An employer who failed to instruct a worker on how to perform a relatively simple task, telling her only to “give it a go”, has been found negligent by the High Court in Australia.
Robyn Laybutt worked for a bakery and her team leader told her to reassemble a doughnut machine. After saying she didn’t know how, she was simply told to “just give it a go”. No further instructions or demonstrations were provided.
In trying to reassemble the machine, Laybutt injured her finger and arm.
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The New South Wales District Court found the employer, Glover Gibbs, was negligent and awarded substantial damages. The firm won an appeal after a higher court said reassembling the machine was “a very simple process indeed “.
But the High Court agreed that telling her to “give it a go” was negligent and said denying instructions specifically sought was as bad as failing to act on a complaint about a defective system.
