Talk:Edwards v National Coal Board

Great disproportion vs. Gross disproportion
Since 2008, the the quote from Asquith on this page has said "a great disproportion between them", citing a post on the Safety Photos website. However, the quote on the ALARP page says "a gross disproportion between them", citing a (now archived) law casebook on an Oxford University website.

The distinction is important because the Edwards v NCB case appears to have given rise to the "gross disproportion" test for reasonable practicability, as described in the UK Health and Safety Executive's R2P2 document. This is significant in UK Health and Safety practice for determining compliance with duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 to reduce risk "so far as is reasonably practicable". Although R2P2 doesn't actually quote the judgement, the prevalence of the "gross disproportion" wording in R2P2 and other HSE documentation implies the quote here may well be wrong. The "gross disproportion" theory is also supported by the Oxford document referenced previously, and some other web articles, e.g. on Croner-i. However, "great disproportion" is now widely quoted elsewhere on the web (often cited as being quoted from this Wikipedia article).

Can anyone provide a more authoritative reference, or ideally check what the definitive legal reference actually says: Edwards v The National Coal Board [1949] 1 All ER 743 CA?

JRI (talk) 22:04, 16 July 2024 (UTC)