garling and all of the team were extremely professional and supportive throughout what was a very long and arduous CTP battle. I am happy with the result and feel that their fees were fair... and well deserved.read more
Nelson B.
02:11 30 Jun 24
Professional, prompt & honest service
Brad M.
02:19 28 Jun 24
I worked with Garling & Co for 3+ years, the team has been incredible and I could not have been happier with Kerry's support and the results produced!I highly recommend choosing them as your... representatives!!read more
Ray H.
07:33 13 Jun 24
Matthew Garling and Team are kind, patient, polite, professional, empathetic and efficient. I was treated terribly by the at fault insurer. Garling and Co. had my back. Matthew gently and patiently... kept me up to speed on all the steps to go through. From my personal experience I recommend these guys. They are safe hands. Thank you team.read more
Jo L.
05:58 07 May 24
So very impressed with the professional team who looked after me throughout the last 4 and 1/2 years. A special mention to Kerry and Nathan who navigated each request to fight for my right to gain... access to further treatments and physio and to ensure medical treatment would be covered moving forward. I was so grateful I could hand it all over to you and not have to go through this very challenging time without your support.I thank you for the compassion you have provided to me, from the first contact with Matthew and Natasha, to finalisation with Kerry and Nathan.I highly recommend the team at Garling and Co for any third party compensation claims. You are in good hands with them all.read more
Linda O.
21:53 06 May 24
Emma, Rebecca and the team at Garling and Co have worked diligently throughout my workers compensation claim. The level of professionalism, support and communication has been faultless. Of particular... note has been the sensitivity displayed to me throughout the lengthy process. Worker’s compensation claims are complex and not easy to navigate, particularly when you are unwell. I do not hesitate to recommend Garling and Co to help you find a way through this otherwise unfathomable system.read more

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