Description
The Court of Appeal dismissed the appellant employee's appeal against the dismissal of her claim against the respondent employer for breach of its statutory duty pursuant to regulation 12(5) of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 to provide a suitable and sufficient handrail. The Court of Appeal held that unless an exception as provided under regulation 12(5) applied, a handrail had to be provided and the burden rested on the employer to establish the existence of such an exception on the facts. In the instant case there was little evidence before the judge below to establish that it would have been impossible to provide a handrail. However, the Court of Appeal found that the judge had been entitled to find that the failure to provide a continuous handrail along the entire length of the staircase had not caused the accident in circumstances where the evidence suggested that the appellant would not have used such handrail to prevent the fall.
