What is the test for liability for failure to warn?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from Biggan v. Fall, 2011 BCSC 487 (CanLII):
In Philippot v. Murphy, [1987] B.C.J. No. 530 (B.C.C.A.), the plaintiff was injured in the process of lowering a marine ramp owned by the defendants and situated on their property. She claimed the defendants were negligent in failing to warn her of the risk of lowering the ramp when there was a very low tide. The defendants knew the ramp would be very difficult for the plaintiff if she used it when the tide was extremely low. The court held that the basis of the defendants’ liability was the failure to warn. The court stated at p. 4: The fundamental basis of liability for negligence continues to be the creation of a foreseeable risk of harm. That basic principle applies as much to failure to warn as to any other kind of negligence; and is of particular importance in relation to such cases because the danger of applying hindsight rather than foreseeability is particularly serious.
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