BLACKTOWN CITY COUNCIL v SMITH [1996] NSWCA 52

BLACKTOWN CITY COUNCIL v SMITH SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COURT OF APPEAL

MAHONEY P, HANDLEY and BEAZLEY JJA 16 July 1996, 12 December 1996 [1996] NSWCA 52

WORKERS COMPENSATION — Liability — Whether injury arose out of or in the course of employment.

Worker located in temporary office of employer Blacktown City Council — Worker suffers injury whilst apprehending attacker' in solicitor's office down corridor — Worker awarded compensation by judge of Compensation Court — Appeal by employer against award on grounds that injury did not arise out of or in the course of the worker's employment — Relevant principles to establish relationship between the injury and the employment giving rise to employer's liability for compensation — Whether injury sustained during uninterrupted period or during an "interval or interlude" — Attitude of employer to actions of worker in investigating noise in adjacent office — Whether would be seen as a departure from the course of employment

Held: appeal dismissed - It was proper for a judge of the Compensation Court to hold that the course of employment extended to a worker, in the absence of the employer and so without being able to seek permission, attending to a cry for help a few paces away. Hatzimanolis v ANI Corporation Ltd (1992) 173 CLR 473; Bill Williams Pty Ltd v Williams (1972) 126 CLR 246; Danvers v Commissioner for Railways (NSW) (1969) 122 CLR 529; applied. McKenzie v William Holyman and Sons Pty Ltd (1939) 61 CLR 584; distinguished. ORDER Appeal dismissed with costs.

Mahoney P This is an appeal from a decision of the Compensation Court of New South Wales. Bishop CCJ awarded compensation to the worker Ms Joan Smith under the Workers Compensation Act 1987. Her employer, the appellant Council, submits that the award should be set aside on the ground that the injury did not arise out of or in the course of the worker's employment with it.