Re: Are all employer liable?
@Cynic_999 - "So how does that work when the employer is the M.O.D. and the machinery in question is a machine-gun in hostile territory?"
"It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable,"
Yes, the MOD does have to take reasonably practicable steps, even in war, this equally applies to the Police Force in shootouts, Fire Service in firefighting etc.
Google 'Coroner report MOD' and you will see examples where the government has been found to not have taken such reasonable steps, even in places like Iraq.
Basically, in a warzone (or police shootout) you can't stop your enemy shooting at you but you can take many steps to make it less dangerous -
intelligence to understand the threats/risks; armour protection to reduce the risk of the bullets causing damage; equipment appropriate for the situation & location; years of planning, tactics and training to reduce the chance of it happening and deal with the situation if it does; medical evacuation and support in place to treat injuries; desicion making that takes into account the risks (of say going on an assault) weighed against the need to act (do you need to do the assault? or with the intended approach?)
- if the employer (MOD, Police force, fire service, etc) hasn't done any of these to the level of 'reasonably practicable' then they will be found cupable.
The principle is that you cannot eliminate danger, especially in a warzone, so you don't make things more dangerous than they need to be. The key has always been - Understand the dangers, try and reduce them and consider very carefully about whether doing things are worth the risk that remains.