Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Non-delegable duty to provide safe system of work

Legal area

Court

10 May 2013

CHUNG YUEN YEE v. SAM WOO BORE PILE FOUNDATION LTD AND OTHERS

Citation

CHUNG YUEN YEE v. SAM WOO BORE PILE FOUNDATION LTD AND OTHERS
Court

Court of Final Appeal
Case number

FACV7/2012

Appeals of the 1st, 3rd and 4th defendants are allowed and claims against them dismissed because (1) the deceased was employed by D2 under a written contract and Inland Revenue returns do not establish a separate bilateral employment with D1; (2) D3 was not shown to have owned or intended the chains for lifting and the chains were suitable only for lashing so no breach of the lifting regulations or negligence by D3 was established; and (3) D4 did not direct how the loading should be done and the pro hac vice doctrine does not impose on D4 a primary duty to supervise method so D4 owed no relev…
10 Sept 2008

LI MOON CHAI v. LEUNG SHU MAN AND ANOTHER

Citation

LI MOON CHAI v. LEUNG SHU MAN AND ANOTHER
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCPI48/2007

The court found on the balance of probabilities that the plaintiff fell from a higher level (fifth layer), there was no usable safety equipment (wooden planks were not pleaded or shown to be available and belts/helmets/ platform were unusable), and both the 1st defendant (as employer) and the 2nd defendant (as occupier/supervisor) breached their statutory and common law duties; the plaintiff was not contributorily negligent and the defendants are equally liable (50/50).
16 Jul 1999

WONG YAT CHIU v. CHAN KWOK WA AND OTHERS

Citation

WONG YAT CHIU v. CHAN KWOK WA AND OTHERS
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCPI1289/1997

The proximate cause of the accident was the defective method of rigging (canvas-to-canvas abrasion and side pull) executed by Gammon workers under inadequate supervision; Gammon and KSF breached duties to supervise and train and are vicariously liable; Fei Kow breached a non-delegable duty to provide a safe system for its operator (Wong) but did not cause the sling failure; s.25 Cap.282 construed as an indemnity provision cannot be used by an employer to recover from a third party where the employer is itself at fault; contractual indemnities were construed: Clause 12 would have indemnified G…

Hong Kong Case Law

CHUNG YUEN YEE v. SAM WOO BORE PILE FOUNDATION LTD AND OTHERS

LI MOON CHAI v. LEUNG SHU MAN AND ANOTHER

WONG YAT CHIU v. CHAN KWOK WA AND OTHERS