How Does One Prevent Slips, Trips, and Falls?

Everyone has slipped, tripped, or fallen at some point. The world is full of minor hazards that can cause you to lose your footing. And sometimes you just trip over your own feet.

Most of the time, tripping is no big deal. Maybe you get a little bruised up or embarrassed, but you’re able to continue going about your business. But sometimes, the outcome of a trip, slip, or fall is much more serious.

Falling can result in severe injuries. In the worst-case scenario, you could break a bone, suffer a traumatic brain injury, or even lose your life. These are the kinds of accidents you want to avoid, as the results can be catastrophic.

If you’ve been severely injured in this type of accident, you’ll need medical attention to recover quickly. Depending on the circumstances of your accident, you may be able to get compensation for your medical bills and other expenses. A slip and fall lawyer from Morgan & Morgan can tell you more about your options.

If you’ve sustained a serious injury in a slip, trip, or fall accident, contact us to schedule a free case evaluation and have all of your questions answered.

How to Protect Yourself?

While it isn’t always possible to avoid a slip, trip, or fall, you’re less likely to suffer an accident if you take proper precautions.

Typically, this means paying close attention to your surroundings whenever you’re in a dangerous or unknown location. But you can also take other steps to prevent slips, falls, and trips.

Wear Good Shoes

Often, when people slip, it’s due to poor traction underfoot. The best way to improve your traction is to wear good shoes with new, grippy treads. The soles of your shoes can wear out over time, so you should keep an eye on the bottoms of your shoes and replace them when they grow bare.

Take Detours

Many falls happen when people walk on treacherous terrain while in a hurry. 

Take detours whenever the path before you looks treacherous. It’s always better to take an extra few minutes to cross a street or take a different path than to willingly walk over an icy sidewalk or embankment covered in loose stones.

Don’t Run

The slower you move, the more control you have over your feet. You're more likely to fall when you run, skip, or jog. There are times in life when you may have to run, but as a rule, you should try to limit hard-to-control movement to when it’s absolutely necessary.

If you run or jog as a form of exercise, make sure the route you’re following is as safe as possible. If it’s an option, use a treadmill set to a safe speed and make your exercise even safer.

Respect All Safety Warnings

Another common reason people fall is that they don’t pay attention to posted safety warnings. For example, if somebody is mopping the floor and has put up wet floor signs, you should take note and make it a point to walk around the slick area.

Keep your eye out for warning signs and read them carefully before moving along.

How to Protect Others?

While it’s important to protect yourself from harm, it’s equally important to watch out for others, particularly if you’re the owner of a property that people often visit. Any good slip and fall lawyer will tell you that you could end up losing millions as a result of your liability in a slip, trip, or fall case.

The best way to avoid an expensive lawsuit is to create a safe environment where people are unlikely to fall. And while some accidents are inevitable, you can limit your liability by making a reasonable effort to ensure your property is safe.

You can help prevent slips, trips, and falls on your property by taking the following precautions:

Keep Areas Properly Lit

Poor lighting frequently leads to falls, particularly in stairwells. Make sure all areas are well-lit, even ones that are rarely used. Also, regularly check to ensure that light bulbs haven’t burned out, and replace them when they do.

Maintain Safety Procedures for Employees

If you run a business, you should create and publish safety procedures for your employees to follow. Make sure your workers receive training in these procedures before they start working, and remind them about your company’s best practices approximately once a year.

Clean Regularly

When your property becomes messy, it’s more likely to lead to falling hazards. Wet floors in the winter months or leaf-covered sidewalks can easily lead to slips and spills. By maintaining a regular cleaning schedule, even for secluded areas, you can decrease the chances that somebody will hurt themselves on your premises.

Mark Unsafe Areas

You won’t always be able to make all portions of your property safe. However, just because you can’t correct problems doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do to limit your liability when risks exist.

Place warning signs around your property to alert visitors of any dangers. If you want to be certain that the signs will protect you from liability, consult a slip and fall lawyer to determine whether your signs are properly placed and worded.

