Retail Case Update: Your System of Inspection May be Reasonable – But Is It Being Followed?

In the recent case of Tommy v. 7-Eleven Canada, 2024 BCSC 1558 (linked here), the Supreme Court of British Columbia provided useful commentary on what constitutes a reasonable system of inspection and maintenance and the consequences of failing to adduce evidence that such a system was being followed. 

Briefly, the plaintiff was walking through the 7-Eleven parking lot when she tripped and fell in a pothole, which 7-Eleven filled in the next day. There was no dispute that 7-Elevan was an occupier under the Occupiers Liability Act and owed a duty of care to the plaintiff as set out in the Act. The Court found the pothole was indeed a tripping hazard and, to rebut a finding of a breach under the Act, 7-Eleven had to show there was a reasonable system of inspection and maintenance in place that was being followed at the time of the incident.

7-Eleven took the position it discharged its duty under the Act through a mandated employee safety course, and the expectation that employees would undertake monthly site walks and the best practice completion of daily task assignments. The safety course included a section on slips, trips, and falls. The evidence was that while employees are now asked to undertake the course annually, before the accident, this was not the case.

Overall, the Court was not convinced that 7-Eleven had a reasonable system of inspection and maintenance in place. Whether an employee had taken the safety course was documented but no documentation was produced to demonstrate a system of inspection and maintenance. Rather, it appeared this was an expectation of employees, without any evidence of it actually occurring. The system was akin to identification of hazards by the chance observation by an employee on duty, with no supervision of an observation system by logging inspection times or by any other means.

Key Takeaways This case demonstrates the importance for our retail clients to have a procedure in place for inspecting and maintaining their premises, both interior and exterior. Importantly, the retailer ought to document its efforts in following their system to ensure their policies and procedures were actually being followed on the day of an incident.