Kellys Property Management Services Pty Ltd v Anjoshco Pty Ltd trading as McDonalds BP Chinderah

Kellys Property Management Services Pty Ltd (appellant) appealed a decision of the primary judge to the Court of Appeal of New South Wales. The dispute concerned an indemnity claim brought by Anjoshco Pty Ltd (respondent), trading as McDonalds BP Chinderah, against the appellant. The respondent, as the employer of an injured employee, had paid workers compensation and sought to recover this amount from the appellant, a cleaning company, under section 151Z(1)(d) of the *Workers Compensation Act 1987* (NSW). The employee had slipped and fallen on a wet tiled walkway within the respondent's premises, which had been left wet and unguarded by the appellant following cleaning.

The central legal issues before the Court of Appeal were whether the primary judge's factual findings were erroneous, specifically concerning whether the injured employee, acting reasonably, should have been aware that the floor was wet. The court was required to consider the adequacy and visibility of the 'wet floor' signs displayed by the appellant, and whether the perimeter of the wet walkway had been left unsigned.

The Court of Appeal upheld the primary judge's findings. The court accepted that the cleaning machine left the tiled floor damp, and that the wetness was difficult to discern on the tiles. It was found that the 'wet floor' signs displayed in adjoining areas and behind a rubbish bin were not sufficiently obvious, and a sign outside the toilets indicated they were closed for cleaning, not that the adjacent walkway was wet. The employee had slipped when turning into a corridor towards an alternative toilet, and the perimeter of the wet walkway in that area had been left unsigned. The court concluded that the employee had not been acting unreasonably in failing to appreciate the danger.

Consequently, the appeal was dismissed, and the appellant was ordered to pay the respondent's costs.