You can slip when you lose your footing; you can trip when you catch your foot on or in something; and you can fall when you come down from an upright standing, walking, or running position and strike the floor, ground, stairs, or other surface suddenly and with force.
Spills, ice, snow, rain, loose mats, rugs, and stepladders are some of the common causes of slips, trips, and falls. Poor lighting and clutter can also cause injuries such as sprains, strains, bruises, bumps, fractures, scratches, and cuts.
Slips, trips, and falls are common causes of injuries in retail stores, grocery stores, shopping malls, restaurants, bars, and office buildings. Falls from portable ladders (step, straight, combination and extension) are one of the leading causes of occupational fatalities and injuries—as well as injuries and fatalities in the home.
These accidents often lead to legal liability claims against commercial and residential property owners for medical expenses, permanent injuries, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other personal injury damages.
Laws vary from state to state and legal liability for injuries suffered in slip and fall accidents may depend on whether the state’s laws evaluate those claims under theories of simple negligence; premises liability (with different levels of duty or care owed to trespassers, licensees, and invitees); or negligent activity. These laws are often found in a state’s court opinions (also known as case law, common law, or judicial decisions).
Businesses and other places open to the public may have legal liability for slip and fall accidents, which are often the subject of liability claims against retail stores, grocery stores, shopping malls, restaurants, bars, and office buildings.
Homeowners may also have liability for slip and fall accidents in or around their homes if the accident is caused by an unreasonably dangerous condition and the homeowner failed to remedy (fix) the condition or warn guests about the condition.
An owner of residential or commercial property can often defend against a claim of premises liability for a slip and fall or similar accident by demonstrating that the condition that caused the accident was open and obvious to a person of ordinary intelligence and awareness and the injured claimant or plaintiff should have recognized and avoided the risk.
How to Keep Employees, Customers, and Other Members of the Public Safe
• If you see something you or someone else might slip or trip on, tell your manager or supervisor right away.
• Clean up spills and anything slippery. Check with your manager or supervisor about how to use cleaning products. Don’t use cleaners that could make the floor slippery.
• Clear walkways, stairs, and lobbies of anything that might be a tripping hazard, such as cords, wires, empty boxes, and clutter.
• Make sure that floor mats lay flat rather than wrinkled or bunched.
• Use handrails when you walk up and down steps.
• Before using any ladder or stepladder, make sure it opens fully.
• Check that ladder extensions are fully locked and that the ladder legs are stable on a flat, non-slippery surface.
• Clean off any slippery material on the rungs, steps, or feet of a ladder before you use it.
• Don’t go over the load limit noted on the ladder.
• Minimize drop-offs on the edges of sidewalks and walkways where employees, customers, or others may sprain their ankles and fall.
In Alabama, slips, trips, and falls are addressed under premises liability law, which is a form of negligence law. Property owners and occupiers have a duty to maintain their premises in a reasonably safe condition to prevent injuries to visitors. The level of care owed by the property owner varies depending on the status of the visitor: invitees (such as customers in a store) are owed the highest duty of care, licensees (such as social guests) are owed a moderate duty, and trespassers are owed the least duty, generally to refrain from willful or wanton harm. If a person is injured due to a slip, trip, or fall on someone else's property, they may be able to file a claim for damages if they can prove that the property owner knew or should have known about the dangerous condition and failed to address it. However, if the hazard was open and obvious, the property owner may have a defense against the claim. Alabama also follows the doctrine of contributory negligence, which means that if the injured party is found to be even partially at fault for their own injuries, they may be barred from recovering any damages. To prevent such accidents, it is important for property owners and employers to keep premises clear of hazards, clean up spills promptly, ensure proper lighting, and provide warnings of potential dangers.
