Omission In Duty Of Care

Omission is a form of neglect or ignorance towards a situation that could be detrimental to others. Usually there is no obligation or no liabilities involved concerning omission except in some situations where there is a duty of care. As Professor William Wilson lucidly admonished; “Since imposing liability on omission would be too restrictive on human freedom, it should be only allowed in the most morally uncontroversial circumstances.” When there is a duty of care, it means there is a responsibility to act in a certain situation. Some non-exhaustive list but examples of a duty of care include: contractual duty, creation of a dangerous situation, duty from relationship and an assumption of care. If one neglects his sole responsibility to act in such a way that could save others from harm or prevent injuries from happening, he could be liable for it, only if there is a duty of care.

One of the examples of the exception to the general rule with regards to omission is a contractual duty of obligation. In this situation, an employee will have a contractual obligation that imposes on them legal duties towards others. For instance, a lifeguard has duties to prevent accidents from occurring at a swimming pool by assisting swimmers at distress; he also has other responsibilities such as to stop a child from going into a deep pool and lead the child to a safer designated pool for children. One very significant case is r v pittwood where the guy neglected to close the gate and