Hosting Corporate Events, Gala Days Or Agricultural Shows On Farm Or Estate Land – What Happens If There Is An Accident?

Owners of rural land and estates are often approached to host a variety of events on their property. The revenue and press coverage may well be attractive, but the risks of hosting such an event should be carefully considered before you say yes.

One of the main risks is your potential liability if a worker at the event or a visitor has an accident. What happens if a person is injured and brings a claim against you? Who will pay for that claim? The costs could be considerable, especially where the injury or injuries sustained are of a serious nature.

You will not be liable for all accidents which occur on your property but it is important that you understand what the law requires you to do so that you can assess the risks of an accident occurring and the risks of you being responsible for that accident - and then take steps to reduce those risks, so far as possible.

As an owner of rural land or an estate, when might you be liable for an accident?

As a landowner, your duty of care to a worker at an event, or a visitor, would normally arise from your capacity as an "occupier" of the land. Most Scottish personal injury claims brought against an occupier are based on a breach of the Occupiers' Liability (Scotland) Act 1960 (the 1960 Act).

The 1960 Act imposes a duty on occupiers to take reasonable care to avoid persons suffering injury as a result of dangers due to the state of the property or anything done or omitted to be done on the property.

In order to establish a breach of the 1960 Act, the injured person must be able to prove three things; (1) that you are the occupier of the land, (2) that there was a danger and (3) that you failed to take reasonable steps to avoid injury.

1. Are you the occupier for the purpose of the Act?

   In order for you to be an occupier, the injured person must prove that you had control over the property and, in particular, whatever it was that caused the accident.

   It is important to note that an occupier might not necessarily be the owner of the property and that there can also be more than one occupier. The key question is who had control of the property at the time of the accident?

   In the case of Craig Anderson v John Imrie and Antoinette Imrie 2018 the Court had to determine who the occupier of a farm was at the time of an accident involving a child who was injured by a gate falling on him.

   The farm was owned by Mr Imrie senior. Mr Imrie's son, John, and his wife, Antoinette, lived on the farm. John Imrie was...