Page 14 - Petrosphere - Loss Control Management (LCM) Training Manual V 1.0

13 Module 1: History and Philosophy of Loss Control Loss Control Management (LCM)

Comprehensive Federal Laws in the United States
• 1948 – all states in the US had workmen’s compensation laws

• 1970 – US Congress passed OSHA of 1970

Common Law

Under the Common Law, the duty imposed on employers is
to take reasonable care for health and safety. If the employer does
not do so, then he could be held to be negligent, and can be sued
under Common Law. Because the common law is derived from
many different court decisions in individual cases, the duties which it
confers on persons are broad statements which have been drawn

together from all these individual cases. The common law also does
not set out particular penalties – the damages which may be
awarded are particular to that case. In relation to WHS, the most
important aspect of the common law is the tort of negligence. A tort
is a wrong which someone has done to someone else and for which
the wrongdoer may be sued for damages. The Common Law works
for the following cases:

 The employee Contributed to the cause of the accident.
 Another employee contributed to the cause of the accident.
 The employee knew of the hazards involved in the accident before the injury was sustained and
still agreed to work in the condition for pay.
 There was no employer negligence.

Three Doctrines of Common Law

1. FELLOW SERVANT RULE – it provided that an employer was not liable for injury resulting from
carelessness or negligence of fellow workers.
2. CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE – provided that the employer was not responsible if the injured
worker’s own negligence had played a part in causing the accident.
3. ASSUMPTION OF RISK – that an employee accepted all the customary risks of an occupation

when he accepted the job.

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