Thousands of people each year suffer from slip and fall accidents. Some are intentional fraud attempts while others are due to the negligence of the property owner. Business owners can be put into a tough spot when these accidents occur. Lawsuits have been won because the owner failed to do anything about the dangerous surface, failed to clean up a mess on the floor or did not take the proper measures to ensure the surface was reasonably safe.
Business owners can protect themselves from slip and fall lawsuits. The most notable course of action is, of course, to ensure one does not occur by ensuring walking paths are free of any type of physical debris or slippery liquid. If an accident does occur, there are a couple of things you should do right away.
Contact Your Insurance Carrier
If a slip and fall occurs, immediately notify your insurance carrier. You actually have a contractual obligation to report potential claims to your carrier as soon as humanly possible. Doing so will also ensure you get the assistance you need and your quick action will also help to prove you do care about your customers and visitors. Delaying your claim report could cause issues with your coverage or premiums later in the year.
Conduct a Formal Investigation
To understand the entire scope of the slip and fall accident that took place on your property, do some investigating work yourself. Contact co-workers, employees or customers who witnessed the slip and fall accident. It would be ideal to have a notebook on you at all times so that you can record statements and contact information. It’s ideal to have a camera because you will want to take pictures of the area where the accident took place. Be sure to not move anything until the proper officials are notified. Talk to your insurance representative to confirm whether a representative from the company will need to be present as well.
If you were present when the accident occurred, make sure you write a detailed account of what happened and what you did to help the person who was injured. Write down anything you said to or asked the person who was injured and write down their responses.
Protect Yourself from Future Accidents
Since slip and fall accidents cost the United States roughly $36 billion a year, it’s best to take an active measure to protect yourself and your customers. If you know of a hazard on the floor, fix it right away. Look outside as well for chips or damaged parts of sidewalks. During winter months, apply a thick coat of salt and plow away excess snow. All of these steps are beneficial to your business as well as keeping your customers safe.
If an accident does occur, do all that you can to show that you care about the situation and the person will feel less inclined to lie about the accident later on. In this day and age, you must protect yourself fully because lawsuits seem to be happening every second. If you have any doubts about the severity of a person’s injury, call for emergency medical response as soon as possible.
Slip and fall accidents happen every single day. Protect yourself from costly lawsuits and keep your customers happy by ensuring your property is safe. An ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure.
About the Author: Dianna Anetsberger has more than 7 years experience working with business owners, educating them about the potential for a slip and fall lawsuit and the things they need to do to protect themselves.