Eurobodalla Shire Council v Dufty

[2004] NSWCA 450

NSW Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Negligence
2. › Duty of care
3. › Entrepreneur and independent contractors
4. › Co-ordination of activities on work site
5. › Whether duty to prescribe safe system of work
6. › Whether council owed duty of care to principal of company engaged to manage swimming pool
7. › Stevens v Brodribb Sawmilling Co Pty Ltd (1986) 160 CLR 16
1. Negligence
2. › Duty of care
3. › Employer and employee distinguished from entrepreneur and independent contractor
4. › Incidents of each relationship
5. › Interposition of corporate entity at requirement of principal
6. › Whether corporate structure negated practical reality of relationship
1. Damages
2. › Personal injury
3. › Loss of earning capacity
4. › Assessment where pre and post injury earnings known
5. › Whether trial judge entitled to use average weekly earnings as basis
6. › Whether absence of detailed expert evidence precluded assessment
1. Appeal
2. › Fact finding
3. › Credibility-based findings
4. › Whether appellate court should disturb trial judge's findings
5. › Fox v Percy (2003) 214 CLR 118

Quick Take

An entrepreneur's duty to prescribe a safe system of work under Stevens v Brodribb can arise even where the co-ordination required is limited in degree, provided the entrepreneur has a supervisory role over the site and has requested the injured person to assist an independent contractor with foreseeable tasks. The interposition of a corporate entity at the entrepreneur's requirement does not negate the practical reality of the relationship. However, the strong dissent by Bryson JA highlights that the duty may not extend where the entrepreneur had no knowledge of or involvement in the specific operation causing injury and the request for assistance was highly generalised.