Slip-and-fall incidents are among the top sources of premises liability lawsuits. People visiting businesses naturally assume that business facilities are safe for them to enter. Unfortunately, not all businesses maintain safe and clean premises.
Slip-and-fall incidents can occur due to tripping hazards, a lack of appropriate equipment maintenance or unclean store spaces. People who sustain injuries in slip-and-fall incidents may be able to seek compensation by pursuing premises liability lawsuits.
Doing so generally requires that they prove they sustained injuries at the business. They also typically need to establish that negligence on the part of the business led to their injuries. The three steps below can be critical for those hoping to hold a business accountable for harm caused by poor facility maintenance.
Gather evidence immediately
Mobile phones can record video footage and store photographs that help show that there were unsafe property conditions. Taking pictures or recording video of a puddle in the middle of an aisle or an electrical cord that tripped an individual can help prove that there were unsafe conditions that contributed to the slip-and-fall. People who fall may also want to record a statement about what happened immediately after they fall so that their memory doesn’t fade. People who have their own evidence of unsafe property conditions are in the best possible situation to hold the business accountable for their injuries.
Report the incident before leaving
Many people feel embarrassed about slip-and-falls. They want to leave without drawing any attention to themselves. While people who fall at a store don’t need to announce the incident, they do need to ensure that they file a written report with the manager on duty. Conveying the details of what happened to a manager and signing an incident report can help validate claims of a slip-and-fall later if the injured person needs to file a lawsuit or an insurance claim.
Seek medical care
Slip-and-fall injuries can be easy to overlook initially. People who hit their heads, for example, may not have immediate symptoms of a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Instead, they may notice symptoms developing several days after the initial incident. At that point, the condition may have worsened due to a lack of medical intervention. Health care professionals can diagnose TBIs, broken bones and soft tissue injuries that people develop because of a slip-and-fall. Medical records corroborating an individual’s injuries and the date of symptom onset can help strengthen their request for compensation later.
People injured in slip-and-fall incidents often need help holding businesses and property owners accountable, and that’s okay. Knowing what steps to take after a slip-and-fall can increase people’s chances of successfully seeking compensation after they get hurt.