Employer found not negligent in security

Karanfilov v MSS Security & Ors [2013] QSC 304

McMurdo J

4 November 2013

Background

Injured worker suffered post-traumatic stress disorder when he was working as a security guard. He was verbally and physically assaulted outside a building in Buranda that he was guarding at night. He did not suffer any physical injuries. Two guards were on duty but the other guard was escorting an employee to the train station a few hundred metres away.

Judgement

The injured worker alleged that the employer should have: employed three security guards; instructed the guards not to be left alone; installed more CCTV cameras; had a better system to call for assistance. The Court did not accept that these measures would have substantially removed the risk.

Plaintiff's claim was dismissed.