Parsons v JJ Richards and Sons Pty Ltd [2008] NSWCA 331
Beazley JA
[3] In Czatyrko v Edith Cowan University [2005] HCA 14 ; (2005) 214 ALR 349 the High Court reiterated the well-known principles governing an employer’s duty of care. The Court said, at [12]:
The appellant relied in this Court on these basic general principles. An employer owes a non-delegable duty of care to its employees to take reasonable care to avoid exposing them to unnecessary risks of injury (Hamilton v Nuroof (WA) Pty Ltd [1956] HCA 42 ; (1956) 96 CLR 18 at 25 per Dixon CJ and Kitto J). If there is a real risk of an injury to an employee in the performance of a task in a workplace, the employer must take reasonable care to avoid the risk by devising a method of operation for the performance of the task that eliminates the risk, or by the provision of adequate safeguards (Smith v The Broken Hill Pty Co Ltd [1957] HCA 34 ; (1957) 97 CLR 337 at 342 per Taylor J). The employer must take into account the possibility of thoughtlessness, or inadvertence, or carelessness, particularly in a case of repetitive work (Smith v The Broken Hill Pty Co at 342–343 per Taylor J; Da Costa v Cockburn Salvage & Trading Pty Ltd [1970] HCA 43 ; (1970) 124 CLR 192 at 218 per Gibbs J; Woods v Multi-Sport Holdings Pty Ltd [2002] HCA 9 ; (2002) 208 CLR 460 at 500 [128] per Kirby J.).