A principal's duty of care to employees of an independent contractor is limited to matters within the principal's control (such as maintaining its own property) and does not extend to the general conditions of work, which remain the responsibility of the employer. Where a corporate restructure transfers employees to a new entity but the original entity retains the head contract, the original entity may not owe a duty of care to the transferred employees if it has relinquished care, control, direction and supervision — but if it retains such control, an insurance policy exclusion for supplied labour may be engaged, creating a forensic dilemma for the plaintiff.
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