Medved v Dunlop Olympic Ltd trading as Dunlop Slazenger

Dunlop Olympic Ltd, trading as Dunlop Slazenger, sought special leave to appeal from a decision of the Court of Appeal. The dispute concerned the interpretation of industrial safety legislation in New South Wales, specifically provisions aimed at preventing injuries to workers from lifting or carrying objects. The applicant argued that the Court of Appeal had erred by confusing two distinct classes of such legislation and applying case law relevant to one class to the other.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the Court of Appeal had correctly interpreted section 36(1) of the relevant New South Wales legislation. The applicant contended that the Court of Appeal had misconstrued this provision by reading it down to a meaning governed by the individual worker's exertion or impact, thereby translating the statutory criterion of the object's weight into the worker's exertion, which is characteristic of a different class of legislation. The applicant argued that New South Wales legislation, along with that of Victoria, Queensland, and Tasmania, falls into the first class, which prescribes fixed weight limits for lifting and carrying, particularly for juniors or women.

The applicant's argument was that the New South Wales legislation, unlike the second class of legislation found in some other jurisdictions and in England, focuses on the objective weight of the object as the primary determinant. The Court of Appeal, by contrast, had adopted an interpretation that considered the individual worker's risk of injury, drawing parallels with English legislation that prohibits employing a person to lift or carry a load "so heavy as to be likely to cause injury." The applicant submitted that this approach conflated the New South Wales provision with the second category of legislation, which involves a case-by-case risk analysis of various factors including the load, environment, worker's physique, and movement, rather than a simple prohibition based on weight.