Final - Combined SSE and BTO Presentation - Read …Microsoft PowerPoint - Final - Combined SSE and...
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Dogs bite. (its their job sometimes) Applying the principles of prevention to somebody who probably wont read them. We plan, scan, and adapt...
Transcript of Final - Combined SSE and BTO Presentation - Read …Microsoft PowerPoint - Final - Combined SSE and...
Dogs bite. (its their job sometimes)
Applying the principles of prevention to somebody who probably wont read them.
We plan, scan, and adapt...
Policy and Work
Instructions
PLAN SCAN ADAPT
Safety Licence
Valid Stop
SYSTEMS RISK ASSESSMENT EMERGENCY RESPONSE
Investigate / review
John the Meter reader
The solution completely depends on behaviour…………
Overall
• Have a clear system• Ensure the system is realistically going to be followed by the actual
people involved• Train, train, train, train, train• Provide the ‘fire extinguisher’ solutions for the times when despite
your controls it still goes wrong• Don’t let it lie, review, refresh and constantly monitor.
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Dog Bites!
Michael Collins, Associate and Solicitor Advocate
Rhona McKerracher, Senior Solicitor
26 September 2019
www.bto.co.uk
Topics
Who can be liable from the civil perspective?
Case Law
Measures to protect your business
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Dog Bites!
Who gets the blame?
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Liability of the dog’s owner / keeper
Common law liability?
Duty of care
Breach of duty: negligence, foreseeability
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Strict Liability
Liability without proof of negligence – the bite itself is enough
Animals (Scotland) Act 1987
Creates strict liability for injury or damage caused by animals in certain circumstances
Liability attaches to the “keeper of the animal”
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The keeper
Who is the keeper?
Person who “owns the animal or has possession of it” at the time of the incident
Person who has “actual care and control of a child under the age of 16 who owns the animal or has possession of it”
Person who owns or has possession will, if the animal has been abandoned or escaped, still be deemed to have possession and therefore be keeper until another person acquires ownership or comes into possession
Exception for certain type of possession:
Possession only by reason of detaining animal which has stayed onto their land
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When is the keeper liable under the Animals (Scotland) Act?
Complicated(?) legal provisions in the Act:
“The animal belongs to a species whose members are by virtue of their physical attributes or habits likely (unless controlled or restrained) to injure severely or kill persons or animals, or damage property to a material extent; and
“the injury or damage complained of is directly referable to such physical attributes or habits”
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Simplifying matters
Dog bites:
Covered by “deeming provisions”, i.e. they are deemed to be likely to inure severely etc by
Biting
Savaging
Attacking
Harrying
In short: in dog bite cases the keeper is liable under the Act, with no need to prove any negligence on their part.
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Defences
Full defence
The person sustaining injury “was not authorised (expressly or by implication) or entitled to be on that land”
Trespass – doesn’t provide a defence against claims by legitimate visitors / tradesmen
Even if the visitor was “unauthorised”, injury by a guard dog will result in liability unless there was strict adherence to the Guard Dogs Act 1975
The person sustaining the injury “willingly accepted the risk”
Difficult to establish
Doesn’t normally apply where person runs the risk in the course of their employment
The accident was “due wholly to the fault” of the injured person
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Defences
Contributory Negligence % deduction to the claim on the basis the injured
person by their own negligence contributed to their injury
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Viable recovery target?
Pet insurance?
Funds to pay an award of damages?
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Viable recovery target?
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Viable recovery target?
The employer!
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Liability of the employer?
Duty of Care Risk Assessment
Training
Safety Equipment
Warnings
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Camden v Jackpot Leisure Limited, [2015] 7 WLUK 421
Claimant was a snooker and pool table repairer
Sent by his employer to a domestic premises to re-felt a pool table
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Camden v Jackpot Leisure Limited, [2015] 7 WLUK 421
Claimant became aware of (illegal) dogs on the premises whilst on the property
Claimant required to go through a gated patio area where the dogs were in order to go back to his van to retrieve work tools
The owner opened the gate, which allowed the dog to rush through and attack the claimant
Employer knew about ‘some dogs’ on the property
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Camden v Jackpot Leisure Limited, [2015] 7 WLUK 421
Breach of duty established Due to his knowledge, the employer should have
made enquiries about the temperament of the dogs
If told that they were potentially aggressive, the employer should have instructed the owner to secure them away
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Camden v Jackpot Leisure Limited, [2015] 7 WLUK 421
Breach of duty established (cont.) Employer should have told the claimant about the
presence of the dogs and told him that he could insist that the dogs be locked away
Breach of duty was causative Had the employer either insisted to the owner that
the dogs be locked up, or told the claimant he could do so, the attack would not have happened.
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Camden v Jackpot Leisure Limited, [2015] 7 WLUK 421
Liability established against the employer
No deduction for contributory negligence.
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Camden v Jackpot Leisure Limited, [2015] 7 WLUK 421
Case turns on its own facts and circumstances
Knowledge of the employer was key
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Would the case be followed in Scotland?
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Kennedy v Cordia, [2016] UKSC 6
Claimant was a care worker
Visiting a terminally ill housebound patient
Slipped on snow and ice on a pathway leading to the patient’s wrist
Expert considered that Cordia had not adequately assessed the risk, nor had the provided her with the correct work equipment
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Kennedy v Cordia, [2016] UKSC 6
Supreme Court found that: It was wrong to compare Ms Kennedy to an
ordinary member of the public
Ms Kennedy, as part of her employment, had to travel on the untreated footpath in order to reach the patients’ door
A reasonably prudent employer would have carried out a risk assessment
Evidence that the PPE, if provided, would have been used and therefore the failure to provide PPE was causative
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Hill v Lovett
Vet receptionist given permission to enter a private garden belonging to her employer for the purposes of cleaning the surgery’s windows
Whilst then, bitten on the leg by one of two dogs, who belonged to her employer
Sued at common law and under Occupiers’ Liability (Scotland) Act 1960
Dogs were known to be by the owners to be territorial over the garden
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Practical measures to protect your business from the case law
Enquire whether dogs are on the premises, what kind of dogs they are and their general temperament
Keep your employee informed
Inform the customer that the dog should be locked away
Train (and re-train!) your staff on what to do if confronted with an aggressive dog
PPE
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Dog Bites!
www.bto.co.uk
Dog Bites!
Michael Collins, Associate and Solicitor Advocate
Rhona McKerracher, Senior Solicitor
26 September 2019
