Legal Definitions - common duty of care

Common Duty of Care

The common duty of care is a legal obligation placed on individuals or organizations who occupy or control a property (known as "occupiers") towards people who are lawfully on their premises (known as "lawful visitors"). This duty requires the occupier to take reasonable steps, appropriate to the circumstances, to ensure that these visitors are reasonably safe while using the property for the purposes for which they are permitted to be there. It's about preventing foreseeable harm that a reasonable person would anticipate and address.

Here are some examples illustrating the common duty of care:

• A Supermarket's Responsibility: Imagine a customer shopping in a grocery store. The store, as the occupier, has a common duty of care to its customers. This means they must take reasonable steps to ensure the store is safe. For instance, if an employee spills juice in an aisle and fails to clean it up or place a "wet floor" sign within a reasonable time, and a customer slips and falls, the supermarket may have breached its common duty of care. The store failed to take reasonable steps to prevent a foreseeable hazard for a lawful visitor using the premises for its intended purpose (shopping).
• A Homeowner Hosting Guests: Consider a homeowner inviting friends over for a backyard barbecue. The homeowner has a common duty of care towards their guests. If the homeowner knows that a section of their deck railing is loose and poses a fall risk but does not warn their guests or take steps to secure it, and a guest leans on it and falls, the homeowner might be found to have breached their common duty of care. They failed to address a known, foreseeable danger for their lawful visitors.
• A Gym's Obligation to Members: A fitness center has a common duty of care towards its members. This includes ensuring that exercise equipment is properly maintained and that the facility's floors are clean and dry. If a piece of gym equipment is known to be faulty, and the gym management fails to take it out of service or post a warning, leading to a member's injury, the gym could be seen as having breached its common duty of care. They did not take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of their lawful visitors (members) using the premises for its intended purpose (exercise).