3708. Peculiar-Risk Doctrine

3708. Peculiar-Risk Doctrine Instruction No 1 Request by Plaintiff Given as Proposed Refused Withdrawn Request by Defendant Given as Modified Requested by Given on Court's Motion Judge Instruction No 1 [Name of plaintiff] claims that even if [name of independent contractor] was not an employee, [name of defendant] is responsible for [name of independent contractor]'s conduct because the work involved a special risk of harm. A special risk of harm is a recognizable danger that arises out of the nature of the work or the place where it is done and requires specific safety measures appropriate to the danger. A special risk of harm may also arise out of a planned but unsafe method of doing the work. A special risk of harm does not include a risk that is unusual, abnormal, or not related to the normal or expected risks associated with the work. To establish this claim, [name of plaintiff] must prove each of the following: 1. 2. 3. That the work was likely to involve a special risk of harm to others; That [name of defendant] knew or should have known that the work was likely to involve this risk; That [name of independent contractor] failed to use reasonable care to take specific safety measures appropriate to the danger to avoid this risk; and That [name of independent contractor]'s failure was a cause of harm to [name of plaintiff]. 4. [In deciding whether [name of defendant] should have known the risk, you should consider [his/her/its] knowledge and experience in the field of work to be done.] ________________________________________________________________________________ New September 2003