The power of control test for vicarious liability for independent contractors requires a right to direct and control the manner in which the contractor performs its work, not merely the right to direct what, where and when work is done. On a multi-contractor construction site, the head contractor's responsibility for coordination, sequencing and safety does not, without more, establish sufficient control over the manner of a specialist subcontractor's work to ground vicarious liability. A direction to 'continue work' does not amount to direct authorisation of a consequent pollution event where the pollution was not a necessary result of the authorised work but merely a risk.
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