Workplace Tripping: Palmer v Marks & Spencer PLC [2001]

In an important Court of Appeal case, Palmer v Marks & Spencer PLC [2001], guidance was given as to the interpretation of health and safety law for workplace trips.

The Facts

Mrs. Palmer had worked for Marks and Spencer for 10 years and used an exit that used to be an emergency exit which had been opened for staff prior to the accident. She was aware of the weather-strip, which was proud of the floor by 8 to 9.5 mm. The route through the exit was well lit and was used by about 20 to 25 members of staff daily. The trial judge held that there had been about 6,000 to 8,000 exits over an 18-month or two-year period. There had been no incidents or complaints prior to the accident about the exit. Mrs. Palmer was injured when she was making her way through the door using her swipe card and as she pushed the door open, tripped and fell down the steps that were immediately outside the door and fractured her wrist.

The Decision

Although the trial judge had found in favour of Mrs. Palmer, on grounds that there had been a breach of statutory duty, the Court of Appeal reversed this decision. The court stated the following:

"I am not sure that language such as "real risk" or "slight risk" necessarily encapsulates the exercise that it seems to me must be performed. If the risk, however slight, is of a very serious injury or death in falling from a high-story building, then the fact that the risk is slight may not outweigh the cost and importance of taking adequate precautions. Equally no one would suggest that an employer should be entitled to have a seriously uneven floor if the risk is simply that someone may trip over -- i.e., that the risk is not of a very serious injury. It seems to me that the exercise to be performed is one of taking into account all relevant factors in this context; that is to say, the nature of the risk (i.e. here that the weather strip is by a door, that it is only 8 to 9.5 millimetres high, that it is next to some steps and that if the weather strip were tripped over a person may fall down the steps outside the door). But at the same time the assessment would hold that the weather strip was obvious, that it was in a place to be expected, and indeed this lady knew of it and there had been no complaints at all despite the number of exits that had taken place".

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