Consult With a Slip and Fall Lawyer

At Morgan and Morgan, we see hundreds of clients every year who have strong slip and fall cases stemming from the carelessness of negligent business owners. Often, that negligence was partially a result of ignorance — the liable party just didn’t know how to keep others safe on their property.

Our slip and fall lawyers are familiar with common dangers and can help you eliminate them. While we usually work with clients who have been the victims of falls, we’re thrilled to help prevent injuries from happening by assisting property owners with making their spaces safer.

What Are Common Serious Slip, Trip, and Fall Injuries?

If you’ve ever fallen yourself, you might have twisted an ankle or stubbed a toe. Injuries like this are common and usually minor. But some falling injuries are much more serious and may require years of medical treatment to recover from.

Common severe injuries include:

• Concussions
• Broken ankles
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Broken arms or hands
• Torn muscles or ligaments

These injuries require immediate medical attention and sometimes call for months or years of ongoing therapy and treatment.

You can receive compensation when another party is liable for a serious injury. If you’ve been injured in a fall, speak with a qualified personal injury lawyer to find out whether you’re eligible for compensation.

Why Are Property Owners Responsible for Preventing Slips, Trips, and Falls?

This responsibility is known as “premises liability.”

The crux of the concept is that the property owner is responsible for ensuring the safety of individuals they willingly allow on their property. If they don’t take steps to ensure that others are safe, they’re considered at fault for any foreseeable harm that befalls an individual while they’re there.

Do Employers Have a Responsibility to Protect Their Employees From Falling Accidents?

Yes. Employers are liable for any injuries their employees sustain while performing work activities. This means that employers must ensure that they’re maintaining a safe work environment, even if they don’t own the property where the work is being performed.

If you’re an employer and your workers routinely perform duties at other locations, you need to take action to prevent slips, trips, and falls, even if you can’t remove the actual hazards. Implementing safety procedures and providing personal protective equipment will help you limit your liability.

What Should a Nursing Home Do to Prevent Falls?

Older people tend to be more prone to falls than younger ones, and when they fall, they’re more likely to be severely injured. It’s not uncommon for older individuals to break bones after a hard fall.

Nursing home staff are supposed to protect residents from these dangers by assisting with daily activities like walking and bathing. These facilities should also have plenty of railings to help residents move around.

If a certain facility isn’t taking these actions, it’s liable for any injuries residents suffer from falls.

What Time of Year Are Falls Most Common?

Falls are most common in the winter months, when the ground is slick with rain, snow, and ice. These hazards don’t just exist outside, either—ice and snow frequently get tracked into buildings, making entryways slippery.

If you live in an area where ice and snow aren’t a big issue, your risk of a fall is approximately equal year-round. However, if seasonal conditions cause the ground to become littered with debris or damage, such as potholes, those are the times when falls will be most common.

What Are My Options if I’m Injured in a Fall Accident?

When you contact Morgan & Morgan for your free case evaluation, we’ll determine whether another party was responsible for preventing your accident. If we conclude that someone should have taken preventive measures and failed to do so, we’ll attempt to secure compensation for you.

In most circumstances, you can either file a claim against the liable party’s insurer or open a lawsuit. We generally recommend the former option, as filing an insurance-based claim shouldn’t prevent you from suing if necessary.

How Long Will It Take Me to Get Money in a Slip, Trip, or Fall Case?

It depends on whether you file an insurance claim or a lawsuit.

With the former course, we can typically negotiate a fair settlement in a matter of weeks. It may take another several weeks to get paid, but you’ll often receive the money you need within a few months.

However, if we end up taking your case to trial, it will probably be at least a year before a verdict is rendered. And even then, there may be appeals that extend the duration of your case. The award will likely be higher than if you filed an insurance claim, but you’ll have to wait quite a bit longer to be compensated.

Talk to a Slip and Fall Lawyer at Morgan and Morgan to Address Existing and Potential Injuries

While personal injury lawyers typically help people after they’ve been injured due to negligent behavior, they can also help responsible employers and property owners prevent injuries from happening in the first place.

If you’re concerned about your legal liability and want to learn more about how to prevent falls on your property, or you’ve been injured in a fall as a result of someone else’s negligence, contact the seasoned legal experts at Morgan and Morgan to schedule a free case evaluation.