The claimant tripped over some scales set into the floor at her factory.

We pleaded breaches of Regulations 5 and 12 of the Workplace Regs.

The defendant denied liability on the basis that the scales were level with the floor, although conceded that there may have been a 3-4mm difference, which they considered to be negligible and would not give rise to liability under the Workplace Regs.

Witness evidence, from the claimant and three of her colleagues, all supported the contention that the difference in height was approximately a quarter of an inch and examination in chief also confirmed that, although there were previous near misses at the time of the accident, there was no system for reporting them.

The Judge found in favour of the claimant for the agreed damages sum of £1,720, primarily on the basis of a breach of Regulation 12 2 (a) of the Workplace Regs.

Differ -v- Faccenda, 4 October 2006, Birmingham CC.