Colin Mitchell's quotation (Verulam, February 2016) of Lord Justice Cyril Asquith's 1949 definition of "as far as reasonably practicable" is helpful and, dare I say it, reasonable. However, although Lord Asquith's definition may still hold good in most areas of law, anyone unfortunate enough to be prosecuted under the Health and Safety at Work Act (H&SW) will find that under Clause 40 of this legislation a very different definition applies: "In any proceedings for an offence under any of the relevant statutory provisions consisting of a failure to comply with a duty or requirement to do something so far as is practicable or so far as is reasonably practicable, or to use the best practicable means to do something, it shall be for the accused to prove (as the case may be) that it was not practicable or not reasonably practicable to do more than was in fact done to satisfy the duty or requirement, or that there was no better practicable means than was in fact used to satisfy the duty or requirement."
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