Reasonable care depends on the context

In United Marine Aggregates Ltd v G M Welding & Engineering Ltd [2012] EWHC 779 (TCC), [2012] All ER (D) 81 (Apr) Mr Justice Ramsay held that, when deciding whether a defendant has exercised reasonable care, the task of the court is not to apply an absolute standard. Rather, the court must have regard to the particular circumstances of the case and the context in which the parties were operating. Conduct that is reasonable in one context may be unreasonable in another.

The facts

In February 2008 there was a serious fire at the claimant’s plant for which the claimant sought to hold the defendant responsible in negligence. Having considered the evidence carefully, Ramsay J held that the claimant had failed to show that the defendant had failed to exercise reasonable care. Most of the case was concerned with the detail of the evidence and it is not necessary for us to set out that evidence in any detail. But one point emerges from the judgment which is of wider significance.