Employers "always responsible for vehicle maintenance"

Nigel DuPree
Member - 146 posts

If contributory negligence no longer a factor employers should be bricking it if all the employee has to do is report a problem before continuing to make claim for injury from foreseeable hazard, easy.

Silly me, I thought the individual in charge of using the equipment was also charged with some duty of care in regard to there own and others safety by completing basic pre-operation checks.

In the above case of 'bald tyres' had the driver been seen by Police to be operating the vehicle who would have been taken to court for the road traffic offence ?

Surely not the employer as regardless of fore-knowledge that the equipment was not 'fit for purpose' the operator, following basic pre-use check, should not if in their 'right mind' have continued unless they could prove that they were under duress or indeed not in their right mind at the time.

Having said that I, me, myself have to admit to doing exactly the same thing over the last two years along with the other 5 million (50% +) DSE (Display Screen Equipment) users who experience "Screen Fatigue" and yet have continued on a daily basis to moan about how bad it is and do nothing.

There is a point however, when you have to "do something" like not use the equipment if YOUR OWN "contributory neglegence" is not going to result in harm or injury to yourself.

After all, you would not voluntarily and regularly participate in Extreme Sports without assessing or calculating the risk before embarking on a course of action that you know puts you in harms way unless...........

So, why are people knowingly self-destructive when they know, rather than believe, that what they are doing is gonna hurt and then go out a buy a Lotto ticket because they might win?

Perhaps we do need to include Health & Safety in the National Curriculam if we are to separate 'Social Mythology' from " Reality " in terms of embedding the rights and responsibilities of individuals into societal consciousness before there will be any reduction in "Collateral Damage" to UK Human Resourses.