Wet floors are the biggest threat to send you to the ground to suffer a slip-and-fall injury. In busy places like stores and public offices, people can drop drinks and track in rainwater, leading to dangerous hazards.
Business and property owners who welcome people in are held to a high standard when it comes to the care they must show their clients, customers, and guests. They must protect them from the risk of falls due to puddles and debris on floors. If someone is hurt by an obstacle that should have been cleaned up or fixed, victims have the right to file injury claims against the store owner or operator.
How Can Wet Floors Cause an Injury?
People may be in a rush when they enter grocery stores or head into a restaurant, and they can miss spotting some potential slip-and-fall hazards. A dribble of water on the floor, or a piece of candy left out can send someone down hard before they realize what’s happened.
The problem arises with the very hard floors that are usually in offices and in stores. People can hit their heads on a counter or shelving to suffer a devastating Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). With a hard impact on even carpeted floors, someone may be left with a hip fracture. Water spilled on a step in a stairwell can send someone down to take multiple hits and end up with back and spine injuries.
When managers and employees don’t monitor for wet floor hazards that arise each day, they are negligent. When they don’t rush to mop liquids found on the floor, they make their employers liable for any injuries caused.
These are just some of the hazards that a store manager may overlook or ignore:
- Other visitors spilling drinks
- Water sprayed in produce sections at grocery stores
- Dropped merchandise that spills on floors
- Melting ice on floors near drink machines
- Water and soap ending up on floors in public bathrooms
- Rain or snow tracked into the entrances of buildings
- Leaking equipment at a business
- Mopped areas without “wet floor” signs out
Any of these hazards might leave a business liable, but owners and operators won’t accept blame willingly. They’ll trust their insurance adjusters to find ways to blame victims for their falls or find ways to downplay how badly someone is hurt.
Victims must often turn to skilled slip-and-fall attorneys to seek the kind of support they’ll need to pay for the best medical care available and recover lost income while they can’t work.
What Should I Do If I Suffer a Slip-And-Fall Injury?
Having evidence to show a store or property owner’s fault in your accident will be key. A strong case is especially important when you must take on a large company or corporation like Walmart or a city government to secure help in recovery.
First, see to your injuries. If you need medical attention, call 911 for an ambulance. Go to the emergency room if necessary.
In the meantime, if you are feeling okay, try to grab a few details at the scene before those at-fault clear away the proof:
- Call 911 – If medical attention is necessary, call for an EMS crew. Give paramedics a full account of your injuries. Go to the hospital if you need to.
- Use your cellphone to get pictures – Show the obstacle that caused your fall and the surrounding area. The obstacle will likely be cleaned up or repaired as soon as you leave. If you must leave to go to the hospital ask someone else nearby to take pictures.
- Alert a manager or property owner– At a place of business, it will probably be standard protocol to write up an incident report. This report can provide strong evidence in your favor.
- Don’t admit blame – You shouldn’t discuss who was to blame at the scene. Allow your personal injury lawyer to determine this. You also shouldn’t say that you’re “okay.” Saying you aren’t hurt makes it difficult when you have an injury arise in the hours or days after the incident. You won’t know how badly you are hurt in the moments after a fall. Insurance companies use these statements to dispute your claim later.
- Talk to witnesses – Find out what they saw. Get their contact information.
- See your physician – Get all injuries and any new pain you are experiencing checked out. Follow your doctor’s recommendations exactly. Save all medical invoices.
- Don’t talk to insurance representatives – Insurance adjusters will be calling you in the days after your accident asking for a recorded statement. Refuse to provide this statement. Adjusters do this in the hopes you’ll say something they can twist to hurt your case later. Refer adjusters to your California slip-and-fall lawyer.
Contact a California Slip-And-Fall Lawyer
If your slip-and-fall injury is more serious than some minor scrapes and bruising, you may want a lawyer to handle your case. Stores will be able to afford teams of lawyers all looking for ways to blame you for your accident or downplay the injury you’ve suffered. Your Maison Law lawyer is a safeguard against this unfair treatment.
Contact Maison Law for a free, no-obligation consultation. It’s a no-risk way to find out what your injury is worth and what you should be holding an insurance company to.
But remember, a lawyer is often able to secure much more in recovery help for you than you could earn handling your case yourself. If you require our help to get the maximum in injury support, you won’t need to pay any upfront money. We don’t get paid unless we win your case. Then, our fee comes out of the money an insurance company provides to you and your family.
