7de Laan: Our health and safety professionals have their eyes on you!

Question

My question may seem a bit silly as it’s based on a soapie, where things normally don’t work out the way they’re supposed to. But, I thought it’s an interesting situation and I want to know what we would have to do in reality. The soapie I was watching was 7de Laan. One of the characters injured himself walking up a staircase. He was trying to force past people, coming down the staircase, while lugging a heavy wardrobe! The accident happened when the railing he was pressing against broke, causing him to fall backwards and land on his back, breaking his hand in the process. It turned out the bolts on the staircase were rusted and brittle. Now, the interesting part of this scenario is the lawyer on the soapie claimed the owner of the block of flats was responsible, and could be sued.

1.    The person injured isn’t a tenant.

2.    The owner has an appointed maintenance person responsible for maintenance.

3.    The person injured had to force himself up against the railings as he wasn’t in a position to get past the people moving downwards, and surely they weren’t at fault for not letting him past?

4.    Would the court not suggest that the injured character should’ve waited to let the people come down first before going up the stairs with the wardrobe?

5.    We obviously don’t know whether the building has a sign up stating that people use the building at their own risk, but would that change the outcome?

6.    Can the injured actually sue the owner for damages, and where would the OHSA fit in as the owner is not employing this visitor? I would think that the only claim this person would have is against the owner’s insurance under liability cover?

7.    This is a reportable injury. Who reports this?

Answer

Interesting! The owner of the building is the Section 16.1 appointee, so is ultimately responsible. You have to find out whether he has a Section 37.2 mandatory agreement with the maintenance company. Does the public have access to the building? Are the stairs on a maintenance schedule? These are the types of questions the DoL will ask the owner. It’s the same as a situation where there’s oil on the supermarket floor and someone slips and hurts his back. He must have seen the oil, but keeps on walking. Now it’s his fault. Remember, the root cause of the injury was the rusted bolts and not squeezing by. If there’s a maintenance plan and the company or worker didn’t adhere to it, then the maintenance person will have to answer for the injury.