4 Legal Facts Businesses Should Know About Slip & Fall Injuries

When you’re running a business, there’s a lot of information you need to stay on top of. You need to manage your actual work while figuring out accounting. You need to balance your legal requirements with employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction. You’re probably marketing your work on several social media accounts in addition to more traditional public relations channels, all while trying to ensure that everyone is having a good time. The following will focus on just one of the many things you need to be fully cognizant of when running a business: slip and fall injuries. Particular attention will be paid to the legal side of this issue.

You Might Be Responsible

If someone falls or slips on your property, either in the role of a customer or employee, you might be deemed responsible by the law. One Queens slip and fall attorney points out that a property owner or manager might be considered at fault if there were hazards that these individuals neglected. Common examples of neglected hazards include floors that are slippery from being mopped with no visible caution sign or icy front steps that haven’t been salted. Likewise, staircases need sturdy handles, and flooring needs to be reasonably level or clearly marked in places where tripping is easy.

Slip And Fall Injuries Can Be Serious

While we get used to the experience of tripping or falling as children, sometimes these types of accidents can do serious damage to adult bodies. Slips and falls can produce a myriad of lifelong struggles for a person that limit their ability to earn an income or care for themselves; spinal injuries and other problems can have brutal and lasting impacts. Medical attention is expensive, often painful and regularly involves medications that have unpleasant side effects. Injuries can negatively influence someone’s job prospects, relationships, their obligations to children or elderly relatives, their educational opportunities, and their financial standing. They are not something to be taken lightly.

You Have A Responsibility To Your Employees

If people are working for you, you have a legal responsibility to provide them with a safe and healthy place to work. This involves taking appropriate measures to reduce the risk of all kinds of injury, particularly the injuries that you could have foreseen. People are fast catching on to the standards of care they are entitled to via their employers—some claim this is a large component of the current mass resignations that are happening all over. It is harder than it’s been in a long time for businesses to keep employees, especially their top performers. Don’t let poor health and safety be a reason people consider leaving your workplace.

Part of this involves teaching staff how to deal with equipment and the demands of their jobs safely. Part of staff training should involve dealing with the common risks in the workplace. What should staff do if they spill something? Most people instinctively run to fetch a mop or gather up some paper towels, but in a workplace, this isn’t ideal. Staff should stand next to the spill until they get someone else’s attention (either by calling or waiting for someone to pass by). The additional staff member can fetch the cleaning supplies and wet floor signs. This way, the wet floor isn’t left unattended and someone who isn’t aware of the spill can come in contact with it. If someone stays nearby at all times, they can let anyone passing by know that care is needed.

Don’t Neglect Yourself

Slip and fall precautions shouldn’t simply be about your staff and clients. Yes, you’re unlikely to sue yourself for damages, but that doesn’t mean that an injury wouldn’t be costly to you. Far too often, employers are running around taking care of everyone but themselves. The standards you offer to other people should also be extended to yourself. For your own health and safety, take steps to reduce common workplace risks like slips and falls. You’re still legally entitled to a safe work environment even if you work for yourself.

The above information should have revealed the importance of taking the appropriate steps to reduce the risks of tripping and falling. Employers have a lot on their shoulders and to-do lists that never seem to end, but that’s no excuse to neglect the health and safety of the people who use your building. If you’re renting, you may need to have a conversation with your landlord about things like ice removal or uneven walking surfaces. If you’re working with a property manager, you should go over the legal standards with them of a safe working environment to ensure that nothing gets missed in their regular maintenance which is important for the health of people using your business.