Provisions the documents cite: s.1(1)–(9), including s.1(3) (when the duty arises), s.1(4) (the duty), s.1(5) (warnings and discouragement), s.1(6) (risks willingly accepted), s.1(8) (no liability for property)
What it requires
s.1 replaces the common law on whether an occupier owes a duty to persons other than its visitors — which in practice means trespassers and anyone else on the premises without permission, including children — for injury from dangers due to the state of the premises or things done or omitted on them. The Act itself does not use the words trespasser or child. Premises include any fixed or movable structure, so a construction site and its plant are covered, and the occupier is whoever owes the common duty of care under the Occupiers' Liability Act 1957 (s.1(1)–(2)). The duty arises where the occupier knows of the danger or has reasonable grounds to believe it exists, knows or has reasonable grounds to believe that the person is or may come into its vicinity (lawfully or not), and the risk is one against which the occupier may reasonably be expected to offer some protection (s.1(3)). The duty is to take such care as is reasonable in all the circumstances to see that the person is not injured by that danger (s.1(4)); it may, in an appropriate case, be met by reasonable steps to warn of the danger or discourage people from incurring the risk (s.1(5)) — site hoardings, security, locked plant and signs are how a contractor evidences this. No duty is owed for risks willingly accepted (s.1(6)), to users of the highway (s.1(7)), or for loss of or damage to property (s.1(8)). s.1(6A)–(6C) limit the duty on access land under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.
The instrument itself: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/3. The summary above is our plain-English reading, not the text of the instrument — always work from the source.
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The 2 documents that cite it
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