An occupier of land on which operations are being carried out has a duty to take reasonable steps to ascertain from time to time whether those operations are causing a nuisance to adjoining properties or a public nuisance, even where the operations are not extra-hazardous and do not give rise to a non-delegable duty. This duty cannot be discharged merely by instructing the contractor to deal with the matter. A person conducting excavation operations adjoining a footpath may be required by reasonable care to prevent the footpath being regularly covered with mud, even if careful pedestrians could generally avoid slipping.
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