FreshBite Café operates a self‑service lunch area. Management is aware that water frequently drips onto the floor near the drinks station during busy periods. Although staff sometimes mop the area, no warning signs are placed there. One afternoon, a customer slips on the wet floor and is injured.

The customer brings a negligence claim against FreshBite Café.

Which statement best reflects how a court applying s 48 of the Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic) would assess whether FreshBite Café breached its duty of care?

Question

FreshBite Café operates a self‑service lunch area. Management is aware that water frequently drips onto the floor near the drinks station during busy periods. Although staff sometimes mop the area, no warning signs are placed there. One afternoon, a customer slips on the wet floor and is injured.

The customer brings a negligence claim against FreshBite Café.

Which statement best reflects how a court applying s 48 of the Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic) would assess whether FreshBite Café breached its duty of care?

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Under s 48 of the Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic), a defendant breaches the duty of care only when three legal criteria are met: the risk of harm was foreseeable, the risk was not insignificant, and a reasonable person in the defendant’s position would have taken precautions to avoid the risk. These are the key concepts to apply.

1. Relevant knowledge points and concepts
- Foreseeability: would a reasonable person have anticipated the risk of injury from water on the floor?  
- Not insignificant risk: the risk must be more than trivial.  
- Reasonable precautions: what steps would a reasonable person/business have taken in the same circumstances (e.g. signs, prompt mopping, repair, barriers)?

2. Step‑by‑step reasoning applied to the facts
Step 1 — Foreseeability: Management “is aware that water frequently drips … during busy periods.” Recurrent dripping makes slip risk predictable. So the risk was foreseeable.  
Step 2 — Not insignificant: A wet floor in a public self‑service area creates a non‑trivial likelihood of slips and falls; this is not an insignificant risk.  
Step 3 — Reasonable precautions: Staff sometimes mop but no warning signs are placed. Reasonable measures a business would take include placing warning signs, cordoning off the area, increasing cleaning frequency during busy periods, and fixing the source of the drip. Given management’s prior knowledge, a court would likely find that a reasonable person would have taken at least some of these precautions.

3. Intermediate “calculations”
No numerical calculation applies; the analysis is qualitative, weighing foreseeability, significance, and reasonable precautions against the actual conduct.

4. Why the correct answer is correct
Because all three s 48 elements are satisfied on these facts (foreseeable risk from known recurring dripping; risk not insignificant; reasonable precautions omitted—no signs and only intermittent mopping), a court applying s 48 would find breach.

5. Why other possible answers would be incorrect
- Saying only foreseeability matters is incomplete; significance and reasonable precautions are required.  
- Saying no breach because staff sometimes mopped ignores that intermittent cleaning plus no warnings may be insufficient where the risk is known.  
- Imposing strict liability (breach regardless of precautions) is not the s 48 test.

Conclusion: The correct assessment under s 48 is that FreshBite Café breached its duty if the risk was foreseeable, not insignificant, and a reasonable person would have taken precautions — matching the provided answer.

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