Civil way: 18 October 2013

CLAIMS INJURED

Industrial relations will deteriorate once canteen parlance moves on to s 69 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013. It was brought into force against the wishes of the House of Lords and, no doubt, most claimant practitioners on 1 October 2013 under the Act’s third commencement order (SI 2013/2227). So what’s so enterprising about s 69 then? Far from offering organic cream as an alternative to custard with the lunch pudding course, it amends the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 by scrapping the right of action for breach of duty on the strength of failing to comply with a health and safety regulation unless the regulation specifically provides for such right. This will apply whether the regulation imposed strict liability or not. Criminal liability is unaffected. The repeal only catches causes of action which arose on or after the operative date.

The effect of this monumental shift is that the claimant will