By definition, an occupier in common situations could be the owners of a shop, or supermarket, or restaurant etc.
Granting visitors permission
An occupier can invite people on to his property by giving permission to those people. This also includes people who have been licensed to enter the premises. If a contract is made for people to enter the premises, this is included, as are people who enter the premises if they have a right conferred by law.
An occupier has a duty to the visitors to see that they are reasonably safe in the premises for the purpose for which the visitors have gone or been invited there. This can be restricted in relevant circumstances.
The degree of care can differ in different situations. One example can include where occupiers should be more careful in regard to children as they may not take as much care as adults. An occupier can assume that a person will guard against any special risks so far as the occupier leaves them free to do so.
What an occupier must have regard to…
If a danger has been made aware to the visitor the notice will not absolve the occupier from blame, unless it could have made the visitor reasonably safe. In premises where construction or repair workers have been working who are not employees of the occupier, the occupier is answerable unless they took reasonable steps to find out if the other company was good enough to do the job, and the work was reasonably done.
If a visitor enters premises and accepts risks posed to him, the occupier has no duty towards them as they are accepting anything done to them.
What if there is a contract?
Where there is a contract to allow people who do not benefit from that contract onto the property the owners cannot limit their care by that contract. Where a person enters the premises by virtue of the contract there is a duty to protect people from harm due to the state of the premises or any act or omission to be done on them.
People whom are not visitors
An occupier has a duty to those other than his visitors in regard to the risk of their personal injury by the premises or an act or omission which has caused something dangerous. This is only so if the occupier is aware of the danger, he knows or has reasonable grounds to believe that others would come within the vicinity of the danger or he may reasonably have offered the other protection.
Therefore: Where the occupier owes a duty to another in respect of the risk, it is his or her duty to ensure that the other person does not suffer injury by the danger in question.
The occupiers’ duty can be absolved by doing everything reasonable to give notice of the risk or discouraging others from incurring the risk.
No duty is owed if any persons willingly accept the risk.
Where an occupier owes a duty, he or she will not cover any damage to property.
