How Businesses Can Stay Protected Against Slip & Fall Lawsuits

Getting sued after an employee or site visitor injures themselves in a slip and fall which occurs at your premises can be a grueling process to deal with.

Preventing this in the first place and shielding yourself from the fallout of any lawsuit which does land in your lap should be a priority, so let’s look at how you can do this effectively.

Adhere to safety standards

Taking occupational safety and health seriously is the first step to eliminating accidents in your business. You can’t afford to remain ignorant to the standards which apply to your industry, nor to overlook obvious risks because it is more convenient in the moment.

Carry out inspections to identify potential hazards

You need to be on the lookout for hazards that could cause slip and fall injuries, along with their resulting legal action. Regularly patrolling the premises with the express purpose of pinpointing dangers and dealing with them will work wonders.

This means being aware of everything from cracks in concrete floors to obstacles placed in busy thoroughfares.

Use signage to your advantage

Some hazards are unavoidable, or cannot be remedied immediately. Using safety signage to alert anyone nearby to their presence will reduce the chances of an accident occurring.

Consult with expert lawyers

Speaking to slip and fall lawyers will let you understand the likely ramifications of any suit involving this type of injury, and give you a means of planning your response in advance, and taking site-specific precautions as well.

Install surveillance technology

Having cameras monitoring as much of your premises as possible will be good for security purposes, and also ensure that if a claim is made against you after a slip and fall incident, you can verify whether or not it is legitimate.

Surveillance systems are only useful if they are of decent quality, and also installed in places where they will catch the action clearly, so that there’s no ambiguity about the identity of those who are being recorded, so keep this in mind.

Keep meticulous paperwork

It’s impossible to completely rule out the likelihood of accidents occurring at your business, so you need to make sure that when they do arise, you document everything in as much detail as possible.

Getting the parties involved to fill out incident report forms straight away, while the memory of what took place is fresh, will provide you with ample evidence to fight your corner if their story changes in the future.

Get insurance and make use of it

You’ll need to insure your business against lawsuits of this kind, and as well as finding a competitively priced policy from a reputable provider, you must also remember to let your insurer know about any potentially problematic incidents sooner rather than later.

Don’t wait for a letter from the complainant’s lawyer to drop on your doorstep, but give the insurer a heads-up immediately. This will reflect positively on you if things do proceed down this path.

Be compassionate

If the injured party is a customer who’s visiting your business, you want to demonstrate that you value them and care about their wellbeing, especially after an accident. That doesn’t mean you need to apologize, of course, because doing so could be perceived as an admission of liability.

Final thoughts

Preparedness is key to staying protected against slip and fall lawsuits as a business owner. You don’t want to be reacting to legal action against you, as this will put you on the back foot. Rather assume that this will happen at some point, and plan ahead to sidestep disruption.

You may be interested in: Top Tips For Choosing The Right CCTV Security Camera

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By: David Jones
Title: How Businesses Can Stay Protected Against Slip & Fall Lawsuits
Sourced From: marketbusinessnews.com/how-businesses-can-stay-protected-against-slip-fall-lawsuits/317159/
Published Date: Thu, 08 Dec 2022 18:27:44 +0000