Like most kinds of accidents, the vast majority of slip-and-fall accidents result in minor or no injuries to the people involved. Many people who slip on an icy surface or a wet floor wind up with nothing more than a bruised tailbone or an embarrassing moment they’d rather forget.
Other people aren’t so lucky. Some people who slip and then fall can suffer lasting injuries as a consequence of that accident. Children and older adults are particularly vulnerable to suffering serious injuries from a fall. Depending on the location of such a slip, the injured party may have the right to seek compensation for their injuries and any other related financial losses.
Businesses should be safe for the visiting public
Businesses and other spaces that makes themselves accessible to members of the public have an obligation to perform basic maintenance. Ensuring the safety of all visitors should be a primary goal of any facility. Unfortunately, maintenance, repairs and even cleaning can often fall to the wayside in certain circumstances.
Whether the business is unusually busy or the company cuts costs by neglecting the facilities, the end result could be a visitor getting hurt while on the premises. Spilled water, uncleared snow or even a broken appliance could create a dangerous situation that regular maintenance could have prevented. In order to protect themselves from the liability resulting from such a situation, businesses, as well as property owners, need to have liability insurance policies.
These policies protect visitors from injuries and other unexpected incidents that can occur on private property. They also protect the policyholder from the financial obligations that could come from someone suffering a severe injury. When you slip and fall in a business, they may have an insurance policy that will cover both your medical costs and your lost wages.
Report your accident, even if it seems silly
While you may feel tempted to brush it off and keep moving on, you should take the time to file a report with the business or property manager if you slip and fall. While you may have gotten up and walked away with seemingly no consequences, you could notice symptoms of an injury later on.
If you fail to report the accident now, there may not be any corroborating evidence of the incident when you’re injuries surface. Serious injuries, such as traumatic brain injuries, may take days to develop symptoms. In other words, reporting a slip and fall accident is one of the best ways to protect yourself from the potential financial consequences of such a fall. You should also go to the doctor right away if you hit your head or lose consciousness when you fall.
