If your business does not take the appropriate steps to ensure your customers do not have slip and fall accidents, they could sustain injuries like sprains, lacerations, broken bones, spinal cord injuries, and traumatic brain injuries.
So, it is very important that you actively take measures to prevent such accidents.
Your Company Could Be Sued by a Personal Injury Lawyer if the Injury Was Due to Your Negligence
Before looking at the ways in which you can prevent customers from being involved in slips and falls at your business, it is worth taking a moment to realize why taking preventive steps is so important.
Obviously, you will not want anyone to come to harm, for their sake. But an injury at your business premises can also harm your reputation. Furthermore, your company could be sued if the accident is due to your negligence.
For instance, if your members of staff do not clean up liquid spills or place appropriate signage, the negligence could mean you are responsible for the accident, highlighting the importance of professional safety measures taken by Sydney commercial cleaners. Therefore, you could end up with a lawsuit on your hands.
The victim can sue to gain compensation for things like medical expenses, lost earnings, and intangible losses like pain and suffering, emotional trauma, and loss of enjoyment of life.
So, your business could have to pay out a lot of money to the person who is injured due to your negligence.
You can visit daveabels.com to find out more about how a personal injury lawyer helps victims to recover damages.
But you can avoid lawsuits happening in the first place when your company implements the following five ways to prevent customer slips and falls.
1. Secure All Floor Coverings
Slip and fall accidents commonly occur due to unsecured or bunched-up rugs and floor coverings. When a floor covering is not secured correctly, it can roll up; making it easy for customers to trip their feet.
So, use rugs and other floor coverings that are designed to cling to the surface of the floor, or use adhesive tape.
2. Keep Walkways Clear
If a walkway is cluttered with obstacles, a slip and fall accident is more likely to happen. On the other hand, when a walkway is clear, the potential risk for injury becomes dramatically reduced.
Therefore, ensure your managers and employees always keep their eyes out for obstructions and remove any objects that are in the way.
3. Provide Handrails in Necessary Places
Another way of preventing customers from experiencing slips and falls is to provide strong and secure handrails in necessary places, such as stairways and balconies.
When customers use handrails to stay balanced, they are much less likely to slip and fall.
4. Install Proper Lighting
When areas are not properly illuminated, slip and fall accidents are more likely to occur. So, make sure you have good lighting throughout your premises. That includes inside and outside.
Look at any areas that are accessible to customers and install proper lighting accordingly.
5. Warn Customers About Wet Floors
As briefly mentioned earlier, if there is a liquid spill, it should be cleaned up immediately and appropriate signage should be put in place to prevent slip and fall accidents from occurring. But the same goes for any wet floor conditions.
Your employees should pay extra attention on rainy and snowy days when customers will track water into your premises. On such days, put up wet floor signs to warn customers and regularly mop the floor.
