Question

Explain what a support workers legal and ethical considerations are in relation to duty of care when supporting people with disabilities

Answer 1

In tort law, a duty of care is a legal obligation which is imposed on an individual requiring adherence to a standard of reasonable care while performing any acts that could foreseeably harm others. It is the first element that must be established to proceed with an action in negligence.

Ethical and Legal Consideration. “Ethics, also known as moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality-that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice, etc.” “Law is a system of rules, usually enforced through a set of institutions.

Duty of care

Duty of care is a difficult term to define as there isn’t a legal definition of the concept (except in occupational health and safety legislation). Duty of care comes under the legal concept of negligence, and negligence belongs to the domain of common law. Common law is also known as judge-made law as the decision about guilt is decided using legal precedence and community attitudes and expectations. That is, there hasn’t been an Act of Parliament passed defining what is legal or illegal but rather the decision is based on what is considered appropriate or not appropriate at a particular time in history.

Principles of negligence

There are four key factors that are essential in deciding whether or not someone is negligent. They are:

1. duty of care
2. standard of care
3. breach of duty of care
4. harm or loss.