Occupiers' Liability

Under section 2 of the Occupiers' Liability Act 1957, an occupier of premises owes the 'common duty of care' to all visitors, unless the occupier is free to and does restrict or exclude that duty by agreement. The common duty of care is a duty to take such care as is reasonable in all the circumstances to see that the visitor will be reasonably safe using the premises for the purpose they were invited or permitted to be there. No duty is owed in respect of risks the visitor willingly accepted.

The Occupiers' Liability Act 1984 extended a more limited duty to people who are not visitors, including trespassers. Under section 1, an occupier owes a duty to such a person in respect of a risk of injury due to the state of the premises if the occupier is aware of the danger or has reasonable grounds to believe it exists, knows or has reasonable grounds to believe the other person is in the vicinity of the danger, and the risk is one which, in all the circumstances, the occupier may reasonably be expected to offer some protection against. This duty may be discharged by taking reasonable steps to give warning of the danger or to discourage persons from incurring the risk.